State Agricultural Society. 323 



same unsatisfactory results, until at last, discouraged and disgusted, he 

 digs up his vines and gives them to the flames. We have known quite a 

 number of good vineyards thus destroyed. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. 



Three years ago the writer came into possession of a vine} r ard on the 

 Sacramento river bottom, on rich alluvial soil. Remembering what we 

 had seen, we regarded this vineyard of but little importance; indeed, 

 the first thing we did with it was to give about one half of the vines to 

 a neighbor, provided he would dig them up and take them off the ground. 

 He did so, but before he had transplanted them he also became discour- 

 aged in grape culture on such soil, and allowed the vines to die without 

 resetting them. 



Having a great amount of other farm work to do, the vineyard was 

 not even pruned until the vines were green with young leaves, and the 

 ground was thickly covered with weeds from three to four inches high. 

 At this stage the vines were thoroughly pruned, leaving only from four 

 to six fruit buds to each vine. The vineyard was then about seven years 

 old. The fruit buds left on the vines, being near the base of the canes, 

 had at the time of pruning swollen but little; those further towards the 

 ends having robbed these of the necessary sap. The vines bled profusely 

 for several days, but finally the bleeding ceased, and the buds began 

 rapidly to expand and throw out leaves and fruit stems in the greatest 

 abundance. As two horses and a large plow could not be worked among 

 the vines, the ground was then plowed, as well as it could be, with a 

 small plow and a single horse. It could only be plowed from two to 

 three inches deep, just enough to cut the roots of the weeds and turn 

 them bottom side up, or roots up. 



After the rains had all passed for the season, and the weeds had got a 

 good start once more, the vineyard was again plowed, in a similar man- 

 ner, and then dragged or harrowed with a one-horse harrow, and left 

 for the season. As soon as the fruit was set, all the suckers and young 

 canes that had no fruit on were pulled off". No other Summer pruning 

 was done, and no pinching off the ends of the canes. A quantity of sul- 

 phur was purchased to keep away the mildew; but as no mildew made 

 its appearance, the sulphur Avas laid away for the next year. The next 

 year the vineyard was treated in a similar manner, and with a similar 

 result, and the sulphur is still on hand. 



The average product of grapes for each of the two years was over 

 four tons per acre, of the best quality of table grapes, of the California 

 variety. The bunches were very large and compact, and the grapes 

 large, fair, and uniform. None of the fruit was sunburnt in the least. 

 The vines also bore and matured quite a quantity of second crop graj)es. 



In the same neighborhood and on similar soil other vineyards, early 

 pruned and thoroughly and deeply plowed and cultivated, produced 

 nothing but a scattering crop oi half grown and half ripe gra]3es, 

 together with an abundant crop of mildew on both grapes and leaves. 



CAUSES OP MILDEW. 



From the above experiments and their results, we think may be traced 

 at least some of the causes of mildew on grapes. Where the vines are 

 pruned early a superabundance of sap is forced into those portions of 

 the vines not cut away. This produces a rapid and unnatural growth — 



