November 12, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



547 



The Xerophyllum attains its greatest perfection in these damp 

 barrens, where it is a stately, fine plant. It consists of a thick 

 mat of narrow, grass-like, reclining leaves, from a foot to 

 eighteen inches in length. These clumps are quite orna- 

 mental in winter, and they are decidedly so in May, when they 

 send up a flower-stem three or four feet in height, surmounted 

 by a dense head of showy white flowers. Sometimes several 

 stems arise from one clump. Its cultivation is considered dif- 

 ficult. Four years ago I had fifteen plants moved to my gar- 

 den, where they are now all in a thriving condition. A shal- 

 low trench was made only a little lower than the surrounding 

 ground in which they were planted. But they had been care- 

 fully removed with a large deep sod of earth surrounding 

 each clump, and all the little shrubby plants that were 

 growing around them were left in the sod. They are well 

 worth all the trouble and cost of transplanting. 



Farther back in the swamp, hid away among the Cedars, is 

 the rare, local Helonias bullata, growing in clumps, with broad, 

 thick evergreen leaves from six to ten inches in length. It 

 grows almost wholly in water, and yet it is quite easy of culti- 

 vation in any common garden soil, where it will bloom in 

 early April. 



The Pitcher-plant is here in abundance, and is handsome all 

 winter. The edge of the swamp is bordered with a thick car- 

 pet of aromatic Wintergreen in such profusion that the 

 berries are collected for market, mostly by foreigners, who 

 find a ready sale for the fruit in Philadelphia and New York. 



I have tarried so long amongst the evergreens in the swamp 

 that I have left no space to tell of the evergreens in the drier 

 and more open woodlands. ., _ 



Vineland, N.J. Mary Treat. 



Enemies of the Grapevine. 



AT the Conference on Grapes held by the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society in September in their gardens at Chiswick, 

 one of the papers read by Mr. R. D. Blackmore treated on the 

 above subject, and it may be of interest to reproduce a few of 

 his remarks here. 



The enemies of the Vine may be broadly divided into two 

 groups — namely, those of the vegetable order, chiefly fungoid, 

 and those of the animal, chiefly insects, while a third group 

 that cannot be referred to either of the above may be called 

 miscellaneous. 



Fungoid diseases are numerous and difficult to define even 

 by skilled mycologists. Gardeners, however, designate them, 

 according to their choice of aggression, as mildew of the 

 roots, mildew of the shoots and foliage, or of the bunch or 

 berry. Mildew on the roots is not a very extensive malady, 

 and appears to exist only in places where the roots have 

 missed their proper share of moisture. Mildew on the foliage 

 or berry, however, is always a nuisance, and unless dealt with 

 immediately is likely to prove an extensive disorder. In the 

 majority of cases the evil is caused by a wantof genial warmth. 

 Perhaps there has been a creeping draught or a sudden fall in 

 the temperature, or something in the air that sends a shiver 

 through the leaves, and then in the early morning the first 

 symptoms of mildew are seen. It may be but a little gray 

 breath on the under side of a young leaf, or a dull curl at the 

 tip of the shoot, but to the eye of the experienced gardener it 

 means the vanguard of an army of pestilence. The innumera- 

 ble spores of the disease fasten onto a weak spot, and suck 

 and grow and propagate with rapidity. These conditions must 

 be met at once. Raise the temperature, stop every crevice of 

 draught, and if there be no young grapes to forbid it, fill the 

 air with a moist exhalation of sulphur and quicklime painted 

 on the pipes. The leaves, also, when infested should be 

 treated to a dose of sulphur, and the border where the Vine is 

 growing syringed with a weak solution of soft soap and sul- 

 phur. But if the sensitive berries are set these strong meas- 

 ures must be modified and the treatment prolonged in a 

 milder form. Mildew on the foliage is bad enough, but on the 

 berries it is far worse, being so much less accessible. A course 

 which has even lately been recommended, of sulphuring the 

 bunch and then dipping it when ripe in a bucket of clean 

 water, is a poor practice and spoils the appearance of the 

 grapes. The proper course is to remove every diseased 

 berry, or even the whole bunch if it can be spared, and burn 

 it. Then soak the soil with water almost hot, close every ven- 

 tilator, fill the house with warmth, and syringe the floor (if it 

 is feared to paint the pipes) with soft soap and sulphur 

 mixed. 



Young gardeners do not seem to know or realize the danger 

 of giving "bottom air" too soon. In the main these sudden at- 

 tacks of mildew arise from chill caused by ungenial currents 

 of air, which check rapid growth and prepare the surface 



for the reception of the hovering enemy. Every grape- 

 grower has his particular crotchet, or, as he would rather have 

 it called, his own enlightened theory, as to culture, for it is 

 well known that grapes are well grown under different and 

 sometimes diametrically opposite systems. Nevertheless, a 

 time comes when principles reassert themselves. At the 

 present day it is almost impossible to ripen a crop of grapes 

 out-of-doors in England, yet it used to be done forty years ago. 

