96 THE HOME ACRE. 



When mildew and grape-rot first appear, the 

 evil can often be remedied in part by dusting the 

 vines with sulphur, and continuing the process 

 until the disease is cured, if it ever is. I have 

 never had occasion to do this, and will not do it. 

 A variety that often requires such nursing in this 

 favored locality should be discarded. 



There is one kind of disease, or feebleness 

 rather, to which we are subject everywhere, and 

 from which few varieties are exempt. It is the 

 same kind of weakness which would be developed 

 in a fine sound horse if we drove him until he 

 dropped down every time we took him out. Cul- 

 tivated vines are so far removed from their natural 

 conditions that they will often bear themselves to 

 death, like a peach-tree. To permit this is a true 

 instance of avarice overreaching itself; or the evil 

 may result from ignorance or neglect. Close pru- 

 ning in autumn and thinning out the crowding 

 clusters soon after they have formed is the remedy. 

 If a vine had been so enfeebled, I should cut it 

 back rigorously, feed it well, and permit it to bear 

 very little fruit, if any, for a year. 



Of insect enemies we have the phylloxera of 

 bad eminence, which has so dismayed Europe. 

 The man who could discover and patent an 

 adequate remedy in France might soon rival a 

 Rothschild in his wealth. The remedy abroad 



