THE VINEYARD AND ORCHARD. 99 



took pay for their music with the sang-froid of 

 a favorite prima donna. On one occasion I saw 

 three or four alight on a Diana vine, and in five 

 minutes they had spoiled a dozen clusters. If 

 they would only take a bunch and eat it up clean, 

 one would readily share with them, for there would 

 be enough for all ; but the dainty little epicures 

 puncture an indefinite number of berries, merely 

 taking a sip. from each. Then the wasps and bees 

 come along and finish the clusters. The cardinal, 

 cat-bird, and our unrivalled songster the wood- 

 thrush, all help themselves in the same wasteful 

 fashion. One can't shoot wood-thrushes. We 

 should almost as soon think of killing off our 

 Nilssons, Nevadas, and Carys. The only thing to 

 do is to protect the clusters ; and this can be ac- 

 complished in several ways. The most expeditious 

 and satisfactory method is to cover the vines of 

 early grapes with cheap mosquito netting. An- 

 other method is to make little bags of this netting 

 and enclose each cluster. Last fall, two of my 

 children tied up many hundreds of clusters in little 

 paper bags, which can be procured at wholesale 

 for a trifling sum. The two lower corners of the 

 paper bags should be clipped off to permit the 

 rain to pass freely through them. Clusters ripen 

 better, last longer on the vine, and acquire a more 

 exquisite bloom and flavor in this retirement than 



