ing the larvæ of a host of insects that prove destructive to vegetation, now come to enjoy their share of the bounties of Providence; and it would, perhaps, be difficult to prove, that their claim is not as well founded, as that of the lords of the creation. They waste, however, and spoil so much, in comparison with what they really eat, that no other course can be pursued, than that of rejecting their claim altogether. Amongst these claimants, the blue titmouse, (tom tit) parus cæruleus, will, in general, be found to be the most persevering. This elegant little bird visits the grapes about the middle of October, and selects the ripest for examination. If the flavour be agreeable, the work of destruction commences, but if not, an interval of a week or ten days elapses, when a second examination takes place, and the fruit being then ripe, the banquet begins, by his attacking invariably the finest grapes on the vine, and consuming about a sixth part of each berry, leaving the other fivesixths to rot and waste. After this,

he never ceases to pay his daily visits, as long as a single bunch remains, and the slightest chance appears, of a possibility of getting at it.

As soon as any shoots are divested of their fruit, they should be pruned immediately.

11th. Fall of the leaf. This interesting event takes place in general about this time. In well sheltered situations, some vines will retain their foliage to the end of this month, but in aspects that are exposed to the effects of the wind, the leaves are generally shed in the early part of it.

After the grapes have been deprived of the protection of the leaves, they begin to lose both weight and flavour; but if the aspect be favourable, and the wall have a projecting coping, they may be preserved in pretty good condition a fortnight or three weeks longer, after which, however, no reliance can be placed on the continuance of their flavour, although, in some instances, when the weather is very favourable, and great care is used

in keeping the grapes dry, and in protecting them by proper coverings from the effects of severe frosts, they may be kept on the vine in tolerable preservation till the beginning of January.

Many methods have been devised to preserve grapes after they have been cut from the vine, but none that I am aware of, have ever proved very effectual. The best of these, however, will be found, I believe, to be that of cutting off an entire branch of the vine with the fruit upon it, and sealing the cut end with sealing wax, and then hanging it up in a dry and warm room, in which there is a pretty free circula.. tion of air. The greater quantity of wood that the branch contains behind the last bunch of fruit, the longer will the latter keep; but it may be remarked, that with every precaution that can be taken, the fruit may, in general, be preserved much better by letting it remain on the vine, and protecting it by proper means from the severity of the weather.

CHAPTER XIII.

GENERAL AUTUMNAL PRUNING.

MANY reasons of a decisive nature, point out the autumn as the proper season for pruning the vine. When, by judicious management, the branches of a vine are kept within a small compass, its vegetative powers become exceedingly vigorous; and the quantity of superabundant wood that is necessary to be cut out at the close of every season, being, in general, very great in proportion to that which is retained, the number of channels for the future ascent of the sap becomes, after the general pruning, proportionably limited. In consequence of this, the sap acquires at its rising, a corresponding increase of strength and velocity; and unless the vine be pruned early in the autumn, in order that the utmost possible period of time may intervene, to harden the extremities and such other parts of the branches as the pruning knife has passed over, previously to the ascent of the sap in the following spring, the sap, at its rising, will burst through the wounds, and the vine will bleed profusely at all points. To guard against the occurrence of

this very injurious casualty, there is no other way than to prune at the earliest period possible in the autumn.

The sooner, also, that the vine is pruned in the fall of the year, the earlier will its buds unfold in the ensuing spring; the cause of which may be thus explained. The buds, from their first developement, are endowed with the power of attracting a sufficient quantity of the juices of the plant, to nourish them, and to promote their growth. But this power, although it gradually increases with their growth, is held in subjection throughout the summer, by a similar, but superior power, possessed by the fruit, which in an extraordinary degree diverts the fluids of the plant, and appropriates them to its own growth and maturation. As soon, however, as the fruit is ripened, this power which it previously possessed, becomes nearly extinct, and the fluids of the plant are then chiefly appropriated to the nourishment of the buds, and to the growth of the roots and branches. Now, as the great effort of the vine in ripening its fruit, is made, either before the autumnal equinox, or immediately after it, while the sap is yet moving pretty briskly; if the vine be pruned shortly after that period, the sap quickly accumulates in the shoots that are retained, and the buds attracting it very powerfully, rapidly advance in their growth and maturation. They thus steal a march, as it were, on

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