I8rt 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



CULTURE OF THE VINE. 



Concluded from page III- 



You and I used to discuss the subject of 

 the rise of sap in plants. I should like to 

 refer to it minutely, as it is so connected with 

 the above remarks. I have of late gathered 

 some new hints from one of our intelligent 

 savans, and in the course of a year I may 

 have occasion to speak more fully on this 

 topic: meantime I must continue my re- 

 marks on grapes. 



I think it far better to manure vines in the 

 autumn, as the rains wash the fertilizing 

 principle to a depth on a line with the roots, 



where it lies inactive until the return of 



spring. As soon as there is sufficient warmth 

 :o enable the sap to rise, the spongelets at 

 ;he roots are excited to action, and can re- 

 ceive the decomposed particles which the 

 "ases now forward to them. If manure is 

 applied in the spring — and I am speaking of 

 partially rotted manure — the gases, which at 

 this stage of the decomposition are very ac-j 

 live, carry off the volatile particles before 

 :hey can reach the roots. All perennial 

 plants should be manured in the fall. The 

 ground intended for all plants with roots 

 running deep in the ground, should likewise 

 be manured in the autumn, and those with 

 roots near the top, should be manured in the 

 spring. But let me go on to speak of grapes. 

 However perfect our system of cultivating 

 the vine may be, it is of no avail, unless we 

 can conquer the two great evils to which it 

 is subject, namely, the mildew and the vine- 

 fretter. I do not know which is most des- 

 tructive to the crop. The former has an" 

 "immediate effect on the bunches of grapes, 

 and the latter on the leaves, which, of course, 

 ultimately affects the grapes; for, as it is 

 well known, that the leaves are the respira- 

 tory organs of a plant, it must be presumed 

 that whatever injures them, will have an ef-j 

 feet on the plant itself. As to the mildew, j 

 which is a fungus arising from the union of j 

 the rejected secretions of berry and atmos- 

 oheric depositions, it is undoubtedly owing 

 to the sudden changes in the weather, that 

 it is so destructive ; there is no way of pre- 

 venting the disease, but by guarding against 

 these changes ; such as shading the plants 

 during the hottest part of the day, and cov- 

 ering them at night, if it be unusually cold. 

 The circulation of sap in the vine, owing to 

 :ts organic strnclure.and to the great increase 

 and deep sinking of its roots, is very rapid ; 

 and in the spring of the year particularly so 

 — of course, the perspiration must be in great 

 abundance. If this be suddenly checked, as 

 is the case in cold nights, after very hot days, J 

 or, in fact, after a succession of cold days, 

 at the period when the berries are formed, 

 the pores are closed, and never after recover 

 ■sufficient tone to be enabled to eject the se- 

 cretions, or to slough off the unwholesome 

 Impositions of the atmosphere. What this 

 .nildew is I cannot say. I have not beeni 

 able to dissolve it, either in acids or alkalies.] 

 When it first appears, it lies like white frost 

 >n the berries ; but after a day or two, it be- 

 : omes a toughly connected film, inclining to 

 "howii as the season advances. It is not the 

 berries alone which are alfected by the ob- 

 struction; the branches and stems likewise 

 dwindle, and look diseased ; they are freck- 

 led in irregular spots, and become stinted in 

 length and size. 

 The vine-frettor is a very small insect, not 



•ar'z r than the soed of Madeira lettuce 



vhich it somewhat resembles in color ami 



June 11, 1831 



shape. It multiplies very fast, and is not| 

 affected by heat, cold, drought, or rain. I 

 have not yet been able to find out where it 

 deposits its eggs : as soon as I do,I will make 

 some attempts to destroy them. One would 

 think that it could not be in the power of 

 such insignificant insects to injure the health 

 of a large plant; but that this is the case, we 

 have only to look at the shrivelled appear- 

 ance of the leaves. These insects are nev- 

 er seen on the upper surface of the leaves, 

 nor do they rest for more than a second on 

 the under part. The very moment we touch 

 the leaf, they jump off either to another leaf 

 or on the ground. The male is larger than 

 the female, and is different in colour and 

 marks, having horizontal stripes on its back, 

 and being of a pale green colour. In two 

 weeks from the time they commence their 

 operations on the leaves, the healthy, lively, 

 appearance of the plant is gone ; thebunch- 

 es of grapes hang flaccid and lifeless from 

 the stem, and the berries have no flavour. — 

 I have not yet ascertained whether the curcu- 

 lio, another insect, of the beetle tribe, punc- 

 tures the berrien of the grape ; but I know 

 that they injure the leaves quite as much as 

 the vine fretters do. These curculios, (or 

 curculiones) commence their work of des- 

 truction about a month earlier than the vine- 

 fretter ; and this year, but for my vigilance, 

 they would not have left any part of the leaf 

 untouched. I found that each leaf had a 

 number of round holes in it, about the size 

 of a very small pea, and I concluded for sev- 

 eral days, that the leaf-bee had made the per- 

 forations ; but independently of the fact, 

 that the leaf-bee cuts a semi-circular piece 

 from the edge of the leaf.on closer inspection 

 I saw that a much smaller insect was at work. 

