11.4 WEEKLY CALENDARTAL REGISTER. 



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 flavor. 



9th. The process of stoning being completed, the 

 grapes will now begin to ripen. This will be first 

 indicated by the skins of the berries becoming 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 u^ill increase the size of the remainder. 



They should be finally thinned, therefore, before 

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

 bunches 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. 



16th. 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 

 favorable to the growth of the berries, from the pe- 

 riod 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 w^ood cut in the shape of 

 a narrow wedge about a couple of inches m length, 

 and an inch and a half in depth at the thick end, or 

 deeper, if the bunch be ve/y large. After which re- 

 nail the shoot, using fresh shreds, as much longer 

 than the former ones, as may be required to give full 

 etfect to the increased distance of the shoot from the 



