186 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



Late frosts when the vines are in bloom, generally 

 speaking in the spring. In Pensylvania and New 

 York the wild grape-vine blooms about the end of 

 May or the beginning of June; and the tame, about 

 the same time. In May, and often in June, the nights 

 are at times cold. But the tame vine, it seems, meets 

 with no especial damage, blooms riotously almost 

 every year, and yields plenty of fruit. In Carolina, 

 grapes bloom a month earlier; but often, even in 

 April, there are very cold nights. The thermometer 

 often falls from 80 Fahr. to 40 . But on the whole 

 these frosts are not so common, and occur in other 

 vine-countries as well ; in America they do not appear 

 to work any great harm to the vines. 



The mildew this they have in common with other 

 vine-countries. 



The great number of insects and birds which are 

 harmful both to leaves and fruit. But this can be said 

 only of the least cultivated parts ; about the towns 

 European grapes and vines suffer less, either from 

 insects or birds, and there are precautions that may be 

 taken against both. In Carolina there is a sort of 

 chafer-beetle, called the cock-chafer, which resorts 

 among the vines in May and June especially, and eats 

 off the leaves. 



The frequent dews which, in the middle and south- 

 ern parts, fall in June and July, and are followed by 

 the rapid heating of a burning sun. The moisture 

 among the young grapes being greatly heated by the 

 sun's rays, the berries rot. Experiments have been 

 made at Charleston, to show the likelihood of this 

 opinion. In August water was dropped on cabbage 

 and other leaves, and allowed to evaporate in the burn- 



