1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



125 



a succession. It is even better to have some 

 that fails of full maturity than to have a 

 wantage before the end of the season. This 

 season we had Sweet Com continually 

 from the time of the first ripening to the 

 first of October, while others having less 

 care for the garden en.i'oyed this luscious 

 product for only a short period of time. 

 Success in a garden requires labor and at- 

 tention, but it must be remembered that it 

 is labor that pays for itself many times over. 



Grapes and Grape Culture in 

 New Jersey. 



T. GREINER, MONMOUTH CO., N. ,1. 



Col. Alex. W. Pearson, Ex-presideut of 

 the N. J. State Horticultural Society, whom 

 the writer visited at Vineland, N. J., a few 

 weeks ago, surprised him by several remark- 

 able statements. Three fourths of the 

 thousands of Grape vines in Vineland will 

 in all likelihood be torn out next spring. 

 Some fields have not borne a sound cluster 

 for some time. While it now seems to be set- 

 tled beyond a doubt that we have a sure 

 preventive for the fatal Grape rot in 

 sulphate of copper when applied properly, 

 early enough and often enough, even some 

 of his nearest neighbors seem to be wholly 

 ignorant of the work done by the depart- 

 ment, and of the successful experiments 

 made under Mr. Pearson's supervision in 

 Vineland right under their very noses. 



In close connection with this fact is the 

 other stated by him that among fruit grow- 

 ers of that place there are not more than 

 two or three that read a horticultural or 

 agricultural paper. The proposition to de- 

 stroy the vineyards, and abandon Grape 

 culture seems to be clearly traceable to 

 ignorance of growers concerning the 

 achieved success in treating these diseases, 

 and to the criminal neglect of growers to 

 acquaint themselves with the horticultural 

 literature of the day. It also proves the 

 great cost of unprogressiveness, and the 

 losses to the fruit grower often resulting 

 from their refusal to subscribe for one or 

 more good horticultural journals. 



The Ironclad is a wonderful Grape. At 

 its home in South Jersey it ripens about the 

 last week of September, but colors early 

 like Ives. One teaspoouful of its juice in a 

 tumbler of clear water colors it a deep pur- 

 plish pink, two teaspoonfuls give it a most 

 beautifiil royal purple. The vine seems to 

 be disease-proof, as there is no identified 

 case of Ironclad being affected by rot. 



The system of training seems to have no 

 Influence upon the susceptibility of Grape 

 vines to rot. Vines tied to stakes, or train- 

 ed to one wire, to two wires or more, and 

 under the various systems of pruning— all 

 were affected alike. The slightest covering 

 above, a coping, a board, a strip of muslin, 

 the foliage of a tree, etc., afford more or less 

 protection against Grape diseases. 



Michigan Notes; Spraying Fruit 

 Trees. 



■W. A. SMrrH, BERRIEN CO., MICH. 



The winter of '88 and '89 will long be 

 remembered here for its mild temperature. 

 Plowing all through December and down to 

 the 9th of January; 18° being the lowest 

 thus far. The past season, however, has not 

 been favorable for horticultural products in 

 western Michigan. Small fruits averaged 

 reasonably good; Apples nearly a failure 

 (owing doubtless to two full crops and dry 

 seasons the two prior years). The middle, 

 eastern and northern parts of the state 

 yielded a good crop of superior Apples. 



Peaches, on the lake shore, in the fore 

 part of the season, gave unusual promise, 

 but a destructive drouth set in when about 

 one fourth grown from which they never 

 recovered. This, added to the low tempera- 



ture in the latter part of the season, which 

 actually froze the late varieties on the trees, 

 left the crop in poor shape for marketing, or 

 even for home use, and the consequence was 

 a general complaint of over-production, 

 though the main trouble, I fancy, was under- 

 consumption, owing entirely to the worth- 

 less character of the fruit. 



We have got to learn the imperative 

 necessity of thinning our fruit so as to get 

 size, color and quality. This is an essential 

 precaution wherever drouths are liable to 

 occur during the growing season. This 

 lake shore county has had three consecutive 

 dry seasons and this is the dryest of all. 

 pur forest timber is well nigh gone and the 

 land is being tilled. Apple orchards under 

 cultivation for some years past, have yielded 

 larger crops and better fruit than those 

 remaining in sod. 



I sprayed my Apple trees once and had 

 nine tenths of the fruit wormy. In a dry 

 season like the past two or three applications 

 will,be necessary to save this fruit though 

 once spraying has saved my Cherries for the 

 past two years, and four or five applications 

 have done the same for my Plums. I have 

 no longer any doubt about saving stone 

 fiTiits by spraying. 



I shall try the same remedy on Peaches 

 this year. If any of your readers have made 

 a trial in spraying Peach trees it would be 

 interesting to hear from them. The foliage 

 however will hardly stand as strong an 

 application as that of other fruit. 



Black Rot of Grapes. 



ABSTRACT OF THE SPECIAL REPORT BY PROF. F. L. SCRIBNER 

 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Black Rot occurs throughout the States 

 east of the Rocky Mountains on all wild and 

 cultivated vines. It is especially frequent 

 and destructive in the States bordering the 

 Atlantic, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of 

 Mexico and along the banks of large ^-ivers, 

 notably in the states of Missouri and Ohio. 

 Its virulence lessens as the humidity dimin- 

 ishes. Thus in Texas its ravages are unim- 

 portant, excepting along the banks of the 

 Red, Brazos and Colorado; in western Texas 

 where it is very dry, the disease has 

 not been observed. 



