54 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



Review of Grape Crop in 1 889. 



E. r. POWELL, ONEIDA CO., N. T. 



This has been every way a phenomenal 

 year. We are beset by surprises on all hands. 

 I was picking ripe Niagaras the l'2th of .Sep- 

 tember. The Hayes was well ripened soon 

 after the first, and Diamond in good pick- 

 ing on the tenth. 



The amount of mildew and rot were also 

 phenomenal. The conditions for the devel- 

 opment of vegetable fungus were never bet- 

 ter. Currant bushes and most of the thorns 

 have stood absolutely defoliated since July. 

 It was necessary to hurry the picking of the 

 Currants owing to their dropping with the 

 foliage. Many trees loosened their leaves in 

 August, and others early in September. 

 Rose bushes have been a pitiful sight all 

 through the summer. 



I have never had black rot on my vines 

 before, except on one sort, the Massasoit, 

 but this year the rot has swept through 

 Gaertners, Niagaras, and even Worden. 

 Grein's Hybrids have both rotted and mil- 

 dewed, and Roger's Hybrids have either 

 wholly faUed to set or have rotted. The 

 special peculiarity of the season, however, 

 has been a great failure of most sorts to fer- 

 tilize while in blossom. Whole trellises of 

 Herbert, Worden, Martha, Rogers' 30, 

 Duchess, Empire State, etc., are without a 

 pound of Grapes. Where there should be 

 two tons there may be two hundred pounds. 



More damaging has been the mildew on 

 young vines planted last fall. These start- 

 ed well, but Gan-tner and Roger's Hybrids 

 generally shrivelled, andmany of them died. 

 Of vines that have resisted this phenomenal 

 year I make the following list : Diamond is 

 absolutely sound on old vines, nearly so on 

 small ones. Niagara has done well. Pock- 

 lington all right. Hayes all right. Wood- 

 rufi all right. Delaware fairly well. Aug- 

 ust Giant fine. Poughkeepsie essentially 

 identical in constitution with Delaware. 

 Vergennes fairly well. Diana very well. 

 Martha very well. Worden all right. Con- 

 cord all right. Brighton fine. Duchess in 

 good order. Lindley as well off as any of 

 Roger's. Jessica nearly leafless. Golden 

 Gem fine. This refers to mildew on foliage. 



Those that have kept their fruit in perfect 

 order, free of both mildew and rot, are Dia- 

 mond, Hayes, Golden Gem, August Giant, 

 Concord mostly, Martha the same; Diana 

 very nearly right; Jefferson all right ; Brigh- 

 ton and Iowa all right; Woodruff aU right, 

 and Delaware in good order. The worst to 

 mildew were Grein's No. 7 and Gaertner; 

 and the worst to rot, Niagara, Grein's No. 7, 

 a part of my Wordens and Jessica. 



So many failed to fertilize that it is impos- 

 sible to draw a full comparison. But this is 

 clear that among sixty varieties those that 

 have mastered all difficulties, are Hayes, 

 Diamond. Woodrull, Augu.st Giant, with 

 Delaware, Poughkeepsie, Vergennes, Golden 

 Gem, Concord and Amber next. 



My notes on quality are, of course, imper- 

 fect. I, however, place Hayes twenty-five 

 per cent, higher than before. It is most de- 

 licious, so much better than it was last year 

 when I first ripened it, that I hardly recog- 

 nize it as the same Grape. It is a golden 

 white, good sized bunch, very fairly prolific 

 and growth good. Diamond comes on a few 

 days later than I expected, is a delicious 

 Grape, large noble berry, full fine bunch and 

 sufficiently prolific. Its growth and foliage 

 are beautiful. Woodruff is a late grape, not 

 in any sense early as reported to be, a solid 

 fine bunch, prolific, and a reasonably decent 

 quality. August Giant is after Hayes and 

 Diamond, but is rather an early Grape; very 

 prolific, a good bunch, and quality really 

 satisfactory. It grows and outgrows every- 

 thing else. Foliage rich, Grapes good, and 

 a splendid thing to take care of itself. Ver- 

 gennes I set down farther on the scale, ui> 



lacking quality. There is no season for 

 growing Poughkeepsie Red. Empire .State 

 I want no more of. Worden is still our best 

 black early Grape, and Herbert the best late. 

