80 THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



that, the roots being in a colder medium than the branches, 

 the supply of sap is consumed quicker than the roots can fur- 

 nish it, and this brings on the disease. Dr. Lindlej, every 

 one must allow, is very high authority ; still I doubt this being 

 the cause of the blacking of the footstalks, which is the dis- 

 ease that I particularly wish to refer to. I have the manage- 

 ment of three houses in which grapes are grown. One, I 

 begin forcing the first of January, one, the first of February, 

 and one, the first of March. The first house ripens its fruit 

 in May, the second in June, and the third in Jvily. In the 

 first and second, there shall be no shrivelled berries, in the 

 third, if the weather is cloudy, there shall be a great many. 

 The covering is taken off the borders about the beginning of 

 April, and, if the coldness of the borders was the cause, I 

 should suppose that those which ripened in May and June 

 would be more subject to the disease than the July one, for 

 the earth undoubtedly gets warmer as the summer advances. 

 I have been a grape-grower for more than twenty years, and, 

 durmg that time, the disease has particularly engaged my at- 

 tention, as I have always been more or less subject to it, and 

 I am fully convinced that it is caused by the borders being 

 made too rich and stimulating, and by a deficiency of light. 

 ISlj borders are all prepared in the same way, and of the 

 richest materials, and the one that I commence forcing in 

 March produces foliage of the most luxuriant description ; 

 those large leaves require more light to elaborate the sap than 

 smaller ones, and, if light is deficient, the sap is not properly 

 prepared for the healthy nourishment of the fruit, and this 

 brings on the disease. I have known vineries where borders 

 have been made inside of the house, and vines planted against 

 the back wall, and borders made outside, and vines trained 

 up the rafters. The grapes upon the back wall have, every 

 one of them, shrivelled until the vines upon the rafters had 

 been shortened so as to admit the light upon the back wall, 

 and then the grapes have done well, plainly proving that want 

 of light was the cause, and not the want of heat in the border. 



