Some Grape Troubles of Western New York. 427 



in the proper elements ? Nitrogen is there in more than sufficient 

 quantities, but other things than nitrogen are wanted for the per- 

 fecting of a grape crop, and it is very possible that some of those 

 other elements may not be present in proper quantities to supply 

 the demands of the larger amount of wood which has been made, 

 as well as to ripen the fruit properly. In case there is not enough 

 food the fruit will be the first to show the effects. 



On higher land where the growth is not so rank, the demands 

 of the ripening wood are not so great and the fruit is better cared 

 for. Too much nitrogen, therefore, is detrimental to the profit- 

 able development of the grapes. 



GROUP III. 

 Conditions of the soil. 



10. The kind of soil. — That the shelling of grapes is worse 

 as a rule upon some soils than upon others is a very com- 

 mon belief, and the .subject is closely related to the two pre- 

 ceding. About Ripley, the soils which are supposed to produce 

 shelling vines are the low rich lands, the higher ones being free. 

 I found an exception to this rule in the vineyard of Mr. H. J. 

 Lewis, and about Portland several cases could be mentioned in 

 which the high land shelled as badly as the low. At Forestville it 

 is a common saying that clay lands are free from the trouble, but 

 there are many cases which contradict the statement. My obser- 

 vations have led me to the conclusion that the character of the 

 land is not an indication of the degree to which the grapes will 

 shell. This reservation should nevertheless be made : that lands 

 which are rich in nitrogen, and which consequently make an 

 unusually strong growth of wood and foliage, are strongly 

 inclined to produce vines which shell, while lands making a 

 normal amount of wood and healthy foliage are inclined to be 

 free from the trouble. 



11. Too much cultivation. — The effect of too much, or too late 

 cultivation, is practically the same as that of feeding plants nitro- 

 gen. It cannot be denied that the amount of shelling found in 

 poorly cultivated vineyards has on the whole been less than in 

 those which have been well cultivated, other things being equal. 



