October  10,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
337 
Among  the  Grape  Thinne  s. 
In  the  horticultural,  and  sometimes  in  the  daily  press, 
there  appear  regularly  each  year,  at  the  end  of  April  or  the 
beginning  of  May,  sundry  advertisements  from  various  large 
nurserymen,  asking  for  Grape  thinner s — previous  experience 
not  necessary.  This  last  clause  is  the  one  that  attracts  the 
eye  of  the  forlorn  seeker  after  work,  and  of  the  still  more 
forlorn  individual  who  regards  an  occasional  job  as  a  kind 
of  terrible  necessity  to  be  gone  through  by  way  of  penance 
for  being  born  in  a  state  of  civilised  society.  Hope  springs 
again  in  the  bosom  of  the  unfortunate  wight  who  was  too 
old  for  his  particular  occupation  at  forty,  and  has  grown  no 
younger  at  fifty  ;  the  fourth-rate  solicitor’s  clerk  without  a 
reference  counts  his  pence  and  betakes  himself  to  the  rail¬ 
way  terminus  ;  the  broken-down  lawyer  or  doctor  who  has 
given  way  to  drink,  and 
whose  practice  has  in  con¬ 
sequence  given  way  also, 
considers  if  the  fleeting 
remnants  of  his  last  white 
shirt  will  bear  yet  another 
starching,  while  the 
'superior  tramp  forsakes  tne 
luxuriant  accommodation  of 
a  cheap  lodging-house,  and 
girding  his  all  to  airy  habili¬ 
ments  about  him,  is  on  the 
road  at  bi’eak  of  day,  in  the 
prospect  of  earning  sufficient 
to  replenish  his  wardrobe 
for  the  season. 
For  the  purpose  of 
studying  human  nature  in 
its  various  aspects,  nothing 
better  could  be  desired 
than  to  work  among  the 
motley  assemblage  of  Grape- 
thinners  gathered  at  some 
large  nursery  in  the  late 
spring  and  early  summer. 
Here  may  be  met  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men — 
those  who  have  started 
near  the  top  of  the  ladder 
and  come  down  in  the 
world,  those  who  have 
started  at  the  bottom  and 
stopped  there  ever  since, 
respectable  artizans  out  of 
employment  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  can¬ 
vassers,  and  counter- 
jumpers,  men  of  doubtful 
occupation,  and  “  knights 
of  the  road,”  who,  without 
doubt,  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  year  follow  no 
occupation  at  all.  Many 
of  them  have  never  seen  a 
Grape  Vine  before,  and 
some  of  the  Grape  Vines  will  not  benefit  by  their  attentions, 
but  regular  nursery  hands  are  scarce  during  thinning 
time,  and  the  shrewd  Grape  grower  knows  that  a  minority  of 
them  at  least  will  soon  become  sufficiently  expert  Avith  the 
scissors  to  be  worth  keeping  till  the  end  of  the  season. 
But  much  as  they  vary  in  most  particulars,  it  is  some¬ 
what  remarkable  that  the  greater  number  of  them  possess 
one  striking  characteristic  in  common,  in  that  they  appear 
to  cultivate  a  fine  healthy  thirst,  and  their  persistent,  though 
not  over-successful  efforts  to  assuage  the  same  with  liquor 
of  an  alcoholic  nature  are  deserving  of  the  highest  com¬ 
mendation.  It  w’ould  scarcely  be  an  exaggeration  to  say 
that  some  of  them  know  as  little  about  Grapes  as  the  Grapes 
know  about  them,  though  not  all  will  admit  it.  A  few  years 
ago  an  opportunity  was  afforded  us  of  seeing  one  individual 
appear  armed  and  equipped  with  a  weapon  resembling  a 
broom-handle  with  a  butcher’s  knife  tied  on  the  end,  fully 
prepared  to  thin  Grapes,  forests,  wild  beasts,  or  anything  else 
with  a  vengeance  ;  another  innocently  inquired  if  they  were 
expected  to  find  their  oAvn  shears,  and  was  sarcastically 
fold— no,  but  they  would  be  supplied  with  knives  and  forks, 
MRS.  PIX< 
while  another  tendered  the  information  that  he  was  con¬ 
stitutionally  nervous,  and  had  not  been  used  to  climbing 
high  ladders,  imagining,  perhaps,  that  vineries  were  erected 
on  the  Eiffel  Tower  principle.  One  boisterous  would-be 
thinner,  on  hearing  the  foreman’s  peremptory  question.  Had 
he  ever  done  any  thinning  before  1  made  haste  to  assert  that 
he  had  already  worn  out  two  knives  at  it  since  Christmas, 
and  wondered  why  the  foreman  stared  on  learning  of  this 
new  and  novel  method  of  thinning  very  early  Grapes. 
