THE GRAPE 197 



the fruit remaining unripe upon the vines until de- 

 stroyed by frost. No entirely satisfactory remedy for 

 this pest has been found, though spraying with kerosene 

 emulsion with all the force possible as soon as the pest 

 appears will check their depredations. Clean cultiva- 

 tion also helps the vines to overcome their injury. 



Fungous Pests. 



Diseases of several kinds are more destructive to the 

 grape than insects. The downy and powdery mildew is 

 very abundant on the leaves and fruit in moist hot 

 weather, causing the leaves to fall off and the fruit to 

 remain unripe. Fig. 71 shows vines sprayed and un- 

 sprayed. Varieties like the Delaware, Brighton, Niag- 

 ara, etc., are much subject to these attacks. The black 

 rot is a fungus which attacks the fruit, causing it to turn 

 brown and often destroying the entire crop. If the rot 

 appears when the berries are small they dry up and are 

 black in color, but if it does not appear until the fruit is 

 nearly ripe they fall off before turning black. This pest 

 and the mildews are kept in check by spraying with the 

 Bordeaux mixture, applying it just before the blossom 

 buds open, repeating it two or three times at intervals 

 of a week or ten days. If Paris green at the rate of one- 

 fourth pound to fifty gallons of the mixture is used, it 

 will kill some of the leaf-eating insects that attack the 

 vine, possibly some of the rose bugs. 



Were it not for the insects and fungous pests, and the 

 damage by frosts, grape growing on the high hills of 

 New England would become a most profitable industry, 

 as by the process of girdling above described the time 

 of ripening can be hastened so as to successfully com- 

 pete with the large crops of the West. 



