The Canadian Horticulturist. 247 



A NEW TROUBLE IN VINEYARDS 



Sir, —I am advised to write you concernintf the strange condition which has come over 

 my grape vines, which must be due to some disease. I enclose you some samples of the 

 affected foliage, and would like to know the reason of their curious appearance. I noticed 

 a year ago last summer that two vines of a certain variety showed a light color in the leaf 

 early in the summer, and also on the fruit, before it developed properly. Then, towards 

 fall, the leaves all wilted and fell off. One of these vines I cut out in October ; the other 

 is about used up this spring. The foliage came out as usual and looked healthy at first, 

 but is now (July 8:h) nearly all gone. What puzzles me is that all my other vines, with 

 one or two exceptions, are turning pale in the leaf, and beginning to show signs of some 

 trouble. I have examined the leaves carefully under a microscope and can find nothing to 

 cause it, so I fear there is some trouble at the root. The vines have been bearing some ten 

 years ; the sub-soil is clay, well drained and very rich. I should be glad of any light upon 

 this trouble, for I notice the same appearance on the vines all about town, and am afraid of 

 a general loss of all' our grapes. 



J. B. Fairbaieit, BowmanviUe. 



Sir, — Nearly all the outdoor grapes in this section are infected with some newdisease 

 turniag the foliage a yellowish color. I enclose a specimen leaf taken from a Concord vine 

 in my garden. Could you give some explanation of this disease, and its cause ? 



I D. Fisher, BowmanviUe. 



Having observed no such disease in our vineyards in the Niagara district, 

 we have referred the samples and the question to Prof. Fletcher, Botanist, Ex- 

 perimental Farm, Ottawa, who writes as follows : 



" The leaf of grape from BowmanviUe is to hand. The yellow tint of the 

 leaf is due possibly to an attack of Phylloxera on the root. This leaf does not 

 show any mildew, but yesterday a similar leaf from the same place was referred 

 to me, which shows a slight attack of the Peronospora. I think it would be well 

 for your correspondent to examine the roots of his vine and see if they do not 

 show the characteristic galls of the Phylloxera, which have so often figured 

 in your reports and those of the Entomological Society of Ontario. I should 

 also suggest the advisability of spraying this vine with ammoniacal carbonate of 

 copper mixture." 



In order that our BowmanviUe friends may be the better able to judge 

 whether it is really the Phylloxera that is doing so much mischief in their vine- 

 yards, we give here an extract from Mr. Saunders' admirable work " Insects inju- 

 rious to Fruits," with the accompanying illustration : " During the first year of 

 the insects' presence the outward manifestations of the disease are very slight, 

 although the fibrous roots may at this time be covered with the little swellings ; 

 but, if the attack is severe, the second year the leaves assume a yellowish cast, 

 and the usual vigorous yearly growth of cane is much reduced. In course of time 

 the vine usually dies ; but before this takes place, the lice, having little or no healthy 

 tissue to work upon, leave the dying vine and seek for foods elsewhere, either 

 wandering under the ground among the interlacing roots of adjacent vines, or 



