REMARKS ON THE ROT IN HARDY GRAPES. 



I6i 



As Mr. Downing has very justly re- 

 marked, horticultural societies are insti- 

 tuted " to advance the taste for the intelli- 

 gent culture of fruits and flowers." They 

 must do more, and direct that taste by the 

 well tried results of impartial investigation, 

 the basis of all true experience. At all 

 their exhibitions, certainly all we have ever 

 attended in this country, there has been 

 seen upon the tables too much indifferent 

 and poor fruit ; and we have always felt 

 puzzled to comprehend why it was permit- 

 ted to be here at all. The very fact that 

 this kind of fruit is placed before the pub- 

 lic, at these exhibitions, is in itself enough 

 to convince us of the great evil of the thing. 

 The amateur very naturally supposea that 

 the grower would not exhibit what was 

 worthless, or the society receive any such 

 trash. He sees a great many dishes of ap- 

 ples, or pears, and other varieties of fruit, 

 admires the looks of most of them, and 

 takes it for granted that the whole are cer- 

 tainly good, if not first rate j for if they 

 were had, they would not be where they 

 are. A society professing to regulate these 

 matters, is presumed to do it efTectually ; 

 and if its judges estimate an apple, a pear, 

 a peach, strawberries, or any other fruit as 

 good, bad, or indifferent, the public believe 

 it should be so marked, that they may know 



and proflt by the experience of men of 

 competent and impartial judgment. True, 

 tastes may diffor ; but differ as they will, in 

 in some respects, the character o( first rate 

 fruits must ever remain the same, under 

 approved methods of cultivation. 



As reform is the order of the day, we 

 trust the subject will receive all possible 

 attention at the convention shortly to be 

 held in the city of New-York. The objects 

 aimed at are assuredly of no little impor- 

 tance. Fruits from various sources and 

 localities are to be compared, doubtful 

 points settled, and their merits fairly de- 

 termined. Opinions are to be compared^ 

 as to the value of numerous varieties al- 

 ready in cultivation, and what is of the 

 greatest consequence to all interested, the 

 long catalogue of indifferent and worthless 

 sorts, now propagated by nurserymen and 

 fruit grov/ers, is to be abridged by genera! 

 consent. In anticipation of what this con-* 

 vention may and can do, it must be re- 

 garded with favor. Its labors, if properly 

 directed and carried out, must be beneficial 

 to horticulture ; and the ultimate results, 

 necessarily following such interesting de- 

 liberations, will not fail to be of enduring 

 utility. 



Wm. "W. Valk, m. u. 



Flushing, L. I., Sept. 10, 1843. 



REMARKS ON THE ROT IN HARDY GRAPES. 



BY B., CHESTER CO., PENNSYLVANIA. 



I OBSERVE some inquiries respecting the 

 " rof^ in the Isabella and Catawba grapes, 

 in your last number, and also an account 

 of an experiment by one of your correspond- 

 ents to prevent this disease. 



The Catawba grape appears to be parti- 

 cularly liable to this disease. Indeed, in 



some parts of the neighboring country, I 

 have seen it prevailing this year to such an 

 extent that the ground beneath the vines 

 is covered with the fallen berries, and the 

 crop is a total loss. 



Noticing, two or three years ago, that 

 certain spots or patches of ground, in a 