 Duchess holds its own. Ulster I think rather 

 better of. Niagara has rotted badly, but it 

 fertilized well, and is this year trying to be 

 an early Grape. Jessica is still in all ways 

 the same contemptible fraud made up of 

 seeds and water. Golden Gem is a fine little 

 Grape of good spicy flavor liked by children. 

 Grein's Grapes are all lacking in sweetness. 

 Brighton is superb, as usual, and the best 

 late red, as Gewrtner is best early. Lady 

 gives such wretched crops; it is worthless, 

 but in quality never surpassed. Martha, to 

 be a fine Grape, needs a sunny spot and 

 sharp thinning. 



Lady was first to ripen, August 30th, Ear- 

 ly Victor and Moore's Early were colored 

 soon after, but not sweet and good before 

 September .5th. Worden was offering ripe 

 bunches September first; so also Brighton, 

 but both of these Grapes begin to ripen early 

 and do not finish till late; are in good eating 

 for sLx weeks or more. 



Hayes was fully ripe September 1st to 

 .5th, and a glorious golden color when it 

 hung in the sun. Ulster began to ripen un- 

 usually early September 5th, and Duchess 

 not yet ripe September 15th. So there is no 

 calculation to be made this year, for Duchess 

 should be ahead of Ulster. 



Lindley on buildings was ripe September 

 5th, on trellises, not quite ripe September 

 15th. Vergennes may be set down for Sep- 

 tember 12th. It is not a good Grape. Mar- 

 tha, where crop is thin, is ripe generally two 

 weeks ahead of a full crop. This Grape is 

 allowed to overbear and has lost its reputa- 

 tion for quality, which may be very good. 



The secret of early ripening is a sunny ex- 

 posure, well-trimmed vines, not much sum- 

 mer pruning, a thinned crop, and well- 

 drained soil. The failure to fertilize this 

 year is a fault of all fruits. A very warm 

 April, followed by cold weather all through 

 the blooming period, killed the helpful in- 

 sects, and checked all vegetable activity. 



Quack Grass and How to Destroy it. 



WM. H. RAND, MIDDLESEX CO., MASS. 



The proprietorship of a garden, all my 

 own, given me by my good father, to encour- 

 age my natural love of plant-life, is among 

 my earliest recollections. With a set of 

 dwarf garden tools I put the weeds to flight 

 in short order, but I found a grass that 

 wouldn't kill. Whether dug up, cut off, or 

 covered, it rose Phoeni.x-like to fresh life. 

 My father told me that my troublesome ten- 

 ant was Quack Grass. Now my crude idea 

 of the word " Quack " was a person who as- 

 sumed to be a doctor, and wasn't. This plant 

 looked like Grass, and most decidedly was 

 Grass every day in the week. 



Triticum repens, the Quack, Couch, Witch, 

 and De^^^s Grass of various sections, is one 

 of the worst weeds that Eastern farmers 

 have to contend with wherever it has gained 

 a foothold in tilled land. Ordinary cultiva- 

 tion tends to increase, rather than weaken 

 its growth, and it not only draws largely on 

 the supply of plant food in the soil, but con- 

 sumes the needed moisture to such an ex- 

 tent as to cause a practical failure of crops 

 in a dry season. The theory that no plant 

 can sustain life, if persistently cut off, and 

 not allowed to make any considerable leaf 

 growth, may be true enough, but in practice 

 this idea cannot be carried out with this 

 weed, as any hoed crop reaches a stage in its 

 growth where further cultivation is diffi- 

 cult, If not Impossible, and then the Quack, 

 as it is commonly called in this locality, will 

 make up for lost time. 



