208 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



would not recommend its application to tender foliaged plants, ferns, orchids, 

 etc., thouo;li it has occasionally been tried by myself for destroying thrips on 

 azaleas, after the season's growth had been made, without hurting the plants; 

 and in a case of bug on grape vine, when such a deadly insecticide as kerosene 

 failed, applied during the resting season, two syringings of strong soapy water, 

 at from 150° to 180°, applied a fortnight before the grapes flowered, kept the 

 vines clean for the season. I consider its use dangerous in such cases, and 

 would on no account recommend its use without much caution ou the part of 

 the operator. — Cor. Gardeneri^' Chro7iicle. 



PAPER BAGS FOR GRAPES. 



Charles A. Green states that he has discovered that by the use of strong 

 manila bags grapes may be kept ou the vines in splendid condition long after 

 the season for grapes out-of-doors has gone by. Passing through his vines on 

 October 31, three weeks after the frosts compelled him to gather the crop, 

 and after the leaves had all fallen, he found a few clusters protected by bags 

 that had been overlooked, beneath the leaves. The Brighton opened as fresh, 

 bright, and beautiful as he had ever seen it, with bloom undisturbed, the color 

 a dark rich maroon. He never ate such rare specimens of this fine grape, and 

 yet the freezing had been severe. They were the nearest approach to a raisin 

 he ever saw on vines. The juices near the skin had condensed and there was a 

 temptation to chew the skin to secure the rare flavor. 



George W. Campbell says that fnrtfier experiments with paper bags of thiu 

 manila on grapes during growth and ripening, show that they preserve against 

 bird and rot. The bunches should be previously thinned out, to make the bag- 

 ging easy. The grapes ripen perfectly. 



Shelah, in New York Tribune, says: We did not gather the last 'Hjag" of 

 Concords till the first week of November, three weeks after the foliage had been 

 totally killed. They were exceedingly rich and piquant, and although the dis- 

 turbance caused several berries to drop off, the bag retained them, and here- 

 after we shall gather our Concords in the bag, as we want them, up to raid- 

 November if hard freezing defers so long. As to the bags pre'venting rot we 

 can only say from here that we have as yet found only one or two lonas affected 

 on one bunch in a rather open bag ; but there was not much rot this year out- 

 side of bags. The bags left open at bottom are not so good ; insects get in, 

 and detached grapes roll out. Our bags look as if they might serve another 

 season; we had no very heavy rain storms to strain them. 



But there is another unmentioned merit of these paper bags too good to be 

 passed over. They are a great aid to the keeping of grapes in the house. For 

 years we tried one after another of the published methods of keeping 

 grapes, with vexatious ill success. They moulded alike in a cave, in a dry bank, 

 and in the cellar, while in dry rooms they shriveled, and if packed in cotton, so 

 many were apt to be detached and become nauseous that we lost hope of enjoy- 

 ment from stoi-ed grapes. The only ones that kept well were some of Kogers' 

 red sorts under glass, cold, left hanging on the vines. But now bunches of 

 many sorts, laid in tlie bags, on a large scaffold in a cool room uf still air, keep 

 admirably; and we have never yet taken out a pin to open one of the bags 

 without a treble delight over tlieir beauty of bloom r.ud fullness, their exquisite 



