mildew." In the name of George Washington, what else could happen to them? Mr. 

 and Mrs. Mildew were abroad on atmospheric wings, hunting up territory where to 

 raise a prolific family. 



Just after a rain-storm they came along and, in their way, said, " Thanks, Mr. 

 Englishman, for preparing this soil ; here is where we'll locate." In a few weeks their 

 name was " Billions ! " We were called upon for advice, which was given, and was sub- 

 stantially this : My friend, in England it was a necessity, where there is not enough sun 

 for the grape, to cut away a part of the foliage to admit light and air, but here, on the 

 south side of a brick building, where there is a torrid heat, you must perform no summer 

 pruning. You must leave on all the foliage to shade the fruit and prevent the sun from 

 heating the bricks and reflecting such heat on leaf and fruit, thereby destroying the 

 epidermis. The suggestions were followed, resulting, the following year, in perfect 

 fruit. When the calamity happened to the vines just mentioned, the effect on the foli- 

 age was substantially the same as that on the leaves of the pear trees alluded to on page 

 48. In both cases the power of the leaf to perform its functions was destroyed, one 

 from a temperature of about 20 degrees, the other above 120 degrees as it reflected from 

 the scalding bricks. In such occurrences the feeding rootlets are affected and, in a few 

 days, perish. The spores, then, lodge on this dead tissue, and the various diseases begin 

 to multiply. After such a shock no plant can reestablish itself the same season. 



Volumes have been written concerning " black rot " and kindred diseases of the 

 grape, but the facts are, all those maladies have their origin from the same source, i. e., 

 the destruction of the root. Remember that the root may perish in consequence of the 

 leaf having first been destroyed, or the root may drown, die of thirst, or otherwise lose 

 its life, and thereby destroy the leaf. It matters not which is attacked first, both have 

 to suffer. The injured leaf is appropriate soil for the fungi and the feeding-ground for 

 bugs. In the case of the vine on the south side of the brick building, it was destructive 

 to the crop to apply summer pruning ; but suppose a vine stands in some shady place 

 and has heavy foliage ; in this case a part of the young vines and large leaves must be 

 removed, or they commence decayingybr the want of air, and mildew at once sets in on 

 them. The viticulturist realizes that he must preserve a healthy foliage ; this cannot be 

 done without a sound root. 



Here comes in the unfortunate part of the whole affair. Those who were engaged 

 in the introduction of grapes, forty or fifty years ago, took the greatest pains to prepare 

 the soil and to have it deep and well-drained and kept clear of weeds. Since that time 

 the spirit of money-making has inaugurated a pell-mell rush in producing numbers of 

 vines, and now we purchase vines that have been weakened through neglect or thought- 

 lessness and often grown amid rank and destructive weeds. The great desire among 

 nurserymen has been to find a grape that is mildew-proof. I speak reverently and 

 thoughtfully when I say that the Almighty himself could not produce such a specimen 

 without changing the taws He has established. The normal condition of everything is 

 health, and it is a crime to be sick. The mildew, black rot, bird's-eye rot, etc., with 

 which we are afflicted, is the penalty we are paying for the neglect of the roots, bad 

 drainage, shallow and poor soil and plants that have been iveakened by overwork. As we 

 improve the quality of a plant we reduce the hardiness of it. This is illustrated with the 

 coleus. The more richly-colored the leaf, the weaker the constitution of the plant. 

 This is generally true with cereals and fruits; hence, just in proportion as we have made 

 improvements in fruit, in that same ratio we should have kept up a high state of culti- 

 vation. But, alas! things have gone in just the opposite direction! The most inexcus- 

 able thoughtlessness and neglect have characterized our whole conduct in planting and 

 cultivation, or rather non-cultivation of vines and trees and, thereby, as before stated, 

 we have created the most prolific hot-beds of the diseases with which we now have to 

 battle. 



How many grape-vines did you ever see that were pestered with the "rot" or mildew 

 when they were allowed to run wild? Not many; for in a wild state their plant sense 



