1871 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



279 



Tbe Urape and Its Enemies. 



Bt I. O. Mask, Mookepield, W. Va. 



Ed. Pomoi.ogist and Gardener : — The Septem- 

 ber No. of the PoMOLOGisT is just received, and its 

 perusal has been both pleasing and profitable. It 

 is so replete with matters of practical utility on the 

 subject to (\-liich it is espeeiallj- devoted, and withal 

 contains 'o niuth of instructive information upon 

 everything bearing upon or appertaining to ponio- 

 logical and horticiiltural pursuits, that its contents 

 should be read by all who are in any way connect- 

 ed with them, and its possession indispensible. 



Our locality has been sorely aflaicted with one of 

 the most destructive drouths ever known, and at 

 this writing there is no sign or prospect of a 

 change. Every species of vegetation is literally 

 burnt vp. Farm, garden and orchard have all fared 

 alike. The fruit in this immediate vicinity (with 

 the exception of grapes) %vas all (the worked or im- 

 proved kinds,) killed in the bloom in May. The 

 frost however, from which we suffered was not of 

 very wide extent. Our neighbors a few miles off 

 have fruit, but of poor quality. It is stunted and 

 rendered almost valueless by the drouth. The only 

 orchard fruit which withstood the frost hereabouts 

 (on the low lands,) was the wildings, or seedling 

 peaches. All the worked trees without exception 

 succumbed, and as this is generally the case, there 

 is a growing prejudice against worked peach trees, 

 which will probably result in discarding them alto- 

 gether in future. 



I wish to say a few words aboi t the grape and its 

 enemies, or perhaps I .should rather designate them 

 as lis friends. We have now a pretty large breadth 

 of grapes planted in this neighborhood, comprising 

 chiefly the Concord. From the high character 

 which has been given to the Delaware, however, in 

 the various horticultural publications, a number of 

 our vineyardists have planted them pretty exten' 

 sively. The present is the first season that they 

 have shown fruit. Their beautiful appearance just 

 previous to ripening up produced a lively feeling 

 and high expectations on the part of their owners 

 But alas, they were sadly di.sappointed. An inter- 

 loper appeared to rob them of their anticipated 

 plea.sure, as well as profit. Birds, bees, wasps, hor- 

 nets, yellow jackets, and every kind of insects 

 tempted by their luscious sweetness, and invited 

 by their covering, which encased its honeyed 

 juices, swarmed about them, and almost ere their 

 presence was discovered, had well nigh destroyed 

 the whole crop. A war upon the birds was at once 

 inaugurated, and so far as they were concerned it 

 was partially successful; but as the fruit approached 

 and attained maturity, the insects increased, and re- 

 doubled their energy, and as no means could be de- 



vised to prevent it, the destruction of the whole 

 crop was complete. 



The Concord withstood the assault of the bees 

 and wasps, which was vigorously made upon them 

 after the Delawares had fiiiled, and their thick hides 

 were impervious to the weajjons of their assailants, 

 but as they matured and their skins .softened, and 

 their tempting sweetness increased, the determined 

 efl'orts of the robbers prevailed. The ripest berries of 

 the bunch were first punctured, and in a short time 

 the whole mass was riddled, shrunken, dried up and 

 destroyed. This is an experience which has taken 

 us all aback, and has cast a damper on grape cul- 

 ture, at least of the early sweet, and thin skinned 

 .sorts, like the Delaware, Crevelling, &c. I had one 

 vine of the latter in bearing this season, every ber- 

 ry on which was destroyed in an hour. 



One cause however, has no doubt tended to ren- 

 der this season more disastrous than others. The 

 early and long continued drouth destroj'ed every- 

 thing upon which honey eating insects subsist; had 

 there been the usual amount of fallen orchard fruits 

 and blossoms the grapes might have escaped with 

 at least a partial visitation. This is onlj' a supposi 

 tion however. The sweet grapes have never until 

 lately been grown here, and it is feared that their 

 honeyed juices will tend to tempt the bee from hi.-t 

 accustomed food, and induce a decided preference 

 in the future for the grape. If so, grape growing 

 for profit will have to be abandoned in this region, 

 or bee-keeping restrained. Both cannot cnduVe to- 

 gether. 



« » I 



inathews' "No. 13" Grape, 



Bt C. Bradlet, Nattv'oo, 111. 



Editor Pomologist and Gardener: — In the 

 fall of 1868 Capt. James Mathews of Knoxville, 

 sent me five cuttings (10 buds) of what he called 

 Rodgers'"No. 13,"at the same time stating that they 

 were not the true No. 1.8, but a superior grape 

 and well worthy of cultivation. In the spring of 

 1809 I set those buds in Clinton stocks. They 

 all grew and made an enormous growth of vine, 

 two of them making 100 feet of ripe wood. In '70 

 they bore a large amount of splendid fruit, some of 

 which was exhibited at the State Fair at Keokuk, 

 and was admired hy all who saw it. In the spring 

 of '70 I set a few more buds m Clinton stocks. 

 Nearly all lived and made a prodigious growth of 

 wood, and this year they were all in bearing, mak- 

 ing a great crop of most excellent fruit, which has 

 been seen and tasted by hundreds of people, ap- 

 proved and commended by all. As the appearance 

 of the foliage and the fruit are quite similar to the 

 Goethe, or Rodgcrs No. 1 it is claimed by some to be 

 the same. It makes but little difference to me 

 whether it is No. 1 or something else. I know I 



