DISEASES AND INSECTS. 225 



CHAPTER XII. 



DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



WE confess we have had very little experience in 

 the matter of diseases and insects affecting the grape 

 vine. Our native varieties are so vigorous and hardy 

 that disease rarely affects them, and during the grow 

 ing season they push with such rapidity, that the loss 

 of a few leaves destroyed by insects is scarcely felt. 



But we are aware that it is not always so, and we 

 shall therefore give as full an account as we can 

 obtain of the formidable pests to which the grape 

 grower is exposed. 



When growing in the open air in a suitable soil, 

 and with a good exposure, the only two diseases to 

 which the grape vine is liable, are mildew and 

 the rot. The former appears in whitish spots on the 

 surface of the leaves and wood, and when examined 

 with a simple lens of 25 inch focu s, shows a net-work 

 of fungus with its sporules. 



For this, as well as for the red spider, no remedy 

 has been found equal to sulphur, the use of which for 

 this purpose has been known from time immemorial. 



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