 There has been no failing in the average temperature during 

 these years, according to meteorological reports, but the 

 failure is due almost entirely to the fact that open-air Vines 

 are attacked by mildew, and this has discouraged growers. 



Another violent and virulent disease of a fungoid nature is 

 known as Anthracnose or Melanitis. Mr. Berkeley, the great 

 mycologist, believed it to be identical with the " black spot " 

 of Australia and the " black rot " or "grape rot " of America. 

 The symptoms vary ; in some cases no blackness is apparent 

 until the last stage of the disease. The tip of the shoot is first 

 attacked, and the unexpanded leaves assume a dirty wash- 

 leather color. Lower down the shoot the expanded leaves 

 become cupped and concave underneath. The entire shoot 

 becomes dull and loses its crispness, and, if pinched, indents 

 without breaking. The disease at last, after descending the 

 stem, enters the older wood and quickly destroys the vine if 

 not checked at the outset. Those kinds with thick, tomentose 

 leaves, such as Gros Colman, Gros Maroc and Black Alicante, 

 are the kinds chiefly attacked by this peculiar disease, while 

 Black Hamburgh, Chasselas Musque and others appear to be 

 exempt from it. 



The usual post-mortem remedy is to "search the roots"; but 

 these, together with the side shoots and lower leaves, are 

 always healthy until the disease reaches them. To thwart the 

 disease Mr. Blackmore tried sulphur in every form, quassia, 

 tobacco water, etc., but one day, seeing by chance a can of 

 strong liquid manure, he plunged a shoot into it ; this treat- 

 ment caused a speedy arrest of the evil, and, after two or three 

 more dippings, a renewal of sound growth. 



Among the insect pests which attack the roots or stems of 

 the Vine comes first and most fatal of all, the Phylloxera ; 

 happily, however (owing, perhaps, to climate), English gar- 

 deners do not make its acquaintance. Then the larvae of the 

 cockchafer, Cetonia and other beetles, weevils, wireworms, etc. 

 The grub of the cockchafer, though destructive, does little 

 harm now, because it is not in sufficient numbers. The 

 Cetonia is rare and does little injury. But the weevil (Curculio 

 vitis), both male and female, is a great pest. It tears the leaves, 

 nips off the young shoots, and in the case of pot-vines, honey- 

 combs the soil, filling the cells with fat, curled larvae, which in 

 a young state are bluish white, passing into yellow when fully 

 grown, and assuming a dirty red color in the pupa state. The 

 presence of this insect in a pot is revealed by the leaves turning 

 yellow, the young bunches of grapes flag, and unless strong 

 measures are soon applied the plant eventually dies. Preven- 

 tion is the proper remedy. The soil should be searched for 

 the weevils, but it is often difficult to find them, as they re- 

 semble it in color. A good method of catching them is by 

 ordinary Maidenhair Ferns, which act as traps. The weevils 

 like them and get into the crowns to rest, and if a plant is turned 

 upside down and shaken over a piece of white paper every 

 morning the weevils will drop out should any be present. 

 Decayed potatoes, apples, carrots and the like may also be 

 used as traps for these depredators with advantage. 



The enemies which attack the shoots and foliage are red 

 spider (Tetranyclius telarius) and thrips [Thrips minutissima). 

 The latter is rarer than the former, and its presence is often 

 due to the introduction of such plants as Azaleas, Abutilons, 

 etc., into the vinery. When once established it is difficult to 

 get rid of, and its ravages must be combatted by much spong- 

 ing with soft soap and tobacco. The mealy-bug {Dactylopius 

 adonidiim) if once established becomes a frightful pest. It is 

 often imported in spring by ants, and unless seen to then the 

 gardener will have to cope with a mass of woolly filth later on. 

 The vine scale is another enemy, but a brush filled with strong- 

 insecticide will soon dispatch it. 



Among miscellaneous enemies of the Vine are scorching, 

 sunstroke, spot upon the berries, cracking, rust, and worst of 

 all, "shanking." The latter, especially, which some consider 

 to be due to a local disease of the foot-stalk and others to the 

 lack of nourishment, seems at present to be a malady little 

 understood. 



It may be mentioned that Mr. Blackmore is the author of the 

 popular novel, " Lorna Doone," and his lecture, of which 

 the above is a mere outline, will appear in full in the Journal 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society and will amply repay the 

 reading. 



London. PJlOllO. 



