WEEKLY CALENDARIAL REGISTER. 127 



swell, the thinning of them must be completed. Ex- 

 amine the bunches, therefore, very carefully, and if 

 you meet with any berries, about which a doubt may 

 exist, as to whether they ought to be cut out or not, 

 give the vine in all such cases the benefit of that doubt, 

 and cut them out accordingly. Be assured, that by 

 so doing you will ultimately gain both in weight and 

 flavour. 



September 9th. The process of stoning being com- 

 pleted, the grapes will now begin to ripen. This will 

 be first indicated by the skins of the berries be- 

 coming in a slight degree transparent, and in black 

 grapes, also, by a beautiful purple tinge appearing on 

 those that are the most forward. As soon as this 

 change takes place, no reduction of the number of 

 berries on a bunch will increase the size of the remain- 

 der. 



They should be finally thinned, therefore, before 

 they begin to swell off, after which, indeed, the bunch- 

 es should never be handled at all, except for the purpose 

 of cutting out such berries as may from time to time 

 be injured by insects, birds, or otherwise. 



September ~\ 6th. As the grapes will now be getting 

 ripe pretty generally, all watering must cease, both of 

 the foliage and the border. A moist atmosphere is the 

 most favourable to the growth of the berries, from the 

 period of their setting to that of making their last 

 swell, after which, neither the atmosphere nor the soil 

 can be well too dry. 



Large-sized bunches, or such as weigh not much less 

 than a pound, must now be eased in their position, 

 previously to their becoming fully ripe. To do this, 

 unnail each shoot on which a bunch of this description 

 may be hanging, to the extent of about a foot on each 

 side of it. Then, betwixt the shoot and the wall, and 

 near to the footstalk of the bunch, insert a piece of 



