Thinning of the Fruit
This will sometimes be necessary, to more fully develop the bunches. The best thinning is the reduction of the number of bunches at the time of the first summer pruning. If a vine shows more fruit, than the vine dresser thinks it can well ripen, take away all weak and imperfect shoots, and also all the small and imperfect bunches. If the number of bunches on the fruit bearing branches is reduced to two on each, it will be no injury, but make the remaining number of bunches so much more perfect. Thinning out the berries on the bunches, although it will serve to make the remaining berries more perfect and larger, is still a very laborious process, and will hardly be followed to any extent in vineyards, although it can well be practised on the few pet vines of the amateur, and will certainly heighten the beauty of the bunches and berries.