INSECT ENEMIES OF THE GRAPE. 227 



The introduction of several new and promising varie- 

 ties of the native grapes, notably the Delaware, Diana, 

 lona and Concord, during the decade between 1850-60, 

 gave a new and somewhat surprising impetus to grape 

 culture in this country, and the demand for vines be- 

 came so great that, for a time, many of the nurserymen 

 made the propagation of the newer varieties a specialty, 

 both in the open ground as well as under glass, while 

 many other persons who had not previously been in the 

 business entered it, with more or less enthusiasm, and, 

 in some instances, erecting extensive ranges of houses 

 for the sole purpose of rapidly propagating all the newer, 

 as well as older varieties which were in demand. Among 

 the largest and most noted establishments of this kind, 

 that of the late Dr. 0. W. Grant, of lona Island, near 

 Peekskill, N. Y. , became the most famous, and remained 

 so for several years. 



About 1859 it was noticed that the young vines were 

 somewhat defective in their roots, and galls, from the 

 size of a pinhead, and up to that of small peas, were 

 more or less numerous on the fibers of those raised in the 

 houses, and, later, the same kind of galls on vines 

 planted in the open ground on the Island. During the 

 season of 1860-61, and later, these root-galls became so 

 abundant that a system of combing was practiced, to 

 remove them before the vines were sent out to customers. 

 I have, myself, seen heaps containing several bushels 

 each, of these galls, that had been combed from the roots 

 of pot-grown plants as they were being prepared for sale. 

 Neither Dr. Grant nor any of his assistants knew what 

 caused these galls on the roots, but it was supposed, at 

 the time, they were due to either over-stimulation and 

 a forced growth, or to some defect in the soil. It is 

 quite probable that these gails were to be seen on vines 

 in other establishments where vines were propagated 

 under glass, but I had no occasion, at the time, to make 