Black Rot is the most serious and import- 

 ant disease of the vine in the United States. 

 There is no disease of the vine yet known 

 that causes in a few days such great losses. 

 Mildew is less common and causes less loss 

 to the crop, although in consequence of 

 repeated attacks during several years may 

 cause the death of the vine. This never 

 results from Black Rot. In Vineland, N. J. 

 Seabrook, Md., Charlottesville, Va., the 

 vicinity about St. Louis and Neosho, Mo., 

 and at Dallas, Texas, the majority of the 

 vines lost, in 1887, 80, 90 and 9.5 per cent of 

 their crop by Black Rot. In Virginia, New 

 .Jersey and Maryland vine growers have 

 given up Grape culture where moisture is 

 most abundant during summer. In years 

 of severe attack it was not possible to save 

 Grapes for the table unless the precaution 

 was taken to cover them with paper sacks. 



All hybrids of T^ vinifcra are very sus- 

 ceptible to the disease. We have observed 

 Black Rot on the wild varieties in the for- 

 ests from the Northern States as far south 

 as Texas; e.g., Vitis labrusca, V. riparia, 

 V. cordifolia, V. cestivnlis, Ampelopsis, 

 qxiinqucfoUa, A. bipinnaU, Vitis Arizonfca 

 V. CaUfornica, V. Nova-Mcxicana and V. 

 rotiindifolia. The young leaves of Vitis 

 Arizonica and V. CaUfornica, growing at 

 Denison, had their foliage spattered with 

 spots of Black Rot in some cases, but it Ls 

 especially T'. lalirusca which in its wild 

 state has its leaves and fruits destroyed by 

 the disease. Vitis rupestris, V. Berlandicri 

 V. cinerea, V. Linceumii, V. monticola, 



and V. candican.'i occasionally have a few 

 disease spots on their leaves, but never on 

 their fruit. Black Rot is seen but rarely on 

 the fruit of Vitis riparia., V. Novo-Mexi- 

 c<ina,V. cordifolia* and V.'rotundi folia. 



Among the varieties which have been cul- 

 tivated in the United .States those with 

 large, juicy berries are the ones most svib- 

 ject to Black Rot, a fact confirmed by our 

 recent observations. It appears also that 

 the later the berries are in ripening the less 

 effect Black Rot has upon them. Cynthiana 

 or Norton's Virginia, is least subject to 

 Black Rot of all American varieties, and on 

 account of this fact viticulture is economi- 

 cally possible in certain parts of Virginia, 

 southern Missouri, and northern Texas 

 Even this variety, however, loses much fruit 

 during those years when the summer 

 is very moist. 



CONDITIONS FAVORING DEVELOPMENT. 



At all points where the ravages of Black 

 Rot are most severe the summers are very 

 warm and moist. In the Central and Nor- 

 thern States, when the seasons are dry, little 

 injury is done. The year 188", during which 

 rains were infrequent in those States, af- 

 forded ample proof of this. At Hammonds- 

 port, New York, in consequence of the alti- 

 tude and exposure, dews and mists are rare 

 and Black Rot causes but little damage; the 

 losses, however, sometimes reach 10 per cent. 



In the islands of Lake;. Erie (Kelley's 

 Island, Middle Bass, etc.; in wet years the 

 losses reached 7.5 and 80 per cent, of the 

 crop; in 1887 it was necessary to search in 

 order to find any berries showing the effects 

 of Black Rot; at Sandusky ,'on the shore of 

 Lake Erie, where Black Rot frequently 

 destroys 80 per cent of" the fruit, the loss in 

 1887 was only 4 or 5 per cent;^i.the same was 

 true at Fredonia, Dunkirk and Brockton, in 

 New York, and in all these places the ab- 

 sence of dews or. fogs during this year 

 was marked. 



HISTORY. 



The existence of Black Rot in the interior 

 of virgin forests upon most of the wild 

 species of vines of .the United States, from 

 the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic and 

 from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, proves 

 beyond question that the disease is of Amer- 

 ican origin. The oldest specimens of Black 

 Rot are in the Curtis herbarium; they were 

 collected in 18.50 and named Phoma uvicola 

 by Berkely and Curtis. 



As the Black Rot appears on the leaves 

 much before it attacks the berries, Grape 

 growers have believed it to be a different 

 disease from the berries and unimportant. 

 The recent study of fresh specimens has 

 demonstrated the identity of these forms, 

 and also of these with Phoma on the fruit. 



Black Rot always begins by attacking the 

 leaves, by preference young tender leaves, 

 especially those at the ends of the branches. 

 As .soon as the parenchyma becomes firm, 

 the spots, although they may be numerous, 

 are very limited in size, and the leaves thus 

 affected do not seem to suffer. They are 

 generally affected a month or three weeks 

 before the disease shows itself on the ber- 

 ries. At Neosho, Mo., in 1887, the disease 

 appeared on the leaves about May 30 and on 

 the fruit .Tune 10; the first spots of mildew 

 were observed .June 13. When the weather 

 is warm and dews frequent, the earliest 

 varieties are attacked when the berries are 

 no larger than small Peas. The berries of 

 late varieties, like the JEstivalis, are not 

 actually attacked much before the period of 

 ripening. In New Jersey, District of Co- 

 lumbia and Maryland; the berries may be 

 attacked by Black Rot by the lst>f June. 



*Thls year (1888) I received from Mr. Hermann Jaeger 

 Of Neosho, Mo., clusters of Vitis cordifolia, with the 

 berries literally covered with the pustules of Black 

 Rot.— F. L. S. 



{To be Continued.) 



