GRAPE DISEASES AND BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 



267 



vegetable tissue that is in an inactive condition will bear 

 extremes of heat or cold much better than one that is 

 undergoing growth. A dry seed, for example, will not 

 suffer under circumstances in which it would perish if 

 filled with water, and a growing seedling may be still 

 more susceptible. The whole design of a scaly winter- 

 bud is to be quiet, and, as far as possible, 

 avoid sudden changes of temperature. A 

 well-prepared bud is in many respects 

 like a mature seed, and becomes most 

 subject to the influences of 

 heat and cold only when it 

 begins to unfold. The 

 most delicate tissue is one 

 that is growing or upon the 

 eve of growth. The open- 

 ing out of the peach bud 

 scales helps to expose the 

 tender parts within, but 

 the cause of the opening 

 of the scales is the one 

 that has rendered the vital 

 central parts vastly more 

 tender than they were when 

 in a hibernating condition. 

 When a peach bud has been killed, the pistil is among 

 the first parts to show the fatal effects. Instead of being 

 green — the only green portion in the center of the flower 

 — upright and plump, as illustrated at a, in Fig. 3, it 



Fig. 



Peach and Pistils. 



turns brown, shrivels, and the slender part twists, as 

 shown at Next outside of the pistil the stamens 

 change in the same wa}', and later the crown or calyx to 

 which the stamens are attached loses its healthy appear- 

 ance and becomes of a dark brown. In short, all that 

 part of a flower bud lying within the inner scales usu- 

 ally turns dark. In /', Fig. 3, for example, it is all of 

 the flower that is attached to the tip of the short branch 

 bearing the miniature peach, or all above a small ob- 

 scure triangle that may be seen below the base of the 

 pistil. The petals also turn to a dark color, but these 

 are borne by the crown, and therefore come within the 

 area described. On account of the scales retaining their 

 color, it is not always easy to distinguish the dead bud 

 from the outside for a long time after death. As the 

 tender parts within when killed dry up to a powdery 

 mass, especially the stamens, a pinch of the bud is often 

 sufficient. However, the best test for the orchardist is 

 to make a longitudinal cut through the center of the 

 suspected bud, and if the central portion is dark nothing 

 more need be hoped of such buds. 



This has been a test winter in some respects, and it is 

 hoped that every one will learn some valuable lesson 

 from any loss sustained. If some varieties of peaches 

 have come through better than others, make a note of 

 the fact and be governed accordingly ; it is by continu- 

 ous selection that we shall attain hardiness. 



Byron D. Halsted. 



Riilgers College, New Jersey. 



GRAPE DISEASES AND BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 



It is gratifying to know that competent vineyard- 

 ists are confirming the results of professional exper- 

 imenters concerning the almost wonderful efficiency 

 of Bordeaux mixture for some of the diseases of 

 the vine. Many tests were made in commercial 

 vineyards last year, and a number of good reports 

 have been made of some of them. Mr. David Al- 

 lerton, a painstaking Hudson River viticulturist, 

 gave a valuable paper upon the subject before a 

 Farmer's Institute held at Poughkeepsie late in Feb- 

 ruary. The paper was the result of actual inves- 

 tigation. Its main points are given below. 



The grape vines treated by me with the Bordeaux 

 mixture comprised my whole vineyard, and as some var- 

 ieties up to this year had been healthy, they were on 

 that account not treated till mildew and rot had already 

 showed itself, but even they show the good effects of the 

 copper solution, as it controlled mildew and brown rot 

 even after it started, preventing further infection. The 

 vines first treated by me were 100 Duchess and 50 Dela- 

 wares, and my experimental vineyard, containing some 80 

 varieties of grapes, all of which were treated five times. 

 With two exceptions, all of the vines remained healthy 

 in foliage and fruit, which ripened as perfectly as any 

 grape vine could in such a cold, wet season, The two 



exceptions noted were the Centennial and Mammoth 

 Pearl. On the 26th of June I noticed that these vines 

 were badly mildewed, the clusters, leaves and young 

 shoots being covered with powdery mildew to such an ex- 

 tent as to give them the appearance of being covered 

 with flour. I also observed that on the Duchess and 

 many other varieties, the spores of the black rot fungus 

 were numerous on the foliage. I procured the Bordeaux 

 mixture and applied it to these vines — the Duchess ex- 

 perimental vineyard, and 50 Delawares. The Centen- 

 nial and Pearl were hopeless cases. The Delaware first 

 treated did not lose a leaf and ripened every berry with 

 good foliage and well ripened wood. I examined my 

 Duchess and found, principally on vines that had had 

 black rot the year previous, some black rot. I picked 

 off the rotten berries and applied the Bordeaux mixture 

 again and subsequently applied it at intervals of two 

 weeks, picking all the rotten berries from the stem I 

 secured in all from the 100 vines aboutone quart, the fruit 

 ripening in good order. The vines were healthy and 

 held their foliage well. 



About June ist I noted the appearance of brown and 

 black rot on those grapes comprising the bulk of my 

 vineyards. Concords, Wordens and Pocklingtons, and 

 mildew on the leaves of the Delawares, and mildew, 

 brown and black rot on the Brightons, which last went 



