OBSERVATIONS ON THE CALIFORNIA VINE DISEASE 121 
(b) FRurr.—The fruit may be affected at any time from 
setting to maturation. If the fruit is affected just after setting 
the whole bunch withers and falls away; if attacked somewhat 
later, on passing the hand over a diseased bunch, the berries will 
come away often with, not infrequently without, their pedicels— 
they may even fall of themselves. As the fruit grows older it 
does not fall, but may shrivel or, if nearing maturation, ripen 
imperfectly. This shriveling and imperfect maturation of the 
fruit is a feature of the California vine disease. “ The drying of 
the fruit upon the vine,” says Pierce, “is a leading effect of the 
disease and is very general in all varieties and under all 
conditions.’’! 
(с) SHoots.—The effect of the disease оп the shoots depends 
on the amount and suddenness of the defoliation, which, itself, is 
a measure of the quality of the attack. If the vine is affected 
apoplectically, the life of the shoots, or of the canes, will be more 
endangered than if it be affected with the chronic form of the 
California vine disease. The season of the year at which the 
vines are affected is also a factor of some importance. Vines 
that have suffered even complete apical defoliation on one, or 
several, of their shoots in early summer, that is while they are 
still growing vigorously, may not have them visibly damaged. 
This is evidenced by the fact that such defoliated shoots continue 
to elongate, after a period of rest, and throw out axillary foliage. 
In the height of summer, and at maturation, defoliation 
brought about by either form of the disease is more serious. 
The growth of the vines has then normally ceased and their re- 
cuperative powers аге low. In July, and to some extent, also, 
in August, defoliation is followed by a progressive dying of the 
shoots, the amount of death in each shoot being, as it were, a 
register of its defoliation. When the disease affects the vines 
after lignification has set in, and during maturation, the fall of 
the foliage leaves the canes very imperfectly formed. The shoots, 
instead of maturing properly, remain, to a greater or less extent, 
teen. One side of a shoot will be mature, the other not. 
Maturation may have proceeded normally at the base, and be 
* Loc. сін, 53. 
