284 



The Grape Cullurist. 



Liberty, Bedford County, V'a , > 

 Sept. '), 1870. \ 



Mr. George Husmann, 



Dear Sir : — My vino- 

 yard, composed mostly of Catawbas, 

 is infested by a small insect which has 

 in man}' instances corapletel}' denuded 

 the vine of its leaves — the leaves and 

 vines having the appearance of a heavy 

 frost having fallen upon them. The 

 fruit (of which there is a fair crop, 

 notwithstanding the rot from the 

 early rains), seems as yet uninjured 

 by this destruction of the leaf, and is 

 ripening verj' evenly. The Concord 

 vines are not so much injured as either 

 the Catawba or Isabella. I observe 

 that all the vines in this section, of 

 every cultivated variety, are more or 

 less attacked by this voracious little 

 leaf sucker. 



The insect when first seen appears 

 upon the under side of the leaf and 

 bears some resemblance to a louse ; is 

 of a palo green color, and very torpid 

 in its movements ; in a very short 

 timCj however, it becomes very active, 



flies, and jumps from leaf to leaf upon 

 the approach of any one, and is very 

 shy ; is still of a pale green color, and 

 when fall grown is between a gnat 

 and mosquito in size. I have never 

 seen any reference to this depredator 

 in your journal or any other work on 

 the subject. Can you give me infor- 

 mation and a remed}' ? 



I tried an application of a solution 

 of carbolic acid with no good result, 

 and being ignorant of the peculiari- 

 ties of my enemy determined to let 

 him have his own way for the present. 

 Eespectfully, 



T. M. BOWYER. 



[We think it is the thrips or leaf- 

 hopper you have to deal with. Some 

 have tried sulphur as a remedy ; others 

 recommend to go through the vine- 

 yard at night with torches, one person 

 bearing the lighted torch, another 

 beating the vines when they will fly 

 into the light and get scorched. 

 Whether these remedies are reliable 

 or not we are unable to say. — Editor.] 



We acknowledge the receipt of man- 

 ifold invitations to fairs and horticul- 

 tural gatherings, so numerous, indeed, 

 that we cannot name them all, and 

 only regret that it is out of our power 

 to attend them. We can assure our 

 friends that it is not for want of in- 

 clination ; we have always found pleas- 

 ure as well as instruction in these 

 gatherings of the lovers of horticul- 

 ture, and would like to visit them all, 

 but we have a task before us here 



which sometimes is almost beyond our 

 strength, and as these fairs and the 

 vintage always come together, we can 

 only choose between duty and pleas- 

 ure, and our choice is the first. Thanks, 

 nevertheless, to all our friends for 

 their kind remembrance. We hope 

 they will all have a good time, and 

 send us a report of what they have 

 seen and learned, for the columns of 

 the Grape Culturist. 



