THE GENESEE FARMER. 



12T 



Most of the varieties wliich are in general culti- 

 vation claim to be hardy, withstanding our severe 

 •winters without protection. Many of them may 

 be, yet it is better to turn them down and cover 

 every autumn, as insuring an increased crop the 

 following year. It is but little trouble to do it, and 

 it wiU repay in tlie abundance of fruit which fol- 

 Jows such care. 

 Strawbekriks. — Last year the Comnaittee awarded 

 Isaac Fay the Lyman Plate, valued at fifty dollars, 

 for his seedling called '■'■Jenny Lind,^'' being the 

 liest seedling strawberry, after a trial of three years. 

 The Jenny Lind strawberry has been shown the 

 past season by several persons, and it has been uni- 

 formly good, though the best shown this season 

 was Sir Charles Napier, by Messrs. Hovey. 



GRAPE MILDEW. 



Editors: — In the Genesee Farmer for 

 March, 1858, under the head of Transactions of 

 the Ohio Pomological society for 1857, I find an 

 article headed Mildew and Rot of the Grape. After 

 reading this article, I have concluded to write a 

 few words on the subject of mildew, As for the 

 rot, I have never seen any ; but to tlie subject of 

 mildew I have given some thought. It is generally 

 conceded, I believe, that mildew is a fungus, and 

 the question that naturally arises in the mind of 

 the inquirer, is, How is it produced? 



In the article above referred to, it is admitted 

 that our native grapes thrive well, and are not sub- 

 ject to mildew in the wild state. What can it be 

 in the cultivated state that renders them subject to 

 mildew? It cannot be the pruning, and spreading 

 out, to give more air and sun ; for we find it worse 

 when they are not pruned, and are left to grow 

 thick and bushy, as in the natural state. And 

 surely it can not be owing to the ground being 

 tilled and highly manured, and thereby producing 

 a more rapid growth ; for we find that old vines 

 that have not been manured, and that have impov- 

 erished the soil, are alfected more than others. 



My experiments and observations lead me to the 

 (Smclusion that mildew is produced by our highly 

 cultivated soils being left exposed in wet or show- 

 ery weather to the full rays of our very hot sun. — 

 I could give you many instances to sustain my 

 position, but perhaps two or three will answer. — 

 A friend has two Isabella grape vines ; One, an old 

 vine, trained on the south-east side of his wood- 

 house, has never been subject to mildew ; and the 

 other, a young vine, trained on the south-east side 

 of a tight board division fence, two or three rods 

 north-west of the first. This vine, also, till lately, 

 has never been subject to mildew. Both vines 

 were subjected to the same treatment, but this last 

 named vine last year was ruined by mildew. 



Now, in looking for the cause, I find that last 

 spring, his neighbor on the other side of said fence, 

 carted six or seven w^on loads of black swamp 

 muck, and spaded it in his garden, (which garden 

 bad not been cultivated for many years before) and 

 the inference is, that this soil, by being thus exposed 

 to the rays of the sun the past wet season, pro- 

 duced that state of things favorable to the produc- 

 tjpn and growth of mildew. 



Another neighbor has about two acres, planted 

 ■wgth Isabella grape vines, which have been cultiva- 



ted with great care, and the ground kept clean, not 

 even a weed being allowed to grow and shade tha 

 ground ; but the grapes were spoiled by mildew, 

 while in front of his house, in a grassy lawn, there 

 are several vines on which, not a trace of mildew 

 was to be found. 



Another has two vines ; one, growing on a grass 

 plot, has never shown any mildew, while the other, 

 which grows in his garden, wliere it is cultivated 

 round, has been subject to mildew for a great many 

 years. But last year he planted his garden with 

 potatoes, the vines of which grew very large, and 

 completely covered the ground, and the grapes on 

 this vine were perfectly free from mildew. 



I have grown the Isabella for the last fifteen or 

 sixteen years, and have not been troubled with 

 mildew ; and last year I had a fine crop of white 

 foreign grapes, (I thing the Royal Muscadine) with- 

 out any mildew ; but the soil has been kept well 

 covered. 



I believe that if the ground around the vines is 

 mulched with straw, or if some crop be grown on it 

 that will, when the grapes are about half grown, com- 

 pletely shade it and not rob it of too much nourish- 

 ment, that we shall not be troubled with mildew. 



Lockport, 2>'. Y. <J. C 

 — .^»«.^ 



DWAEF PEARS -SHELTER FOR ORCHARDS. 



Friend Harris : — In your March number, there 

 are two communications on the subject of cultivat- 

 ing dwarf pear trees. Y. Z's is a sufficient answer 

 to A. H. J. if they are to be cultivated. The dwarf 

 pear is well adapted to village gardens. I can not 

 conceive of any possible advantage i\\sX farmers are 

 to gain by cultivating them. In the first place, 

 they cost more than the pear tree, and just as much 

 work to set them out, and much more to cultivate 

 and manure them, that set seven or eight feet dis- 

 tance from each other, than those that set four rods. 

 And again, those that are set at that distance, do 

 not prevent the raising of fair crops ; and the tree 

 that bears three bushels, requires nearly as much 

 labor to wash with lye in the fall, and to put soap 

 in the crotches in the spring, as one that bears 

 twenty bushels. The soap and lye are of more 

 importance than the setting out of trees, as the 

 aggregate loss of trees, to the farmers of the State, 

 has been more in the last two years, than the 

 destruction of the wheat by the weevil. It takes 

 no more snufli'and beef's gall, and no longer to put 

 it on a standard tree, than a dwarf, to save it from 

 the ravages of mice, which is quite as important as 

 the setting out in season, when they are abundant, 

 as they do not relish snuff" and gall, any better than 

 the insests that infest the trees do soap; and if 

 good and thick, (though it may be dirty,) it wUl 

 remain in the crotches to be washed down the tree 

 by every shower, sufficiently to prevent them from 

 traveling up the tree, to build their nests and eat 

 the leaves. As a farmer, I should as soon think of 

 raising dAvarf horses, cattle, or swine, as dwarf 

 trees, except for ornament. 



I fully concur with you, Mr. Editor, " that there 

 is no question better deserving the attention of hor- 

 ticulturists, than how can we best provide shelter 

 for fruit trees." And I may add, farmers that 

 reside in cold, bleak places, where the snow drifts, 

 can protect themselves much cheaper and better by 

 a belt of trees, for ameliorating the severity of tha 



