STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 135 



cluster, not having any more, if as much, foxiness, while it possesses the 

 merit of being absolutely hardy in every situation, without any protec- 

 tion. 



Clinton has been, and is now, one of our very best wine grapes, but 

 on account of its being subject, to so great an extent, to the ravages of 

 the ^^ thrip,'" is being rapidly rooted out to make room for other thicker- 

 leaved varieties. This is to be lamented, as in the matter of hardiness it 

 is d\iid\.w\.t\)- frost-proof . 



Eumelan, Croton, Walter, and most of Rogers' Hybrids, together 

 with a great many other varieties, fared badly by the cold weather last 

 winter, and reports of their being killed, both root and branch, on all 

 sorts of soils and under all sorts of circumstances, even when well pro- 

 tected, have reached me from different points. 



Catawbas, Delawares and Dianas, mostly killed down to the ground, 

 but the roots in most cases are uninjured and have thrown up extraordi- 

 nary strong canes the past summer. Hartford, though in many instances 

 unprotected, not as badly injured as Ives and many other varieties con- 

 sidered hardy. Martha, where protected, all right ; unprotected, some- 

 what injured. 



From some localities come good words for Crevelling, Ives, Black 

 Hawk, Rulander, Northern Muscadine, Telegraph, and some others, but 

 as a general thing Concord receives its full meed of praise, while other 

 varieties are spoken but little of. 



As to any disease affecting the vines the past season, I have as yet 

 not learned of a case of either rot or mildew anywhere in the Northern 

 District ; neither have I heard of grapes cracking, as frequently has been 

 the case in other seasons. This last result, no doubt, is due to the fact of 

 the very general absence of rain during the period of ripening. 



What were the birds doing, that they committed no depredations on 

 the grapes this year? With me they seemed as plenty as last year, and 

 while last year they made sad havoc in all vineyards which came within 

 my notice, this year I have not seen a single grape touched by them. 



Insects have, as usual, damaged the vines and fruit to some extent ; 

 chief among these is the t]irip,\v\i\c\\. in some vineyards has almost entirely 

 defoliated many of the thin-leaved varieties, such as Clinton, Norton's 

 Virginia, Delaware, some of Rogers' Hybrids, and many others. The 

 little gray flea beetle has done considerable damage by eating into the 

 buds, but the depredations of this insect seem confined to a few localities 

 in this district, as I have received but two complaints of it this year; the 

 hog caterpillar and blue caterpillars, also the grapevine sphinx, have 

 committed some de]iredations, but not to any great extent ; the grape 

 codling has damaged the fruit of some vineyards, but its attacks have not 

 been general ; leaf-folders have worked industriously, but little is to be 

 feared from them, if the wood pruned from the vines in the fall and win- 

 ter be carefully gathered and burned. 



One correspondent, from Carroll county, reports "a bug about the 

 size of a fly, gray, with minute black specks ; " he says " it comes in 

 swarms and attacks the leaves on the upper side leaving only a skeleton." 



