194 THE GEAPE CULTURIST. 



training, in which the vines are not subjected to any 

 definite rule or form. 



That good grapes in abundance are, and can be, 

 produced on vines manipulated in this way, there is no 

 doubt, but the same may be said of hundreds of other 

 systems of training in vogue, all of which show that the 

 prape vine responds nobly to fair treatment, and even 

 to total neglect, as when growing in its native habitats. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Thinning the Fruit. There are very few varieties 

 of grapes, cultivated in the open air, that require the 

 thinning out of the fruit to enable them to ripen. Most 

 of the native varieties have bunches sufficiently open 

 and loose to allow the air to circulate freely among the 

 berries and aid them in ripening. If a portion of the 

 berries are removed, those remaining will certainly grow 

 much larger than if all were allowed to mature. There 

 are some varieties that have naturally very compact 

 bunches, so much so that all of the berries will seldom 

 ripen unless a portion of them is removed. With such 

 as these it is best to cut out a part of the berries so soon 

 ^ they are fully formed. This thinning should be done 

 with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, cutting out from 

 (toe-fourth to one-half the berries, taking them from 

 iifferent parts of the bunch, so that when it is fully 

 grown it will be uniform, and the berries will not be any 

 more crowded upon one part than another. 



It would scarcely be practicable to thin out the ber- 

 ries of all the bunches in a vineyard, and no one would 



