Necrosis of titi': Grapr Vine. 343 



newals from such a root come diseased, usually in their second year 



(Fig- 57). 

 Experienced trimmers assert that they can detect diseased vines by 



the appearance of the wood. That this is not always true is very evident. 

 In many vineyards, the writer has used as a criterion of this disease the 

 fact that a vine had been trimmed and tied up and yet failed to put out 

 shoots. It would seem then that the best time to mark such vines for 

 the eradication of the disease would be in the spring and summer when 

 some one of the characters given above and illustrated in the photographs 

 would be evident even to the laborer. Every laborer could be supplied 

 with some wooden tags with a fine wire or with some strips of lath or 

 shingle, and the diseased vines could be marked in this way with prac- 

 tically no extra expense or loss of time. 



In cutting off such vines, care should be taken to get below the 

 diseased area. There is no difficulty in detecting disease in the sawed 

 end of a trunk, but it must be remembered that the fungus may have trav- 

 eled farther than the brownish area. It is strongly recommended that a 

 separate set of tools be carried for the removal of diseased vines. When 

 the old trunk is cut off the stub should be coated with a heavy oil lead 

 paint. Ordinarily the diseased vines are not of so frequent occurrence 

 that one extra set of tools would be insufficient for a squad of six 

 or more trimmers. In this way, the danger of infecting healthy 

 vines by way of the pruning shears or saw would be avoided. The lead 

 paint should be smeared over the exposed stub to prevent any stray bit of 

 diseased wood from producing infection, or the subsequent entrance of 

 this or other rot fungi. 



In the case of vines just beginning to show the disease, some growers 

 have asked whether it would not be just as well to leave the vine, getting 

 such a crop from it as would bear while the renewal was being 

 trained up and brought into bearing. The main object in leaving the old 

 trunk would be to protect the renewal from being broken off by the horse 

 hoe, etc. This is what Mr. Goggin does but in general it is not likely 

 to give the best results. The sooner the diseased vine can be removed 

 the better. In case there is danger of breaking off the renewal, a lath 

 could be used to mark it, which could easily be put in by the person who 

 is trying the vines. 



STATEMENT 



If at any time there is doubt as to the identity of this disease, growers 

 are invited to send specimens of the diseased wood to the Department of 

 Plant Pathology, New York State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. 

 An examination of the material will gladly be made and the result of the 

 examination reported. 