There  is  an  old  story,  which  goes  the  round  of  most 
vineries  during  thinning-time,  of  two  men,  who,  after 
practising  on  a  few  spare  bunches  hung  on  a  string  to  get 
their  hands  in,  proceeded  to  cut  all  the  bunches  off  the  Vines 
and  hang  them  on  strings  to  thin  in  the  same  manner.  It 
may  not  be  true,  but  after  a  season’s  experience  among  this 
class  of  Grape  thinners,  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  believe.  Of 
the  promiscuous  crowd  with  which  one  comes  in  contact  at 
such  a  time,  there  are  a  few 
Avho  will  always  live  in  the 
memory  as  being  remark¬ 
able  for  some  peculiarity 
or  other.  One  of  the  first 
to  arrive  during  this  par¬ 
ticular  season  was  the 
“General.”  He  was  called 
the  General,  though  there 
was  nothing  of  the  army 
about  him,  unless  a  pair  of 
immense  side-whiskers,  a 
huge  grey  moustache,  a 
•rubicund  countenance,  and 
an  air  of  the  utmost 
ferocity,  could  be  con¬ 
sidered  military.  He  might 
have  been  a  Russian  noble 
or  a  Turkish  brigand,  and 
would  have  looked  more  at 
home  A\Tielding  a  scimitar 
or  a  broadsword  than  a 
pair  of  Grape-scissors.  His 
aspect  was  awe-inspiring 
and  lion-like,  but  in  reality 
he  was  as  gentle  as  any 
lamb.  He  spent  most  of 
his  time  in  apologising  in 
meek  and  genteel  tones,  for 
some  imaginary  short¬ 
coming  or  mistake.  He 
apologised  to  the  hand  in 
charge  for  not  knowing  how 
to  thin,  to  the  man  who 
sharpened  his  scissors,  to 
all  his  fellow-workmen,  to 
the  boys  and  labourers,  and 
everyone  agreed  that  he 
was  a  most  polite  man. 
But  somehow,  in  spite  of  his 
expressed  anxiety  to  learn, 
and  his  oft-repeated  desire 
not  to  give  trouble,  he  did 
E  GRAPE.  not  geem  at  home  at  his 
new  calling  ;  it  appeared  as 
though  some  irresistible  fate  compelled  him  to  cut  off  me 
point  berries  and  lea\re  the  inside  ones  ;  nothing  would  shake 
his  conviction  that  vdiatever  he  left  on,  it  A\~as  absolutely 
necessary  to  strip  all  the  berries  from  the  tops  of  the 
shoulders,  and  no  effort  on  his  part  could  prevent  his  way¬ 
ward  scissors  from  systematically  pricking  all  the  berries  he 
left  on  the  bunch.  In  despair,  he  was  at  last  sent  to  weed 
the  Vine  border,  at  A\rhich  he  expressed  his  delight,  and  his 
determination  to  weed  it  as  it  had  never  been  Aveeded  be¬ 
fore.  But,  alas !  the  spirit  may  have  been  willing,  but  the 
flesh  was  certainly  weak,  for  half  an  hour  later  our  gentle 
General  Avas  discovered,  seated  on  an  upturned  basket, 
surveying  the  weeds  as  though  they  were  a  regiment  of 
soldiers,  and  he  the  officer  at  whose  command  they  would 
all  uproot  themselves  as  one  plant. 
Then  there  was  the  “  Physician,”  a  pale-faced  individual 
with  a  voice  so  mournful  in  its  tones  that  he  might  have 
been  continually  engaged  in  reading  the  Burial  Service.  His 
pronunciation  and  accent  was  gentility  itself,  and  there  Avas 
a  pervading  air  of  wistful  reminiscence  about  the  man  which 
made  one  feel  instinctively  that  his  thoughts  Avere  always 
