Notes and Gleanings. 231 



the belief that the grape-crop was, after all, the safest crop which could be raised. 

 It might occasionally fail ; so did wheat, corn, potatoes, and every other field- 

 crop : but, on the whole, grapes were altogether the most remunerative. In 

 iS65, the rain-fall in June was seven inches and forty-two hundredths (7.42), — 

 considerably more than double the average for June. In this year, too, the grape- 

 crop was very badly injured, the aggregate yield not being more than one-fourth 

 to one-third a crop. This brought a good deal of discouragement to many 

 grape-men. Some were almost inclined to believe that the crop would no longer 

 be remunerative. 



" The next year brought a change for the better, and revived the drooping 

 spirits of the despondent. The fall of rain in June in that year (1867) was but 

 one inch and nineteen-hundredths (1.19), or considerably less than one-half the 

 June average. The crop that year, although somewhat diminished in quantity, 

 was the best in quality we have ever had ; and the quantity, although not equal 

 to some previous years, was probably as large as is consistent with thorough 

 ripening. The next year (1868) brought another change, and well-nigh brought 

 discouragement to many who had hitherto been hopeful. The rain-fall in June 

 that year was five inches and ninety-eight hundredths (5.98) ; lacking but two 

 one-hundredths of being double the June average. As to the crop that year, 

 the result is fresh in the minds of all interested. It is sufficient to say, that, in 

 this locality, it came the nearest to a failure of any thing we have hitherto known. 

 Now, can all these things be called coincidences merely ? We see, during a pe- 

 riod of ten years, a certain sequence of events, — a good grape-crop following a 

 dry June, and a poor crop following a wet June. There has not been a single ex- 

 ception during the whole period. May we not therefore, without presumption, 

 begin to look upon these sequences not merely as coincidences, but, to a certain 

 extent, as cause and effect? They would certainly seem to sustain the opinion 

 previously hazarded, that a great deal more depended on the when than on the 

 how 7mich rain fell during the grape-growing season. We do not wish to be 

 understood as advancing this as a theory which will wholly account for the rot 

 in grapes : far from it. But we do think it is a step in the right direction. It 

 may prove one of the causes : and, by continued vigilance and oft-repeated ob- 

 servations, we may in time discover another and still another of these sequences, 

 and in the course of time get to understand the laws governing these things ; 

 then we may possibly be able to apply the proper remedy. 



" We will now proceed to show, that, in the years when our grapes have suf- 

 fered from excessive rains in June, these rains have occurred within the ten 

 days named, — say between the i8th and 28th of the month. Thus, in June, 1862, 

 the entire rain-fall for the month was 4.21 inches ; of which, 2.82 inches, or more 

 than one half, fell between the 17th and 28th of the month. Again: in 1866, 

 the whole amount in June was 7.42 inches ; and, of this amount, 6.41 inches, or 

 more than five-sixths of the whole amount, fell between the 17th and 27th of 

 the month. 



"Again : in 1868, the whole amount in June was 5.98 inches ; and, of this, 

 3.71 inches, or more than five-eighths, fell between the i8th and the close of 

 the month." 



