The use of paper bags in grape culture is one of the great advances in the modern art of gardening. It was among the earliest teachings of the Gardeners' Monthly, that the •practice at that time popular, of taking off the leaves of the grape in order to let in the sun and air, in order to color and ripen them, was done , under a mistaken idea that the coloring and ripening of fruit was a purely chemical process, whereas ripening is a purely vital process, and to get the best results we need all the help we can get from the living plant, and not so much from the sun and air, except in so much as these may help the vital powers of the plant itself. Good healthy leaves are the first essential to vital powers. The more healthy leaves the better. Pulling off vine leaves to let in the sun and air is an injury to vital power. With injury to vital power grapes will not color well. The more healthy leaves a plant has the better the fruit will color, and it makes no difference whatever whether the fruit is in the sun or shade, provided there are plenty of good healthy leaves to feed the vital forces on which the coloring power depends. That shading will not act against high coloring has long been known to every hot-house grower.

Shading the house in very warm and sunny weather, has been found favorable to high coloring, because the excessive light and heat was unfavorable to the vital power. From this to shading the bunches by means of paper bags is an easy step. We have not heard that the practice has come into general favor in the North or East of our country, because the summer heat or light is not unfavorable to vital power; but further South, where the fruits natural to the more temperate climes have a hard struggle with that sun which enervates human beings as well as plant life, bagging has been found of great value and in some instances is practiced on a large scale. Mr. Coenen, a famous German vineyardist in Hopkins County, Ky., had last year no less than 80,000 pounds of grapes under paper bags, employing six girls, and using 34,000 bags in the work. It pays him well, as his product is considered a first-class article. Then there is the great advantage of full protection in those localities where bees are destructive to the fruit.

It is possible that some form of fungus diseases may be prevented also.