186 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



'injury, and notwithstanding the late and unfavorable spring, gave 

 promise of an unusually fine yield of fruit in the early part of sum- 

 mer, but alas ! the rot and mildew have once more thrown their bligbt- 

 ing influence over that promise, and we record another season of more 

 or less marked failure throughout a large portion of the State. 



Fortunately we have a lew varieties which have shown their resist- 

 ance again to these dread fungoid diseases, and of these varieties the 

 Norton's Virginia and the Cynthiana still rank at the head of the list. 

 So lar as I have observed and heard, they have done remarkably well, 

 and probably have given full average crop. 



The Elvira also has made its mark again, and, with the exception 

 of some localities, has suffered but little from the rot, and has gener- 

 ally given a fairly satisfactory crop. Our friend, Jacob Rommel, the 

 originator of the Elvira, may well be proud of the appreciation which 

 this grape has won, not only in this State but in many other sections 

 of our country. I believe, however, that the Etta, a seedling of the 

 Elvira, and another of friend Rommel's productions, will in time out- 

 rank its parent, being of a finer, better, more sprightly and vinous 

 quality, and valuable alike for the table and for wine. 



The Ives, Perkins, Norton's Seedling, Lad}'^, Grenis Golden, Mon- 

 tefiore, Mason's Seedling, Pocklington, have, with us here, given toler- 

 ably fair crops and suffered less damage from rot and mildew than most 

 other kinds. 



However, I will enter into no more details concerning varieties, 

 as both Mr. Rommel and Mr. Teubner, my fellow member on the grape 

 committee, have signified their intention of handing in their reports, 

 and will probably speak of the different kinds, and make a better report 

 on them than I am able, having had but little occasion myself for per- 

 sonal observation outside of our own vineyards, and in other parts of 

 the State. 



I would rather say a few words on another subject, which is of 

 great interest to our American grape culture. 



For the last five or six years the Perenospora viticola^ (our Amer- 

 ican Grape Mildew), has prevailed to an alarming extent in the Old 

 World, notably in Southern France and in Italy, and the ravages caused 

 by it in those countries have scarcely been less damaging to their 

 crops than the losses caused by the Phyloxera. Its effects on the Eu 

 ropean grape — and the entire vinifera class is especially susceptible to 

 it — have been precisely the same, as its effects here are only too well 

 known on varieties that are subject to it. Two years ago, already my 

 fnend and partner, Mr. Bush, expressed the hope in our Bushburg 

 catalogue, (page 4^), that some remedy would be found against this 



