mm 



852 



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ccive its sustenance in the ordinary way, even in in. 

 sufficient, starving quantities, than to have it forced 

 through organs unfit for this oiSce. For a vege- 

 table needs, besides the carbonic acid its leaves take 

 from the atmosphere, a vast quantity of dissolved 

 mineral substances, which it necessarily must take 

 up from the soil, and can do it by no other organ 

 but the roots. 



Hence, being exposed to the unnatural condition 

 mentioned above, the active cells in the young fruit 

 and leaves will do their work, but very incom- 

 pletely. In consequence of this, defective action 

 the healthy transformation of t'^.eir sap will run 

 into putrid fermentation, and then the ever pre- 

 sent spores of the fungus soon find out their natu- 

 ral element in which they can thrive ;md luxuriate. 

 Then we are told the fungus, in the shape of mil- 

 dew and rot, has attacked and diseased our healthy 

 vines and berries. The fungus, no doubt, when 

 once established, may accelerate the disease, but 

 cannot be the cause of it, as long as the sap has 

 not been vitiated by the disturbed functions of the 

 plant. 



Now, it is the tar<k of the horticulturist and fruit- 

 grower to prevent this forcing in of .-team from the 

 outside. And it can be done, as I have reason to be- 

 lieve, by keeping the inside of the plant — that is, 

 its interior cells and vessels — filled v/ith humidity, so 

 as to .counteract, by an equally strong opposite pres- 

 sure from within, the deleterious pressure from with- 

 out. And th.is we can do by planting the tree or 

 vine in a locality where its roots may find a nsode- 

 rate but constant supply of aqueous vapor esnitted 

 from water stored up in some wny or other between 

 cracks, crevices, loose, pebbly soil, or fed by the 

 II rider ground exhalations from vs^ells, cisterns, drains 

 and water courses. 



Some authors contend that the cause of the grape 

 rot is to be found in our cold, c/r?/ night air, and Uy 

 great stress on the intense radiation of caloric through 

 this dry air. What few facts I could gather this 

 summer about the :ot of tlie Catawba in St. Louis 

 County, point to the period from the 2d to the 7th 

 of July as the time at which the rot made its first 

 appearance. According to my psychrometrical ob- 

 servatic ns, the above period was one of extreme at- 

 mospheric humidity, especially during night, the 

 tem.perature high, and the atmosphere in such a 

 condition that very little, if any, radiation could go 

 on. Moreover, I know of an instance where, of two 

 Catawba grape vines, planted a short distance apart 

 on the same premises, one rots the grapes very 

 badly every year ; while the other, with fine crops 

 for fourteen years in succession, hss never exhib- 



of rot. In 1864 it had no crop, 

 were killed by 22 degrees below 



ited the least sign 

 because the buds 

 zero. 



Both these vines are influenced by the same at- 

 mospheric conditions, and exposed to the same con- 

 dition of caloric. Hence, radiation cannot be the 

 cause of rot. There is, however, a cistern near the 

 healthy one, from which its rootlets can draw an even 

 steady and never failing supply of humidity, most 

 likely in the condition of vapor. 



1 could cite other instances where the moisture 

 between soil and atmosphere being properly bal- 

 anced, keeps not only the grape free from rot and 

 mildew, but also the Pear tree free from blight, and 

 to some extent, the Peach tree free from having its 

 buds killed by late frosts in spring. 



To the professional gardener and florist it is a well 

 known fact, observable every time he is repotting 

 plants, that the outside of the ball of earth, where 

 it had been in contact with the inside of the pot, is 

 one mass of fine fibrous roots; while the more in- 

 terior portion of the ball contains scarcely any at all. 

 The reason for this is, that the burnt clay, of which 

 the pot consists, sucks up, and holds with great te- 

 nacity, a considerable quantity of water within its 

 pores, from which the rootlets, without being im- 

 mersed in the liquid, can draw whenever they need 

 it. Broken pieces of rock, — especially the more 

 porous kinds, — also narrow crevices in rocks, act 

 in a similar manner to pottery ; and, if gradually 

 supplied in some way or other with the necessary 

 amount of watery vapor, may give the desired 

 result. 



In advancing these views I cannot help expressing 

 a wit-h to see them tested thoroughlj'. I will do my 

 part in taking, as heretofore, careful observations 

 of the state of the weather, and, especially, its hu- 

 midity, day and night, if owners of vineyards of 

 this and our neighboring States will do their part 

 in observing closely the time of appearance of the 

 Jirst signs of rot, its progress an i coui'se. Also, 

 in noticing vines of one and the same variety 

 that may happen to be exempt from rot, while all 

 the rest are affected by it. Also, the situation of 

 these anomalous cases : — whether near a drain, cis- 

 tern, well, or on loose, pebbly, porous banks of run- 

 ning streams; or beneath the caves of buildings, 

 where the rain drips from the roof and is stored up 

 within the crevices of stone foundations. By com- 

 paring notes, we may then come in possession of 

 mmy valuable facts and much useful information, 

 and do our share in helping to settle a question that 

 has so long exercised the ingenuity of fruit-growers 

 and philosophers. 



