118 AMERICA^ GRAPE GROWING 



But nothing is more absurd than the practice of some, 

 who will take away the leaves from the fruit, to hasten 

 maturity. The leaves are the lungs of the plant, the 

 conductors and elaborators of sap, and nothing can be more 

 injurious than to take them away at the very time when 

 most needed. The natural consequence is the withering 

 and wilting of the bunches, and should they ripen at all, 

 they will be flat and deficient in sugar and flavor. The 

 injurious " cutting in " of the young growth late in 

 August, already referred to, is about of a piece with this 

 folly, and will not only be detrimental to the fruit, but 

 also to the ripening of the wood for next year. While 

 all crowding of the young growth with the bearing caries 

 should be avoided, to give free circulation of air, yet the 

 leafy canopy of the young canes over the top of the trellis, 

 will be in the highest degree beneficial to the ripening of 

 the fruit. There is nothing more pleasing to the eye 

 than a vineyard in September, with its wealth of dark- 

 green foliage, and the rich clusters of the fruit beneath, 

 coyly peeping from under their leafy covering. Good 

 fruit will only ripen in partial shade, and such grapes 

 will have a rich bloom and color, as well as a thin skin 

 and a rich flavor, which those hanging in the scorching 

 rays of the sun can never attain. 



THINNING THE FRUIT. 



It will sometimes be necessary to thin the fruit, in 

 order to more thoroughly develop the remaining bunches. 

 The best thinning is the reduction of bunches and bear- 

 ing shoots, at the first summer-pruning, and which has 

 already been mentioned. Let the vine dresser always re- 

 member that one fine bunch is worth more than two or 

 three small, badly grown ones and, therefore, take away 

 all the small, imperfect bunches and weak shoots. If the 

 number of bunches on each fruit-bearing branch is re- 

 duced to two, it will do no injury, but make them so 



