•4'i6 Bulletin 76. 



shelling takes place. This difference is very noticeable in Con- 

 cords. Grapes of this variety, when grown under favorable con- 

 ditions, are sweet and very agreeable to the taste, on account of a 

 flavor which is peculiar to the variety. Shelled grapes are ex- 

 tremely insipid, and are unpalatable not only from a want of taste 

 but also from a certain disagreeable flavor which, though seldom 

 strong, is still perceptible. Berries which remain upon shelly 

 vines lack flavor, but otherwise they do not appear to possess any 

 particularly disagreeable qualities.* 



Vines which have shelly grapes are almost invariably affected 

 by what is commonlj- called the leaf-blight. This generally ap- 

 pears late in July or during August. This year it came on late 

 in August and during the first week of September, which is about 

 the time that the grapes began to fall from the vines. The blight 

 causes the death of the leaf tissues, but all the leaves do not 

 appear to be equally affected. The younger growths are the ones 

 which suffer most. The leaves at the outer extremities of the 

 shoots first show a 5^ellow discoloration which follows more or 

 less continuously the outer margin. Soon this yellow portion 

 dies and turns brown. This causes the leaf to curl at the edges 

 as shown in Fig. 3. As the disease progresses, older leaves are 

 affected and in severe cases the amount of brown in the foliage is 

 noticeable from a considerable distance. Many of the vineyards 

 showed this discoloration so plainly that it was not necessary to 

 enter them to be assured that the grapes were shelling. 



The shelling of grapes is not invariably accompanied by any 

 decided discoloration of foliage, nor is the browning of the leaf 

 tissue a certain indication of shelling ; but the few exceptional 

 cases in which the one takes place without the other scarcely have 

 sufficient weight to throw any serious doubt upon the probable 

 relation existing between the two. I have been assured by several 



* Chemical analyses of shelling grapes are now being made with the hope 

 that some light may be thrown upon the subject by the berries themselves. 

 In addition to this, fertilizer experiments have been planned and several are 

 now under way to determine the kinds and amounts of fertilizers that are 

 necessary to the proper maturing of a crop of grapes, and also to find what 

 amount of fruit can regularly and profitably be borne by a vine without in- 

 jury to it. The results of these investigations should be published as soon as 

 definite statements can be made. 



