210 THE CULTURE OF THE SEAPE. 



cutting off the side shoots, two joints above the fruit, — I 

 opened shallow trenches, say four or five inches deep, at 

 th#roots of the vines to be pruned. As fast as the prun- 

 ing was finished, the leaves and young steins cut off, 

 were laid in these trenches, sprinMed with sufficient gyp- 

 sum or plaster, to whiten the foliage, (from, a pint to a* 

 quart per plant,) and the whole trodden down and buried 

 in the trench. 



" As soon as the leaves fell in the autumn, I repeated 

 the process, — raking up the leaves and burying them 

 around the roots of the vines, after dusting them over 

 with plaster, as before. 



" In June, 1848, the present season, I repeated the 

 same operation at the summer pruning. 



" Now the result is as follows : — 



"Although the season is remarkable for the prevalence 

 of the rot, not a berry on any of these six vines, so 

 ti'eated, is affected ; the crop being, on the contrary, very 

 good, — the fruit large, and increasing in size. The vines, 

 too, are remarkably healthy and vigorous. 



" On the other hand, the remaining vines, fourteen in 

 number, are every one affected by the rot — some of them 

 very badly ; and, even on those least affected, ten per 

 cent, of the berries are destroyed by this disease. 



" I cannot, therefore, escape the conviction, that the 

 treatment you proposed has, so far, been effectual, in pre- 

 venting this disease. 



"I ought 'to add, that the vines of my neighbors, ge- 

 nerally, are much affected by the rot, this season, and 

 that I have seen no Isabellas or Catawbas, this season, that 

 surpass, in appearance, those on the six vines alluded to. 



