670 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



960. Pruning to a 

 spur. 



the cions be perfectly dormant. These cions are taken 

 and stored in the same way as cuttings. The grafting 

 should be done very early in the spring, before the sap 

 starts. Grafting may also be done 

 late in the spring, after all dan- 

 ger of bleeding is over ; but, in 

 that case, it is more difficult to 

 keep the cions dormant, and the 

 growth is not likely to be so great 

 during the first season. Vine- 

 yards which are composed of un- 

 profitable varieties may be 

 changed to new varieties very 

 readily by this means. Vinifera 

 varieties can also be grafted on 

 our common phylloxera-resistant 

 stocks by the same method. Al- 

 most any method of grafting can 

 be employed upon the Grape vine 

 if the work is done beneath the 

 surface. 



Diseases. The Grape is amen- 

 able to many insect and fungous attacks. The most 

 serious difficulty is the phylloxera, which, however, is 

 practically unknown as an injurious pest on the 

 native Grapes. On the vinifera varieties it is ex- 

 ceedingly serious, and it is working great dev- 

 astation in many of the vineyards of the Old 

 World and of the Pacific coast. The most practi- 

 cable means of dealing with this pest is to graft 

 the vinifera vines on native or resistant roots. 



The mildew and black rot are the most serious 

 of the fungous enemies. The mildew (Perono- 

 spora viticola) is the more common form of rot 

 in the North. In the South the black rot (Lcesta- 

 dia Bidwellii) is very serious. Both these dis- 

 eases cause the berries to decay. They also at- 

 tack the leaves, particularly the mildew, caus- 

 ing the leaves to fall and preventing the Grapes 

 from maturing. It is the mildew which has 

 worked such havoc in European vineyards. The 

 mildew is most serious on thin-leaved and smooth- 

 leaved varieties, as the Delaware. It causes yel- 

 lowish patches to appear Qn the leaves, with frost-like 

 colonies on the under sides. It causes the berries to 

 decay with a gray and finally a brown rot, the berries 

 usually remaining small and firm but not greatly 

 wrinkled. The black rot causes the berries to become 

 very hard, dry and shriveled, and the epidermis is cov- 

 ered with minute pimples (Fig. 966). The treatment 

 for both these diseases is the same spraying with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. In regions in which the diseases have 

 not been very prevalent, it is usually sufficient to begin 

 the spraying after the fruit has begun to set, and to 

 spray two or three times, as the case seems to require. 

 When the diseases have been very prevalent, however, 

 it is better to begin before the buds swell in the spring. 



uake: 



clusters and on the young growth, where it ^ 

 sunken, discolored areas, and where it interferes se 

 riously with the growth of the parts. It is not so easib 

 controlled as the mildew and the black rot. Careful at 

 tention to pruning away all the diseased wood am 

 burning it will help in controlling the disease. Befon 

 growth starts, spray the vines, trellis and posts witl 

 strong sulf ate of copper solution. After the leaves open 

 use the Bordeaux mixture. 



In Grape houses the powdery mildew (Uncimila spi 

 rails) often does serious damage. It also occurs in tht 

 open vineyard, but it is usually not serious there. I 

 appears as a very thin, dust-like covering on the leaves 

 It sometimes attacks the berries, causing them to re 

 main small or to crack. This fungus lives on the sur 

 face, and is therefore readily controlled in Grape house 

 by dusting with flowers of sulfur or by the fumes o 

 evaporated sulfur. 



For further discussions on Grape diseases and diffi 

 culties, the reader should consult the bulletins of th 

 experiment stations, publications of the Department o 

 Agriculture at Washington, books on economic ento 

 mology, and Lodeman's "Spraying of Plants." 



Varieties. Of the native Grapes, fully 800 varietie 



961. Head of a vine. 



Showing the system of taking out 



the renewals. 



In infested vineyards, the foliage and diseased berries 

 should be raked up and burned in the fall. 



The anthracnose or scab (Sphaceloma ampelinum) is 

 a very serious fungous disease. It is most apparent on 

 the fruit, where it makes a hard, scabby patch. Its 

 most serious work, however, occurs on the stems of the 



962. Upright system of Grape training. 



At the winter pruning, all the top will be cut away except two cane 

 near the center; these two will be laid down in opposite direction 

 on the bottom wire for the next season's fruiting. 



have been named and described. Many foreign vari< 

 ties have been introduced. Yet, in any region the nun 

 ber of useful commercial varieties is usually less tha 

 a dozen. Of the American Grapes (those aside fror 

 viniferas), the Concord is the cosmopolitan variety 

 Others of great prominence are Worden, Niagara, Ca 

 tawba, Delaware. For the South, consult Munson' 

 article, below. For the Pacific viniferas, consult Wick 

 son's account, below. Following are notes on varietie 

 by Ralph Bush, of the old firm of Bush & Sons, Bush 

 berg, Mo. This firm was established shortly after th 

 civil war by Isidor and Ralph Bush, father and son. ] 

 the early seventies the firm became Bush & Son <! 

 Meissner, by the entering of G. E. Meissner. The re 

 cent death of the elder Bush and Meissner has left th 

 firm in the hands of Ralph Bush & Sons. It is thi 

 firm which publishes the Grape manual already men 

 tioned. In that work and in Mitzky's "Native Grape, 

 great numbers of varieties are described. Mr. Bush' 

 remarks on varieties of Grapes, made for this occasion 

 are as follows : 



"The planting of vineyards, both for market and am? 

 teur purposes, is on the increase. The inclination i 

 planting tends more towards quality than to quantity 

 that is, from the many inquiries and orders, the mai 

 question seems to be the adaptation of the variety t 

 the soil or the purpose. In former years the plantei 

 without question, would order so many Concord, Hart 

 ford, Ives, Elvira, etc., and in rare cases, one or two < 

 a better variety. Now there is no demand whatever fo 

 Hartford, much less for Ives and Elvira, while t 

 planting of even the Concord is on the decrease. 1 

 general tendency around the great lakes is still to plaE 

 the Catawba, and it certainly thrives very well, 

 many parts of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessi 

 the Noah and Niagara are in great demand ; as also 

 Delaware, Norton Virginia and Cynthiana for v 

 purposes. In the section south of the Ohio river, 

 also in the western states, such kinds as Moore E 

 Moore Diamond, Brighton, Worden, Cottage, Niagan 



