384 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



appearance as a small diffused spot, which soon 

 spreads, and involves the whole flesh. The dis- 

 ease spreads through the bunch, and continues 

 its ravages till the berries begin to color, when it 

 disappears. In appearance it resembles the 

 potato rot, and is about equally destructive. It 

 is of fungous origin, though its nature is not well 

 understood. There can be no doubt, however, 

 that the predisposing causes are very much like 

 those that produce mildew on the leaf. Some 

 varieties of the grape, as, for example, the 

 Catawba, are peculiarly susceptible to its at- 

 tack, and in unfavorable seasons the fruit proves 

 an entire loss. The Diana, Isabella, Concord, 

 and others also suffer from its attacks in bad 

 seasons, but in a much less degree. We know 

 of nothing better calculated to arrest the disease 

 than the general course of treatment recom- 

 mended for mildew, and sprinkling the bunches 

 with finely powdered lime, the treatment to be 

 used as a preventive. The berries, however, 

 should be removed when they become diseased^ 

 carried from the vineyard, and destroyed. If 

 the disease is of fungous origin, it is plain that 

 leaving the berries on the bunch, or on the 

 ground as they fall, only serves to increase and 

 intensify it. 



