132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



grows ill the most rampant manner. We head it in, choke it. 

 What else shall we do ? When the fruit is set, jou will find 

 that it is impossible for the plant to perfect all of it. Then the 

 next thing is, to go to work and thin out in the most liberal 

 manner. Go to your grape-vine and reduce the number of 

 bunches from one-half to three-quarters, and you will have 

 grapes ; I have no doubt of it whatever. So it is with pears. 

 Let them remain as they set, and you have very rarely perfect 

 fruit. They will not attain to their full size and flavor unless 

 you relieve the tree of the burden that . it has imposed upon 

 itself. I think these are plain, practical, simple rules, which 

 we can all adopt, and by following them, we can get fruit, even, 

 under all these disadvantageous circumstances. 



Then, one word more. The common opinion is, that people 

 cannot raise fruit under glass without great cost and care. I 

 think that is a mistake. I do not think there is a farmer who 

 has the skill to manage ordinary carpenter's tools who cannot 

 put up a structure in which to raise Black Hamburgs at very 

 little cost. The common expense has been ten dollars a run- 

 ning foot. There is no need of it. Go to work and lay out 

 your ground ; set standard posts that will be lasting, put in 

 your sills and build your building with common unplaned 

 boards, let them come together without matching, but close as 

 they will in the state in which they come from the mill. Then 

 you may nail laths across these boards, which will prevent 

 currents of air from passing through. You have then got your 

 outside. Then put on your roofing. There is no necessity 

 that it should all be glass ; the lower part may be all boarded. 

 In that case, you would insert pretty large panes, which would 

 be just as cheap in the long run, unless you broke one. There 

 you have your building, which will answer all the purposes of a 

 cold grapery. I think you can raise your Black Hamburgs 

 there profusely, and scarcely ever fail of a crop, when you 

 would be likely to fail in out-door culture. Why not try it ? 

 There is no better grape, take it all in all, than the Black 

 Hamburg. The only drawback is in thinning it. When the 

 berries are about the size of pease, then you must thin it, or 

 you will utterly fail in your object. It is futile to think of 

 getting a crop unless you thin it ; say, if there are five berries, 

 take out three. That is the only difficult operation in the whole 



