114 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



be done before this exposure of the mycjelium and spores takes place, 

 and consequently, here as elsewhere, prevention is more valuable 



Certainvarieties of grapes are more subject to this disease than 

 others, but if we attempt to avoid Anthracnose, Black-Rot, and the 

 Mildews by a system of selection based upon this principle, we will 

 have to discard grape culture entirely, or at least all tliose varieties 

 which are most highly prized. The kinds that usually escape tlie 

 Mildew are, in some cases, the very ones most *' susceptible" to the 

 Black-Rot, and those which may "resist" the latter malady may be 

 the first to succumb to the Anthracnose. 



Anthracnose is most prevalent in wet seasons and in low situations 

 or where the vineyards are poorly drained; and too heavy manuring, 

 especially with fresh stable manure, is said to favor its development. 



W ater in a condensed form is necessary for the diffusion and prop- 

 agation of the fungus of Anthracnose, and any appliance that shall 

 prevent deposition of rain or dew upon the foliage or other parts of 

 the vine will secure immunity from the disease. Inclosing the half- 

 grown bunches of grapes in paper bags will doubtless be as useful a 

 protection of the berries against Anthracnose as from Black-rot, and 

 for the same reasons. This system of vine protection, excepting for 

 the berries, is hardly practicable in vineyards of any size, and other 

 remedies must be sought. 



In districts in Europe where the vines are subject to this disease 

 the practice is quite general to bathe or wash the vines in early spring, 

 before the buds have commenced to expand, with a strong solution 

 (50 per cent.) of sulphate of iron, applied with an ordinary mop or 

 large sponge, fixed to the end of a stick 2 or 3 feet long. This wash- 

 ing should be done when the atmosphere is damp, in order to prevent 

 a too rapid evaporation of the iron solution, which otherwise might 

 result in injury to the vine. When the young shoots have attained 

 a length of 5 or 6 inches they receive a good dusting with the flow- 

 ers of sulphur, whether the disease has appeared on them or not. 

 The new growth is then carefully watched, and at the first sign of 

 the malady the vines are again treated, this time with sulphur, to 

 which has been added one-third to one-half its bulk of powdered 

 lime. If the progress of the disease is not checked by this treatment 

 the sulphur is omitted in subsequent applications, which are of finely 

 pulverized lime. 



Where this treatment of the vines with sulphate of iron, followed 

 by heavy and frequent use of sulphur or sulphur and lime, has been 

 adhered to for several years, Anthracnose now rarely appears, or has 

 ceased to be injurious, even in locations where before it was exceed- 

 ingly destructive. 



From recent experiments it appears that quicker and more positive 

 results may be obtained with the aid of sulphate of copper. To the 

 iron solution (500 grams to the liter of Avater), witli which the vines 

 are bathed just before the buds begin to expand in the spring, sul- 

 phate of copper is added at the rate of 50 grams to the liter; and in 

 the sulphurings which follow add to the sulphur one-tenth its weight 

 in sulphate of copper, very finely powdered. 



A correspondent in La Vigne Americaine, December, 1836, states 

 that he treated his vines for Anthracnose, by liberally washing them 

 with the Bordeaux mixture. This application was made during the 

 season of growth, for tlie writer goes on to say that ' ' in a short time 

 the disease disappeared, vegetation started up again -with vigor; the 



