WEEKLY CALENDARIAL REGISTER. 131 



to the wall close to the main branches of the vine, 

 along which it is supposed they go, to commit their 

 depredations. 



October 1th. Continue to remove decayed leaves 

 from the border, and suffer nothing to accumulate on 

 it that can either shade it, or harbour the snails. If 

 these are not prevented, they will soon find hiding 

 places in the vicinity of the wall, and in the night, and 

 also in wet weather, will crawl up the surface of it, 

 and commit great havock amongst the fruit. To pre- 

 vent this, the wall should be carefully looked over every 

 three or four days, and when the weather is wet, every 

 day will not be too often. A full-grown shell-snail 

 will destroy a large bunch of grapes in twenty-four 

 hours. This fact will shew the necessity of looking 

 sharply after these vermin. 



Take care not to cut any of the fruit until it be 

 thoroughly ripe. This is so often done, that it de- 

 serves to be mentioned as one of the many capital 

 errors that are committed, almost universally, in the 

 culture of the vine. There is a certain point of time, 

 when grapes attain their highest degree of maturity, 

 but that is not when they first appear to be ripe, but a 

 considerable period afterwards. There are so many 

 circumstances, however, that influence the ripening of 

 grapes, on open walls, that it is impossible to lay down 

 any rule for determining the precise period, when they 

 will have reached their extreme point of maturity^ 

 The season, the soil, the culture, the sort of grape, and, 

 lastly, the aspect, modified as this is by a variety of 

 local circumstances, either accelerate or retzyrd the 

 maturity of the fruit, as they combine, favourably or 

 unfavourably. It is seldom indeed, that all the fruit 

 of a vine becomes ripe at the same period of tirne^ 

 And it is worthy of remark, also, that every bunch of 

 grapes ripens progressively, beginning first at what is 