We leased a field on a neighboring place 

 for a term of years, which, at plowing time, 

 we discovered to be a solid Quack Grass sod. 



We determined to make the best of it and 

 put four horses on a heavy Oliver plow, with 

 the hope of tiirning under the mass of roots 

 deeply enough to smoother them. The first 

 crop was nearly a failure, as the Grass roots 

 were so tough in many places that it was 

 impossible to keep the cultivator teeth in 

 the ground. In the fall we plowed again to 

 about the same depth, bringing the old roots 

 to the surface bright and fresh. A severe 

 winter followed without much snow, with 

 warm sunny days and sharp frosty nights in 

 March. Now the field was given a thorough 

 harrowing with a spring-tooth harrow, 

 which, of course, dragged the roots on top 

 and together. This and a second plowing 

 effectually conquered the weed. The third 

 season I do not believe a dozen live roots 

 could have been found on the field. I be- 

 lieve this is the only successful method of 

 killing Quack Grass. Summer following 

 might answer as well, but would involve 

 loss of the land for one season's cropping. 

 There are hundreds of small gardens 

 where this weed is a pertiferous nuisance, 

 but if the ground is dug deeply in the fall, 

 and the roots carefully pulled out and dug 

 from around bushes and shrubbery, and 

 straggling plants hunted up the ensuing 

 season, it may be eradicated. The free use 

 of salt would also accomplish the purpose, 

 but prevent plant growth of any kind for a 

 year or two, at least. 



How to IVIanage the Apple IVIaggot. 



The larva of an insignificant looking fly 

 (TrypeUi pornonclla) causes much trouble 

 to eastern Apple growers. It is a footless 

 maggot tapering to a point in front, and cut 

 squarely off liehind, of greenish white color, 

 about one-fifth of an inch long, measuring, 

 with wings expanded, nearly one-half inch 

 across; head and legs rust red; thorax shin- 

 ing black, more or less marked with grayish 

 white; wings whitish glassy with dusky 

 bands. This single, brooded insect appears 

 in July, and by means of a sharp ovipositor 

 inserts its eggs into the substance of the 

 Apple. The maggot soon hatches, and be- 

 gins its work of destruction by tunnelling 

 the pulp of the fruit with winding channels. 



For the past two years the Apple maggot 

 and its ravages have been the subject of 

 thorough investigation by Prof. F. L. Har- 

 vey, of the Maine Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, and the results are published in a 

 recent bulletin. As preventive measures the 

 following are named: 



1. Keep the orchards in grass, and in the 

 fall or spring burn under the trees to destroy 

 the pupa^ that are about the gniss roots. 



2. If the orchard is in cultivation, the con- 

 ditions are favorable for the maggots to 

 go into the ground, but they nevergo deeper 

 than an inch, and deep spading or plowing 

 in the spring would destroy them. 



3. Orchards on sandy soil and in sheltered 

 places with a southern exposure are worse 

 affected. In planting orchards such condi- 

 tions might be avoided. 



4. Prevent by legal enactment the impor- 

 tation of fruit from localities known to be 

 infested. 



Eemedies. The direct methods of subduing 

 the Apple maggot are as follows: 



1. The flies are very stupid, although 

 they appear otherwise. When resting on 

 the leaves of Apples they can readily be 

 taken with a small insect tube or bottle. By 

 placing the mouth cautiously over them, 

 they are not disturbed and soon crawl inside. 

 The killing of even a few flies would mater- 

 ially lessen the number and check the pest. 



2. The fact that tlie larva' do not leave 

 the fruit before it is ripe, and are still found 

 in abundance in the windfalls, would indi- 

 cate the most vulnerable points in the life 

 history of the insect, and suggest two 

 methods of checking the pest, viz. : Taking 



