26 



BUvSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



The European varieties are more subject to this dis- 

 ease tb an our indigenous sorts. In France and Ger- 

 many it is successfully combated with flour of sulphur, 

 early and often applied, on the lower surface of the 

 leaves . * "With our prices of labor it would scarcely be 

 practicable except in cold graperies or garden culture, 

 and it is best not to plant largely of those varieties 

 which are very liable to this disease. 



The Rot There are several kinds of Rot in the ber- 

 ries, (well known to all cultivators to their dismay,) 

 specially prevalent in heavy soils and during wet sea- 

 sons; (at least the dry climate of California seems a 

 complete safeguard against both mildew and rot,) and 

 whatever the causes, the best method to pursue is to 

 choose varieties that are least liable to be affected, and 

 to plant them upon well drained soil. 



Sun-scald is another disease, or, probably, only an- 

 other stadium of mildew. The leaves seem to be- 

 come blistered or burnt; that portion injured will turn 

 brown, arid in a few days it becomes dry and crisp. If 

 the leaves are much injured by sun-scald the fruit does 

 not mature. (This shows the absurdity of removing 

 the leaves to make the grape ripen better or sooner.) 

 Sun-scald and mildew often go together, and vines af- 

 fected by the one are very likely to be attacked by the 

 other. 



There is another species of fungus called rust, and 

 some other diseases, but they are by far less injurious 

 and formidable than the many noxious 



INSECTS. 



[Our limited space only permits us to briefly refer to 

 a few of those insects which we have found most inju- 

 rious in our own vineyards. These are, however, for 

 the most part unnoticed in any of our standard treatises 

 on the Grape-vine, and for the facts regarding them we 

 are indebted to the valuable Entomological Reports of 

 the State of Missouri.] 



THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA. 



( Phylloxera vastatrix . ) 



Among the insects injurious to the Grape-vine none 

 have ever attracted as much attention as the PHYLLOX- 

 ERA, which, in its essential characteristics, was un- 

 known when the first edition of this little work on 

 American Grape-vines was written. The gall-inhabit- 

 ing type of this insect, it is true, was noticed by our 

 grape-growers, many years ago, (especially on the Clin- 

 ton) but they knew nothing of its root-inhabiting type. 

 Even Fuller who informs us that in Mr. Grant's cele- 

 brated grape -nurseries, (as far back as 1858) the men 

 were in the habit of combing out, with their fingers, 

 the roots of young vines to be sent off, in order to get 

 rid of the knots never mentions anything of this, nor of 

 any root-infesting insect, in his excellent Treatise on 

 the Cultivation of the Native Grape, though 16 pages 

 are devoted to its insects. In the Spring of 1869 M. J. 

 Lichtenstein, of Montpellier, first hazarded the opinion 

 that the Phylloxera, which was attracting so much at- 

 tention in Europe, was identical with the American 



* The practice is to mix the sulphur with an equal 

 quantity of liii" air-slacked lime, and apply the powder 

 with the aid of bellows,, of which a very cheap style is 

 manufactured for thie purpose. The first application is 

 made as soon as the blossoms are off, in June, and re- 

 peated once a month during the summer. "Ihe main 

 point is to secure an even distribution in a dry time, and 

 to make sure work, this application should be made be- 

 fore any signs of mildew appear, and repeated 8 or 4 

 times during the season. 



Leaf -gall Louse, (first described by Dr. Asa Fitch, 

 State Entomologist of New York, by the name of Pem.- 

 phigug*mtifoli<K)\ and in 1870, Prof. C. V. Riley suc- 

 ceeded in establishing the identity of their gall insect 

 with ours, and also the identity of the gall and root- 

 inhabiting types. The correctness of his views is con- 

 firmed by the subsequent researches of Prof. Planchon, 

 Dr. Signoret, Balbiani, Cornu, and other scientists in 

 France; lately also of Prof. Rcessler, in Klosterneu- 

 burg in Austria.* 



After visiting France in 1871, and then extending his 

 observations here, some of which were made in our 

 Bushberg vineyards, Prof. Riley first gave us every 

 reason to believe " that the failure of the European 

 vine ( F. Vinifera) when planted here, the partial fail- 

 ure of many hybrids with the European Vinifera, and 

 the deterioration of many of the more tender-rooted 

 native varieties, are mainly owing to the injurious work 

 of this insidious little root-louse; also, that some of 

 our native varieties enjoy relative immunity from the 

 insects' attacks" M. Laliman, of Bordeaux, having 

 previously noticed the remarkable resistance of certain 

 American vines in the midst of European vines dying 

 from the effects of Phylloxera. The importance of 

 these discoveries to grape culture cannot be too highly 

 appreciated. The French Minister of Agriculture com- 

 missioned Professor Planchon, of Montpellier, to visit 

 this country to study the insect here the harm it does 

 to our vines, or the power of resistance which these 

 possess, f His investigations not only corroborated 

 Prof. Hiley's conclusions regarding the Phylloxera, but 

 gave him, and through him to the people of Europe, a 

 knowledge of the quality of our native grapes and 

 wines, which will be very apt to dispel much of the 

 prejudice against them that has so universally prevailed 

 heretofore. 



To discuss this subject as it deserves; to give a his- 

 tory of the Grape Phylloxera; the progress and extent 

 of its ravages; the experiments made to prevent these; 

 to review the influence which it had and probably 

 will have on American grape -culture would far ex- 

 ceed the scope of this brief manual. The literature of 

 this subject would already fill a respectable library. 

 We can here merely mention a few facts, and give some 

 figures, which may enable the grape-grower to recog- 

 nize and to observe this minute, yet so important in- 

 sect; and we refer those who desire full and reliable 

 information to Prof. Rilc>'s Entomological Reports, 

 especially the Sixth, for 1874, from which we cull 

 largely. It will be understood that all the figures are 

 very highly magnified, and that the natural sizes are 

 indicated by dots within circles, or by lines. 



The following figure of a grape leaf, shows the galls 

 or excrescences produced by the gall-inhabiting type of 

 the insect. On carefully opening one of the galls, we 

 find the mother louse diligently at work surrounding 

 herself with pale-yellow eggs, scarcely (.01) the one hun- 



* While this is going to press we learn from Dr. A. 

 Blankenhorn , carlsruhe, Germany, that the Phylloxera 

 has just been found in three different places, ( Annaberg, 

 Carlsruhe and Worms) always on the roots of American 

 vines, which, however, did not show the slightest symp- 

 tom of disease. 



t The full report of Prof. Planchon has just been pub- 

 lished in the form of a most interesting little volume 

 " Les Vignes Americaines, leur resistance au Phylloxera 

 et leur avenir en Europe." Paris 1875. 



