THE yiXE AXD ITS FEUIT. 



307 



prevent the condensation of moisture, a chink of air 

 lit the back and front of the house should be kept on 

 all night, unless the weather is frosty, and the proper 

 temperature cannot be maintained. 



Some gTape-growers fertilise their grapes by 

 giving the vines a sharp rap with the hand to set 

 the pollen at Hberty; others trust to the natui-al 

 energy of their vines and a brisk buoyant atmo- 

 rphere ; while others draw the 

 hand Hghtly down the bunches 

 when they are in fiower, but 

 this is a bad practice, as the 

 pressure and moisture, how- 

 ever slight, often injure the 

 embryo berries, notably of 

 Muscats, which show a small 

 brown spot at the points when 

 they are ripe. 



TMrming. — The art of 

 thinning gi'apes well cannot 

 be properly acquired without 

 practice and a thorough ac- 

 quaintance, not only with the 

 different sections, but also 

 with particular xvaes of the 

 same variety. Take as an 

 example the numerous vaiie- 

 ties grown under the name of 

 Hamburgh. Some produce 

 loose bunches of medium-sized 

 berries which require mode- 

 rate thinning ; others produce 

 heavy - shouldered bunches, 

 which set thickly, and pro- 

 duce large, short - stalked, 

 hammered hemes, half as 

 large again as the fu'st. Both 

 are called Hamburghs, but 

 directions for thinning the 

 first would not apply to the 

 second, and vice versa. Lady 

 Downes, Alicante, and Gros 



Colmar are three late kinds, which require totally 

 distinct thinning to insure perfect clusters when 

 they - are ripe. "When thoroughly acquainted with 

 the peculiarities and capabilities of different houses 

 of vines, a good practical hand can thin to a beny ; 

 but as no amoxmt of writing can convey that ex- 

 perience, the subject must be here confined to general 

 principles. 



ITie best time to thin is as soon as ail fi-ee-setting 

 kinds are out of fiower. and the beriies approach the 

 size of Xo. 1 shot. !>ruscats and shy-setting kinds 

 should be allowed to get a little more advanced, and 

 when those which are properly fertilised begin to 



take the lead, those left behind in point of size 

 shoiild, as far as possible, be removed, as stoneless 

 berries never take the second swelling, and no 

 matter how s}-mmelTical a bunch may be, uneven 

 berries greatly detract from its appearance. 



When properly thinned, a bunch of grapes should 

 contain as many even-sized berries as will foini a 

 compact cluster, weU berried up to the stalk, and 

 close enough to retain its per- 

 fect form when cut and Liid 

 on the dish. If the beiiies 

 fall about and expose the 

 stalks it is over-thinned : if 

 they bind and foi ;-e each other 

 out of place it is under- 

 thinned. Eaiiy and mid- 

 season grapes that are in- 

 sufficiently thinned do not 

 suffer so much as late ones, 

 wlrich have to hang through 

 the dead months, when a free 

 circulation of air to prevent 

 the berries fi-om rotting is 

 indispensable. As gi-apes 

 should never be touched by 

 the flesh or hair, either of 

 which produces rust and de- 

 stroys the bloom, the operator 

 should begin at the point and 

 work upwards, holding and 

 tmning the bunch with a 

 small hooked peg. All the 

 smallest and plenty of the in- 

 side berries should be taken 

 at the first thinning, and the 

 woik should be carried on 

 early in the morning and late 

 in the evening, when the body 

 is cool and the fingers fi-ec- 

 fi'om perspiration. Fig. 17 

 on the next page is a fair 

 representation of a bunch of 

 Hamburghs after the first 

 thimiing. It is possible that a few of the benies 

 left at the fii'st thinning may not be perfectly 

 fertilised ; if so. they will be weak in the foot-stalk, 

 smaU, and sUghtly transparent. These ai-e the 

 berries wliich should be taken out at the second 

 thinning. 



Lady Downes and all the late kinds, including 

 Gros Colmar, the largest of all grapes, should Ix* 

 thinned until there is no danger of binding ; other- 

 wise, all other points being satisfactory, their keep- 

 ing for any length of time after the leaves fall will 

 be very doubtful. The inexperienced, who have to 

 feel their way, should make a point of going over 



Black iTorocco Badlr Set. 



