88 FRUIT GARDEN. 



doors, &c., to pass immediately among the vines. 

 After stopping syringing, the roots should be watered 

 every week. 



Pruning.— 'Mo^t of the pruning required in summer 

 may be performed without a knife, the shoots being so 

 tender as to be readily pinched off by the fingers. Select 

 the shoots which are to be trained for the next year's 

 crop, and others necessary for filling the trellis from 

 the bottom. These shoots should generally be from 

 twelve to fifteen inches apart. All those between, and 

 having no clusters, are to be removed; and those left, 

 and having clusters, are to be shortened so as to leave 

 one joint above the uppermost cluster. To effect this 

 properly, the vines, when first showing their fruit, 

 should be gone over every three or four days, till all 

 the shoots have shown their clusters. 



Thinning and Spreading. — Those who desire to have 

 the very largest and best fruit that can be raised from 

 the vine, must resort to the practice of thinning out a 

 portion, whilst yet green and about the size of garden 

 peas. This is done by cutting off with narrow-pointed 

 scissors, from one-fourth to a third of the berries. 

 The grapes left will thus have room to swell freely, and 

 though reduced in numbers, will be the same in w^eight, 

 as if all had been left on. The bunches of the large- 

 growing kinds will be protected from the effects of 

 damp, or mouldiness, by having their shoulders spread 

 out and suspended to the trellis or branches, by strands 

 of fresh matting. If th.ey appear crowded before they 

 begin to color, some berries may still be clipped off, 

 but care must be observed not to touch them after 

 coloring, for fear t)f rubbing off some of the bloom 

 which constitutes so much of their beauty. 



