128 WEEKLY CALENDARIAL REGISTER. 



wood cut in the shape of a narrow wedge about a couple 

 of inches in length, and an inch and a half in depth at 

 the thick end, or deeper, if the bunch be very large. 

 After which re-nail the shoot, using fresh shreds, as 

 much longer than the former ones as may be required 

 to give full effect to the increased distance of the 

 shoot from the wall. This precaution is very neces- 

 sary to be taken with respect to large bunches of 

 grapes, in order that they may hang as perpendicular- 

 ly as possible, and be thereby prevented from resting 

 their whole weight against the wall, which, when the 

 berries are fully ripe, would cause many of them to be 

 bruised and spoiled. 



The change which the pulp of the fruit undergoes, at 

 the completion of the ripening process, is highly inter- 

 esting. It is marked in all bunches that have been 

 properly thinned, by an extraordinary increase in the 

 size of the berries, in a short space of time ; the natu- 

 ral consequence of the sudden expansion of the pulp, 

 arising, partly from the seed being perfected, and, 

 therefore, no longer consuming any portion of it for 

 its nourishment j and partly from the continued action 

 of the solar rays on the full-sized berries. I have fre- 

 quently had berries of the Black Hamburgh sort, swell 

 in size in the course of a few days, from a circumfer- 

 ence of two inches to one of three, being an increase 

 of one half. 



Sept. 23rd. As the nights will now be getting longer 

 than the days, the cold will increase ; in consequence 

 of which the border must not be forked up any more, 

 during the remainder of the season. Keep the surface 

 of it, however, free from weeds, and from decayed 

 leaves, which latter, if suffered to accumulate, will not 

 only intercept the rays of the sun, but also serve as a 

 harbour for the snails, and these vermin, if not pre- 





