78 



Hold a sheet of white paper under the bunches from 

 which it is intended to gather the pollen (selecting 

 those which are fullest in flower), and then apply the 

 pencil gently to various parts of them ; and when the 

 pencil is charged with yellow powder, apply it to the 

 bunches to be fecundated, and touch lightly with the 

 pencil the female parts of the flowers, holding the 

 paper as when gathering the pollen. The pollen 

 may be obtained from the same vine, or any other in 

 blossom at the time. {Ibid. vi. 688.) 



Thinning the Berries. — As soon as the berries are 

 set, and swollen to the size of a small pea, it is time 

 to thin them. For this operation there are proper 

 scissars, with long handles and short blades. Pro- 

 vided with these, some good soft matting, and with 

 something to catch the berries in (which make ex- 

 cellent vinegar, or tarts, &c), commence the opera- 

 tion by tying up the shoulders of such bunches as re- 

 quire it, to the wires on each side of the rafter ; or, if 

 the bunches are very large, fasten some thin narrow 

 lath to the rafter, to tie the shoulders to. 



Some persons use a thin piece of lath notched at 

 each end, to prop the shoulders oif from the main 

 body of the bunch ; but we do not like this plan so 

 well as the matting, the props being apt to drop out. 



In order to have large berries, thin very freely ; so 

 much so, that the bunches look like skeletons. Of 

 course thin according to the kind. Some sorts, under 



