THK CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 153 



fruit. The Scuppernong, bearing fruit only a few berries 

 in a bunch, is objected to as a parent for a new sort for 

 the greenhouse on that account. 



If Mr. Van Mons's system of producing new kinds by 

 seeds from wildlings be attempted, it would be best to 

 try seed from all kinds, the very small, as well as the 

 good-sized berries. 



Insects. — In Massachusetts, there are but few insects 

 that feed uppn the grape leaf The rose bugs, the past 

 year or two, have been troublesome, and, in some sec- 

 tions of the United States, they are very much so ; being 

 sometimes so numerous as to eat, in a few days, every 

 cluster of fruit buds, or of blossoms, upon the vine. 

 The iuost effectual method of destroying them is by 

 hand ; covering them (when wet with dew in the morn- 

 ing,) with wood ashes, or lime is said to answer, repeat- 

 ing the application two or three times. Spreading a 

 cloth over the vine, and filling the space around under 

 this with tobacco smoke, will cause them to fall, when 

 they can bo destroyed by pouring suds made from whale- 

 oil soap upon them. When the grape is grow^n on a 

 small scale, and the rose bugs destroy the blossom, cover- 

 ing the bunch with a gauze bag will be found effectual in 

 staying their ravages. 



The lai'ge green worm (commonly called the potato 

 worm,) is, in some localities, very injurious later in the 

 season ; when in large numbers, it is such a voracious 

 creature it will soon eat all the foliage of a vine. When 

 it is known to be at work, which will be by the leaves 

 being rapidly eaten, all but the stems, it must be sought 



for and destroyed. It will be found, commonly, on the 



7* 



