142 



The Grape Culturist. 



THE EFFECTS OF THE COLD SNAP. 



We were not a little amused at the 

 " dolorous wail " in which most of our 

 brethren of the press indulged when 

 the frost of Easter night had killed 

 those of the primary buds of the vine 

 which had already expanded. We do 

 not blame them, however, for report- 

 ing what those of their correspond- 

 ents — who ought to have known bet- 

 ter — saw fit to report to them. We 

 say " ought to have known better " 

 advisedly; for grape growers ought to 

 hiow by this time, the grape is the 

 most reliable of all fruits ; the}^ ought 

 to have known that each well-devel- 

 oped bud on the vino is a triple one, 

 and that when the first or primary 

 one fails, the secondary buds will push 

 forth, and produce at least a, fair crop, 

 if not an abundant one. They ought 

 to have known besides, that onl}- those 

 vai'ieties which push out early, were 

 at all aff'ected, while those which start 

 later were not injured. We did not 

 feel alarmed at all, because we knovv 

 from former experience, that such 

 calamities are not half as great as 

 they look at first sight, and because 

 we put our i-eliance, not on a single 

 one, but on several varieties. 



In our vinej^ards here, of which 

 about thirty acres are in bearing, wo 

 may sum up the damage done, about 

 as follows : 



Injured to about one-fourth of the 

 crop, we find the following varieties : 

 Ives, Concord, Hartford, Clinton, Tay- 

 lor, Marion, Blue Dyer, Franklin, 

 Devereaux, North Carolina Seedling, 

 and Union Village. 



Not injured at all. — Norton, Cj-n- 

 thiana, all the Eogers Hybrids, Mar- 



tha, Creveling, Delaware, Maxataw- 

 ney^ Alvej', Baxter, Eulander, Berks, 

 Blood's Black, Cassady, Catawba, Di- 

 ana, Hermann, Huntingdon, lona, Is- 

 raoUa, Mary Ann, Perkins, Telegraph, 

 and Venango. These Avere not ad- 

 vanced enough that the frost could do 

 any harm. We hear similar reports 

 from other portions of this State and 

 Illinois. 



As wo may safely calculate that one- 

 half of the entire area bearing this 

 year in the West is planted in Con- 

 cords, it will come near the truth if 

 we estimate the damage at about 

 one-eighth of the entire crop. Even 

 allowing one-eighth more for other 

 sections, where the damage may have 

 been greater than here, the result 

 would be on'e-fourth of the entire 

 crop instead of nine-tenths, as many 

 of the despondent ones calculated; 

 and if we take into consideration the 

 wonderfully recuperative habits of the 

 vine, even this may be made up in 

 the course of the season, so that our 

 prospects of an abundant grape crop 

 may yet be called good. 



But the obseiwant mind can draw 

 lessons from ever^^ thing, and to such 

 even this disaster may be productive 

 of good for the future, so as to more 

 than balance the momentary loss. 

 We have learned the following, which 

 we submit to our readers, and should 

 like to have them add their lessons, as 

 wo have no doubt they have also been 

 studying in the school of disaster. 



1st. Do not place your reliance on 

 one variety, but cultivate several, so 

 that if one is afflicted, you will still 

 have a crop from the other. 



