60 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and this fear is increased by the fact that the cause of the destruc- 

 tion is not well understood, some attributing it to extreme cold ; 

 others to the wood of the previous year not having been thoroughly 

 ripened, and still others claiming that it is because the borders are 

 not sufficiently protected, A sufficient answer to the last men- 

 tioned reason would seem to be the fact that the tops only are in- 

 jured, the roots sending forth a new cane of strong and vigorous 

 growth from below the sill. That it cannot be caused by extreme 

 cold would seem to be shown by the fact that a greater loss does 

 not occur in winters of extreme cold. A few years since, the 

 thermometer in some places in this vicinity, dropped to twenty-six 

 degrees below zero, yet there were very few if any vines killed 

 that winter, while in the winter of 1874-5, without an extreme de- 

 gree of cold, probably more vines were killed than ever before in 

 any one year in this vicinity. "Without presuming upon a knowl- 

 edge which my limited experience would not warrant, I may give 

 the results of my observations the past winter in my own neigh- 

 borhood. 



In the spring of 1871, three vineries were started, all near to- 

 gether. The vines were all planted by, and have been under the 

 care of the same man during summer ; they have had a uniform 

 growth and appearance up to the time they were trimmed and laid 

 down in the fall of 1874. In one of the houses the ventilators 

 were occasionally opened during winter, and irregularly opened 

 through March. In another the upper ventilators were opened 

 every day while the sun was shining. In the third house the 

 upper windows were opened every bright day in the earlier part of 

 the winter, and after the middle of February, when the days were 

 bright and warm, the lower windows and the door were opened. 

 Upon taking up the vines in the spring every vine in the first 

 house, eighteen in all, was killed down to the sill. Out of twenty 

 in the second house, seven were killed, while not one of eighteen 

 vines was injured in the third house. 



This would indicate as the cause, the sudden changes of tempera- 

 ture, and especially would these be dangerous in the latter part of 

 the season, when we have, as last j^ear, an unusual number of 

 bright, sunny days followed by cold freezing nights, and it would 

 suggest as a remedy the careful covering of the vines, rendering 

 them less liable to be affected by either heat or cold, and keeping 

 the temperature of the house cool, and as even as possible. 



