42 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



so difficult that we shall refrain from taking up space in a vain 

 endeavour to do so. It is a lesson which experience alone can 

 teach and must come by practice and an intimate knowledge 

 of the variety. For example, a comparatively small-berried 

 variety like Black Hamburgh would call for less thinning than 

 a monster-berried variety such as Gros Colmar, and the looser 

 attenuated bunch of Muscat of Alexandria less than a crowded 

 Gros Maroc. We give this just to convey the idea which the 

 grower of grapes must really work out for himself ; but there is 

 another guide. The berries are produced on small branchlets, 

 the truss dividing itself up into scores of such. Each of these tiny 

 branchlets (themselves, radiating from main branchlets) carries 

 three berries, and it is the terminal berry which is generally 

 the largest, because it has had the great advantage of position. 

 But before removing the side berries, take away first of all those 

 from the interior of the bunch which will involve the snipping 

 off of some branchlets. When these are removed the operator 

 will have a better idea as to how much farther to proceed. 

 Go warily, for a severed berry cannot be replaced. Keep in 

 eye the finished bunch, the size of the berries when fully grown, 

 and make allowances accordingly. It calls for great judgment, 

 and as before said, confidence and skill can only follow practice. 

 Do not touch the berries with the hand, but use a 

 thin-pointed stick to raise the branchlets, just as a barber 

 would use a comb to bring refractory hair into position before 

 cutting. Use also scissors specially made for the work, 

 which are long and pointed. 



AFTER TREATMENT 



Soon after the thinning comes the time of stoning ; that is, 

 while the berries are forming their stones or seeds. During 

 this critical period, which lasts two or three weeks, the berries 

 are almost at a standstill, and too much watering will cause 

 them to crack. Persevere with the syringing, but give no more 

 water than is necessary to the healthy up-keep of the foliage ; 

 then, as the period passes and the berries are seen to be swelling, 

 revert to the more generous regime and feed with liquid manure. 



