670 



GRAPE 



960. Pru 



the oions be perfectly dormant. These cions are taken 

 and stored in the same way as cuttings. The grafting 

 should be done verv early in the spring, before the sap 

 starts. Grafting may also be done 

 late in the spring, after all dan- 

 ger of bleeding is over ; but, in 

 that ease, it is more difficult to 

 keep the cions dormant, and the 

 growth is not likely to be so great 

 during the first season. Vine- 

 yards which are composed of un- 

 profitable varieties may be 

 changed to new varieties very 

 readily by this means. Vinifera 

 varieties can also be grafted on 

 our common phylloxera-resistant 

 stocks by the same method. Al- 

 most any method of grafting can 

 be employed upon the Grape vine 

 if the work is done beneath the 

 surface. 



^""'^ J)iseaxes. — 1he Grape is amen- 



able to many insect and fungous attacks. The most 

 serious difficulty is the phylloxera, which, however, is 

 practically unknown as an injurious pest on the 

 native Grapes. On the vinifera varieties it is ex- 

 ceedingly serious, and it is working great dev- 

 astation in many of the vineyards of the Old 

 World and of the Pacific coast. The most practi- 

 cable means of dealing with this pest is to graft 

 the vinifera vines on native or resistant roots. 



The mildew and black rot are the most serious 

 of the fungous enemies. The mildew (Pf»-ono- 

 spora viticola) is the more common form of rot 

 in the North. In the South the black rot ( Lasta- 

 dia BidiveUii) is verv serious. Both these dis- 

 eases cause the berries to decay. They also at- 

 tack the leaves, particularly the mildew, caus- 

 ing the leaves to fall and preventing the Grapes 

 from maturing. It is the mildew which has 

 worked such havoc in European vineyards. The 

 mildew is most serious on thin-leaved and smooth- ou 



leaved varieties, as the Delaware. It causes yel- 

 lowish patches to appear on the leaves, with frost-like 

 colonies on the under sides. It causes the berries to 

 decay with a gray and finally a brown rot, the berries 

 usually remaining small and firm but not greatly 

 wrinkled. The black rot causes the berries to become 

 very hard, dry and shriveled, and the epidermis is cov- 

 ered with minute pimples (Fig. 9G6). The treatment 

 for both these diseases is the same -spraying with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. In regions in which the diseases have 

 not been very prevalent, it is usually sufficient to begin 

 the spraying' after the fruit has begun to set, and to 

 spray two or three times, as the case seems to require. 

 When the diseases have been very prevalent, however, 

 it is better to begin before the buds swell in the spring. 



GRAPE 



clusters and ou the young growth, where it makes 

 sunken, discolored areas, and where it interferes se- 

 riously with the growth of the parts. It is not so easily 

 controlled as the mildew and the black rot. Careful at- 

 tention to pruning awav all the diseased wood and 

 burning it -will help in controlling the disease. Before 

 growth starts, spray the vines, trellis and posts with 

 strong sulfate of copper solution. After the leaves open, 

 use the Bordeaux mixture. 



In Grape houses the powdery mildew (Cnctnula spi- 

 ralis) often does serious damage. It also occurs in the 

 open vineyard, but it is usually not serious there. It 

 appears as a very thin, dust-like covering on the leaves. 

 It sometimes attacks the berries, causing them to re- 

 main small or to crack. This fungus lives on the sur- 

 face, and is therefore readily controlled in Grape houses 

 by dusting with flowers of sulfur or by the fumes of 

 evaporated sulfur. 



For further discussions on Grape diseases and ditti- 

 culties, the reader should consult the bulletins of the 

 experiment stations, publications of the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, books on economic ento- 

 mology, and Lodeman's "Spraying of Plants." 



Varieties. -Ot the native Grapes, fully 800 varieties 



962. Upright syste; 

 At the winter pmning, all the top 



of Grape training. 



...,5 „, ..ill be cut away except two cane 



these two will be laid down in opposite direction 

 re for the next season's fruiting. 



In infested vineyards, the foliage and diseased berries 

 should be raked up and burned in the fall. 



The anthracnose or scab {Sphareloma ampeiintim) is 

 a verv serious fungous disease. It is most apparent on 

 the fruit, where it makes a hard, scabby patch. Its 

 most serious work, however, occurs on the stems of the 



have been named and described. Many foreign varie- 

 ties have been introduced. Yet. in any region the num - 

 ber of useful commercial varieties is usually less than 

 a dozen. Of the American Grapes (those aside from 

 viniferas), the Concord is the cosmopolitan variety. 

 Others of great prominence are Worden, Niagara, Ca- 

 tawba, Delaware. For the South, consult Munson's 

 article, below. For the Pacific viniferas, consult Wick- 

 son's account, below. Following are notes on varieties 

 by Ralph Bush, of the old firm of Bush & Sons, Bush- 

 berg, Mo. This firm was established shortly after the 

 civil war bv Isidor and Ralph Bush, father and son. In 

 the early seventies the firm became Bush & Son & 

 Meissner, bv the entering of G. E. Meissner. 'The re- 

 cent death of the elder Bush and Meissner has left the 

 firm in the hands of Ralph Bush & Sons. It is this 

 firm which publishes the Grape manual already men- 

 tioned. In that work and in Mitzky's "Native t'^ape,' 

 great numbers of varieties are described. Mr. Bush s 

 remarks on varieties of Grapes, made for this occasion, 

 are as follows : 



"The planting of vineyards, both for market and ama- 

 tc-ur purposes, is on the increase. The inclination m 

 planting tends more towards quality than to quantity; 

 that is, from the many inquiries and orders, the mam 

 question seems to be the adaptation of the variety to 

 the soil or the purpose. In former years the planter, 

 without question, would order so many Concord, Hart- 

 foril Ives Elvira, etc., and in rare cases, one or two of 

 a better v'lri.-tv Now there is no demand whatever for 

 Hartforrl, much less for Ives and Elvira, while the 

 planting of even the Concord is on the decrease. The 

 general tendency around the great lakes is still to plant 

 the Catawba, and it certainly thrives very well. In 

 manv parts of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee 

 the Noah and Niagara are in great demand ; as also the 

 Delaware Norton Virginia and Cynthiana for wine 

 purposes. In the section south of the Ohio river, as 

 also in the western states, such kinds as Moore Early, 

 Moore Diamond, Brighton, Worden, Cottage, Niagara, 



