FUNGUS DISEASES. 231 



the vines become weak and feeble from any cause, they 

 are sure to be attacked by parasites of some kind, for it 

 seems to be a universal law of nature, in both the animal 

 and vegetable kingdom, that nothing possessing life lives 

 very long after it loses the power of resisting its natural 

 enemies. 



CHAPTER XX. 



FUNGUS DISEASES. 



Until quite recently very little was known of the na- 

 ture or habits of the fungus diseases of the grape, beyond 

 the bare fact that they were frequently very destructive 

 in all parts of the country east of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Collectively they were enemies which the vineyardist 

 sought to control, but with very unsatisfactory results. 

 In some instances dusting the vines with lime, sulphur, 

 or both combined, seemed to check these diseases : then, 

 again, all remedies failed. Many of the earlier vineyards 

 of Ohio, and throughout the Mississippi valley, as well 

 as those in the east and south, were abandoned, owing 

 to the prevalence and destructiveness of the diseases 

 known under the names of mildew and black rot. But 

 the planting of new vineyards continued, the inexperi- 

 enced, as well as experienced vineyardist trusting to luck, 

 or skill, for obtaining remunerative crops of fruit. That 

 many were successful is evident, from the constantly 

 increasing amount of fine grapes received in all of the 

 larger cities and villages, besides the many hundreds of 

 tons annually used in making wine. But successful as 

 grape culture, as an industry, has become, there are 

 still many failures, owing to the prevalence of fungus 

 diseases. 



