222 THE CULTURE OF THE GEAPE. 



a vine to bear more than twenty bunches of grapes, which 

 swell finely, and we might travel a long way ere we met 

 with vines to match those at Eshton. I have, this year, 



aged, certainly half this amount, or a total of eight hundred and sixty -two pounds of 

 grapes, the quality of which could not well be surpassed. The two thousand 

 bundles on the Hampton vine, at the time I saw them, would not average more 

 than half a pound each, or one thousand pounds. I have seen it stated, that this 

 vine has produced one ton of two thousand two hundred and forty pounds of grapes 

 in a season. This may be so, but of the quality of this fruit we know nothing. I am 

 endeavoring to show what a vine will do, every year, if treated as directed. In 

 saying that twenty-five pounds is all that a vine should be allowed to bear, I do not 

 wish to be understood as meaning that a vine cannot, under any circumstances, occa- 

 sionally produce a much larger quantity ; the account I so soon give of the vine at 

 Hampton Court bearing such a crop, is proof enough that I hold no such opinion. 

 What I presume to be wanted of a vine is, a certainty (as near as humcui agency can 

 effect this,) of a liberal and annual crop of fruit, in quality as rich as it can be grown 

 imder the circumstances of situation, &c. This, I believe, can be obtained by the 

 system recommended and adopted by myself; and I can assure my readers, that 

 they will, after a kw years of e.xperience, agree with me in the opinion, that twenty- 

 five pounds of such fruit on every vine, (favorably situated,) for many successive years, 

 is not a bad crop. On the back wall, or under circumstances not admitting of a full 

 crop, the judgment of the cultivator must be e.xercised in ascertaining what is the 

 proper amount in these cases ; it will, probably, range from five to fifteen pounds. 



By limiting the crop to this weight, I do not adhere strictly to just this amount; it 

 would be absurd to attempt it. Before thinning the berries, I reduce the number of 

 bunches to what I suppose, if well filled out, would make this weight. It would be 

 useless, if, after the estimated weight had ripened its seed, and it was ascertained 

 that, from the vigor of the vine, the bunches would swell and exceed the amount re- 

 quired, to cut off the excess now. When the grapes have thus perfected their seed, 

 and are swelling off" and changing color rapidly, and the bunches are larger than 

 was expected, to lessen this excess of quantitj', if it can be done without injuring the 

 beauty of the bunch, I thin out the berries still more, that all the nourishment may be 

 thrown into those remaining. The effect of this treatment will be to keep the vine 

 in perfect health and vigor. If, under these circumstances, the bunches and berries 

 swell beyond my calculations, and the weight of fruit produced exceeds the rule, 

 there is no harm done, for the vine, from its strong condition, has produced this re- 

 sult. I have thirty pounds, and perhaps more, on a few vines, at this moment ; the 

 bunches which I thought would weigh one pound exceeding this weight considerably ; 

 but some other vines have less than the allowance. Nor do I expect any loss of 

 crop next year, in consequence ; for, had the vines not have been in superior condi- 

 tion, and able, without weakening them, to have done this, the berries would not 

 have swollen in the manner thay have, and the twenty-five pounds would have been 

 the yield. If the vines had been just coming into bearing, and six or ten pounds the 

 rec|uired amount, I should have been very careful to avoid an over-crop. Strengthen 

 your vines during the first five or six years of their growth, after planting in your 

 border, by not allowing them to produce heavy crops, and keep them ever after in 

 this condition of strength, by aiming for a moderate yield of fruit. By so doing, your 

 ])lants will bo in the state to aflford this nourishment, and the bunches will enlarge to 



