428 Bulletin 76. 



It is said that one grower boasts of harvesting from his vineyard 

 two tons of hay and three tons of grapes per acre ; yet his grapes 

 did not shell. I have seen a case* in which two men owned adjoin- 

 ing vineyards which were growing on the same land and had had 

 the same treatment in past years. During the past sea.son one had 

 not been cultivated and the other had been. The latter shelled 

 considerably, the former practically none. Vineyards that were 

 growing nearly in sod were almost invariably free from the 

 trouble. Many vineyards that were not cultivated also shelled, 

 but unquestionably the well cultivated vineyards suffered more 

 than those which were not so thoroughly tilled. The explana- 

 tion for this fact is probably the same as that which will clear up 

 the shelling of grapes upon the soils rich in nitrogen, since tillage 

 promotes nitrification, which in turn causes a strong growth of 

 wood. 



12. Excessive droiight. — Many attribute the shelling of grapes 

 to the very dry weather. The grape season of 1894 was about 

 ten days earlier than usual ; Catawbas colored and ripened to per- 

 fection, and the quality of all varieties was exceptionally good. 

 These undoubtedly are results of the drought, and why should not 

 shelling be equally *so since it has been so unusually severe ? 

 Several objections can be raised to this theory. If the shelling 

 was due to the drought entirelj', vineyards upon the same soils 

 should have suffered with the same uniformity with which their 

 grapes colored and ripened, or received their excellent flavor. 

 Again, if drought is the only cause of shelling, vineyards growing 

 upon moist soil should have been free from the trouble. One 

 vineyard belonging to Mr. E. H. Fay, of Brocton, N. Y., was 

 planted upon soil which remained moist throughout the summer ; 

 in fact, open ditches held running water during the worst of the 

 dry weather. Nevertheless, this vineyard shelled, but not from 

 want of water. It is situated upon the black rich land already 

 mentioned and shelled probably for the same reason that others 

 in similar situations did. 



There seems to be, nevertheless, some connection between the 

 prolonged dry weather and the shelling. It appears to me that this 



* Messrs. Randall and Lewis, Ripley, N. Y. 



