1 86 Notes and Glea7iings. 



of that ! — a ton of evergreen seed to be sown by one nursery-man, and that a 

 Western one too ! 



Lawson's cypress cost five dollars per ounce. So far, Mr. Douglas cannot 

 supply the demand ; showing conclusively that somebody is tree-planting, at 

 any rate. Until recently, he has had some forty men employed. 



Pears, his old hobby, are not quite so flourishing. Blight has injured many 

 trees ; and the dry summer last year has visibly affected the trees, the crop 

 being short, and the fruit somewhat defective. — E. S., in Prairie Farmer. 



Theory of Grape-Rot. — I was reminded of the old saying, that "one 

 story is good until another is told," when reading an article in " The Cleveland 

 Herald " of the 2d inst. under the above head, and purporting to be a letter 

 from Dr. Schroeder of Bloomington, 111., to W. L. Curtis of Catawba Island. 



The writer assumes that the cause of the grape-rot is now discovered ; that 

 it is owing to the age of the vines ; that rot is sure to appear after the vines 

 have been in bearing a certain number of years ; and concludes by saying that 

 the grapes will begin to rot next year in Cleveland and along the shore east- 

 ward. 



Now, it must be patent to all who have given the matter attention, that, when 

 the rot prevails, it is found equally in vines just coming into bearing and those 

 of the oldest growth. I have in my vineyard Catawbas which have been in 

 bearing twenty years, and also vines which have been set almost every year 

 during the whole of that period. In my experimental vineyard, where the first 

 vines were set, I continued to add about fifty vines a year for a number of 

 years. In this vineyard there is a difference between the first and the last 

 planted of at least fifteen years ; and, when the rot prevails, the latest planted 

 suffer equally with the oldest in bearing. If there can be said to be any diflfer- 

 ence, it would be in favor of the oldest, since we have always found our best 

 grapes on our oldest vines. 



It may be, and observation seems to warrant the belief, that in certain locali- 

 ties, perhaps in all where the Catawba has been cultivated a sufficient length of 

 time for the cause, whatever it maybe, to develop itself, it is found more subject 

 to rot than when just planted in that particular locality ; but the theory, that the 

 age of the vine has any thing to do with it, observation and experience show to 

 be as utterly without foundation as all the other theories which have been 

 advanced, every one of which, so far as I know, have been demonstrated 

 to be false by facts within the reach of all careful observers. Whatever the 

 cause of the rot in the Catawba may be, it is yet to be discovered : until that 

 time, the cause assigned by one of the oldest grape-growers, as the only one 

 which would cover the whole ground, will stand good, — "pure cussedness." — 

 G. C. H., in Ohio Fanner. 



Kelly's Island, October, 1868. 



[We never had much faith in Dr. Schroeder's theory, although we hoped 

 that his method of preventing the rot might be successful. As to mildew, we 

 know that that attacks vines of all ages ; being, of course, more fatal to a 

 young and slender vine than to one well established. — Ed.^ 