 The curculio which I detected on this grape- 

 leaf, is different both from the one which 

 stings the pea, and the one that stings fruit. 

 It is however more nearly resembling the 

 pea-bug, or rather pea-curculio, having no 

 proboscis. The curculio which commits 

 such ravages on fruit, has a long proboscis 

 rising immediately from the thorax, with 2 

 feelers originating at the extremity of the 

 proboscis, and which, in a state of rest, lie 

 close to it. These insects are scarcely the 

 third of an inch long ; they are of an oval 

 shape, having wings which enable them to 

 fly from vine to vine, while those that des- 

 troy the fruit are capable of flying from tree 

 to tree. 



I said that I did not know whether they in- 

 jured the berries of the grape ; this doubt a- 

 rises from the circumstance of my having 

 but very few grapes this summer, the cold 

 was so intense the last winter that nearly all 

 the grape-vines in my neighborhood were 

 frozen at the roots. Of course, not many 

 grapes could be expected this season, as the 

 whole growth of the vine has proceeded im- 

 mediately from the roots. The cold, which 

 was so severe upon the vine itself, did not 

 injure or decrease the number of inserts, for 

 never have they been seen in such numbers. 

 Roth Dr. Bently und young Haywood say 

 that they have never seen a curculio on a 

 grape-leaf before, and they both agree like- 



back. The one which stings the fruit is of 

 a uniform dusky gray black, having, as I be- 

 fore observed, a long proboscis with feelers 

 at the extremity ; whereas the feelers of the 

 curculio which perforates the grape-leaf, fc 

 that which inhabits the pea, proceed from the 

 thorax. 



Although these insects are known in Eu- 

 rope, yet no regular notice has been taken 

 of them. De la Quintinye, one of the ablest 

 of our horticulturists, and head gardener to 

 Louis 14th, speaks of preferring some kinds 

 of plums to others, " because they were less 

 liable to be stung by the inject," but he nev- 

 er describes the insect itself. I suspect that 

 they are not so destructive either in France 

 or England as they are in this country. The 

 very instant that we approach the vine oi 

 tree, these little creatures drop oft'asif tbev 

 were dead, and as they make their legs (six 

 in number) lie close to their body, it is very 

 difficult to find them on the ground, iii 

 fact, if we do not see them fall, we may look 

 for them in vain. 



I observed that vines of two and three 

 years of age, bore the last hard winter bene. 

 than either older or younger ones. In fact, 

 those that were set out the vear before, al! 

 perished, and the older one's died down to 

 the roots. Even those vines which were bu- 

 ried deep and were well protected from frosr 

 by means of salt hay and manure, fared no 

 better than the rest, for although the vines 

 did not die down to the ground, yet the 

 young wood shot out very feebly from the 

 eyes, and bore no grapes. On the three vear 

 old vines, however, I h,,d several fine bunch- 

 es, and what was very remarkable, some o: 

 them were the white Frontignac, a very de- 

 licate grape— and without doubt the finest 

 grape in the world. 



Mr. Thorn had the charge of my farm fur 

 the last year, being connected with the for 

 mer owner. He took great pains with my 

 grape vines, and having furnished all the 

 plants, he was able to tell me their names, of 

 which he kept a list. He has a hearty eon 

 tempt for the native grapes, and thinks thai 

 no culture will improve their goodness, altho' 

 it may increase their size. He pointed on 

 to me the common fox-grape, in a hedge, 

 loaded with fine purple grapes ; from which, 

 several years ago, he took a cutting. H> 

 planted this cutting against a south wall, in 

 a very rich, sandy loam, where it grew luxu- 

 riantly ; the third year it bore immense]) 

 large berries — twice the size of those of tin 

 parent vine. From this cultivated vine he 

 took three slips — one he grafted on a red 

 Hamburgh— one on a white Chasselas, anfl 

 one on an Isabella. The grafts, he says, 

 took finely, and he expected great results, 

 for he was at that time ignorant of the fact, 

 that the stem of the vine did not impart anv 

 of its own peculiar nature and character ffi 

 the graft. 



The fox-grape grafted on the red Ham- 

 burgh, grew ten feet the first summer ; the 

 one on the Chasselas dwindled and died be- 

 fore the summer was over ; the one on thi 

 Isabella grew twenty-one feet ! The second 

 year they both bore grapes. The one graft 

 d a " 



wise in asserting that the pea-bog, and the Red on the red Hamburgh had a hw small 

 curculio which perforates the grape-leaf, are ('bunches, with large berries ; the one grafted 



on the Isabella had a dozen fine full bunch* 



tlii -.line insect. They certainly resembl 

 each other very much ; the greatest differ- 

 ence is in colour and marks — The pea-bug 

 is generally one shade of colour — a dusky 

 gray black, whereas the other is of a dusky 

 bro'wn Muck, with '.Town snots across the 



es, with berries the size of the original uild 

 grape, but neither of them had lost any of 

 the fox taste, or the tough astringent pulp. 

 It has been several times proposed to gtal 

 (fins Imported grapes on native stocks'. Ms ■ 



