It has been fa- 

 ^; ists for fully 



PART I— IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 



A. SHELLING OR RATTLING (pages 413 tO 440). 



Many grape growers of Chautauqua county have this year lost 

 a considerable portion of their grapes on account of the berries 

 dropping to the ground before they were fully mature. This con- 

 dition is commonly known as the " shelling " or the "rattling" 

 of the grapes. Its unusual prevalence and the severity of the 

 attacks in some vineyards have caused the vineyardists much 

 uneasiness regarding the losses caused and the possible extent 

 to which the trouble may affect the vines in the future. During 

 the past fall it has appeared more or less seriously throughout 

 the region of the Chautauqua grape belt, and some portions of 

 central New York have not entirely escaped its presence. 



The trouble is not a new one. 

 miliar to observing vineyard- 

 twenty-five years, and it is 

 probable that it has existed 

 even longer. It is the sever- 

 ity of the attack which has 

 this fall affected the vines 

 that has made the Chautauqua 

 vineyardists in particular anx- 

 ious regarding the cause of the 

 trouble and the remedies which 

 may be' applied to prevent its 

 reappearance. 



Description. — The shelling of grapes takes place in the follow- 

 ing manner. As the season of ripening approaches, certain ber- 

 ries of the affected clusters fall to the ground on account of the 

 inability of the main fibres and other connecting tissue of the 

 fruit-stems to sustain their weight. Figure i represents a normal 

 separation of the berry from the stem as commonly pulled off ; 

 Fig. 2 shows the manner in which this separation takes place in 

 the case of shelling. The end of the stem is even, as if cut with 

 a knife. 



Fig. I. — Normal separation of berry 

 from the stein. 



