102 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
Society, the Standing Committee on Grapes made 
a report, in which they say : 
" The Concord not only keeps its place in 
public favor, but is gaining ground every year. 
The Committee congratulate Dr. Warder and 
other members of the Committee, on their moral 
courage in awarding to the Concord the Gree- 
ley prize of one hundred dollars, as the best 
grape for general cultivation. It makes a good 
wine, and as a table grape is generally preferred 
to the Catawba, and sells for more money, all 
the time. It is easily propagated, not subject to 
disease, and will endure a greater degree of cold 
and neglect, and bear more fruit than any other 
grape known to this Committee. 
" We would say to persons wishing to plant a 
few vines to raise grapes for family use — plant 
mostly of the Concord." Again: "At Dr. War- 
ner's vineyard, Sept. 20th, the Coucord, gather- 
ed from the lower wire, six inches to one foot 
from the ground, weighed 66 degrees. From 
the second wire, three to four feet from the 
ground, weighed 76 degrees. From the top 
wire, five to six. feet from the ground, weighed 
78 degrees. This result is an instance to the 
contrary of the old theory that 'the nearer the 
ground the heavier the must.' On Oct. loth, 
the grapes off the same vines, all pressed to- 
gether, yielded a must averaging 82 degrees. 
* * * In conclusion, we would advise every 
one that has a home to plant grapevines. If 
they have not room for vines, plant a vine, and 
let that be a Concord. Give it plenty of room 
and sunshine, and it will bear grapes every year. 
— Geo. B. Worthejj, Christian Laislee, 
William Bander." 
Within a day or two after the receipt of this 
report, there came a communication from Mr. 
C J. May, of Warsaw, Hancock Co., 111., the 
same place in which the above meeting was 
held, who speaks of the Concord as follows : 
" The Concord has been quite extensively 
planted. Many persons have planted largely of 
it, because men in whom they have had confi- 
dence recommended it through our agricultural 
papers, as being a first-class grape for the table, 
and that in the West it so changed its natural 
qualities as to make a wine better than Cataw- 
ba, and that there was a greater demand for it 
at better prices. Those who have fruited it for 
the past two years know that it will not make a 
wine equal to the Catawba; in fact, that it will 
not make wine at all — that is, wine that will keep 
even through the first summer, unless extraor- 
dinary means are used to prevent its acetous 
fermentation. Sugar is generally used to bring 
the must up to 75 or 80, it weighing in its nat- 
ural state about 60. The Catawba often weighs 
85. It is well known that a must weighing only 
60 will not make even a passable wine. Had 
the Concord all the sugar necessary to make a 
good wine, it would still be worthless because of 
its intense foxy flavor, which would alone de- 
stroy its value for wine. Concord will not make 
wine. It is an impossibility. As a market grape 
it has some value— now selling at a fair price in 
all our city markets, but selling for a compara- 
tively larger price in our Western cities, 
where such grapes as the Delaware are as yet 
little known. As soon as the taste of the people 
has been educated by the use of good grapes, 
the Concord will find its level, and sell for its 
true value only. I have planted the Concord 
quite largely, and have mauy vines in full bear- 
ing. I believed, as others have done, that the 
Concord would make a passable wine, and plant- 
ed it for that purpose. I believed it, because 
men in whom I had confidence — men who were 
said to have grown it for some j'ears, positively 
stated that it would make a wine of good quali- 
ty. But finding that it will not do what has 
been chjimed for it, I think it full time that the 
truth should be known. It has been put before 
the people as our best native grape — as a grape 
possessing qualities that it never had a shadow 
of claim too. Many will plant it because those 
qualities have been claimed for it by men who 
should know its true value, and the result will 
be that every man who plants Concord vines 
will, within four years, find he has made a mis- 
take, and will be badly disappointed. Is it not 
necessary to real success in any and eveiy call- 
ing that our aim should be high ? If success in 
the cultivation of the Concord is our highest 
aim, shall we reach a shining mark though we 
are successful ? " It has indeed been a ' noble' 
grape — royal even to those engaged in the pro- 
pagation of it, and with every facility for reap- 
ing a grand harvest in this way, ought not I 
also to thrust in my sickle ? leaving the truth to 
come out afterwards." 
Such contradictory testimony as this, coming 
from one and the same locality, is certainly puz- 
zling to one who knowsnothing about fruit, and 
yet wishes to plant vines. The great trouble in 
the whole matter is, that grape culture is in that 
tentative state that it requires considerable 
more knowledge than individuals or even com- 
mittees are supposed to possess, to say with 
confidence that any one of our grapes is the 
best for any State or count}-. That we have yet 
the universal grape, no one believes; indeed one 
of the very committee who decided the Greeley 
Prize said to us, a few days ago, that he knew T of 
a grape that in five years would quite supersede 
the Concord ; and we know of several grapes 
that are accumulating strength to enter the con- 
test for eminence. Our opinion with regard to 
the many varieties now offered is already record- 
ed. We doubt not that the Hartford and Con- 
cord will more generally succeed than, any 
others ; but they are inferior in quality to Ca- 
tawba, Iona, and a dozen others we could name. 
Remedy for the Canker Worm 
The Plialcena vernata of the naturalists, or 
Canker Worm of New England, belongs to the 
order of Lepidoptera, and the class of Geometers, 
or earth measurers, so named from their habit 
of walking by successive spans. The male 
moth of the canker 
worm, as described by 
Harris, (Fig. 1), has 
very narrow antennae, 
and almost downy 
edging on each side, 
hardly to be seen with 
the naked eye. The 
minute feelers do not extend beyond the mouth. 
The wings are large, very thin and silky ; and 
when the insect is at rest, the fore wings are 
turned back, entirely cover the hind wings, and 
overlap on their inner edges. The fore wings 
are ash colored, with a distinct whitish spot on 
the front edge near the tip ; they are crossed by 
two jagged whitish bands, along the sides of 
which there are several blackish dots. The 
wings expand about one inch and a quarter. 
The female moth is wingless, (Fig. 2), and its 
antennae are short, slender and naked. 
Its body approaches to an oval form, 
but tapers, and is turned up behind. It 
is dark ash colored above, and gray 
beneath. It is now known, contrary 
to the former opinion, that these moths Fig. 2. 
come out of the ground in the autumn and dur- 
ing the winter, under favorable circumstances ; 
but the general time is about the middle of 
March. If the weather continues very soft and 
mild they may all be expected to come out of 
the ground in about a week. If there are cold 
snaps, and long intervals of frozen weather, 
their rising will be delayed until better weather. 
A little observation will teach the fruit grower 
when to expect them, and when to apply his 
remedies. The sluggish females instinctively 
seek the nearest tree, and crawl up the trunk 
to deposite their eggs. They are followed a few 
days after by the males for the purpose of pair- 
ing. Soon after this the females lay their eggs, 
which are shown in Fig. 3, of the natural size 
and magnified. These are laid upon the ends 
Fig. 4. 
of the branches, close by the buds, for the con- 
venience of feeding the broods when they 
hatch out. The eggs are set on end, in rows, and 
form clusters of from sixty to a hundred or 
more. They are glued to 
each other, and to the bark, 
by a grayish varnish, which 
is water-proof. This being 
done, the moths soon die. 
The eggs hatch from the first to the middle 
of May, or about the time the currant blooms 
and the apple shows its first leaves. When in 
sufficient numbers they devour the young leaves 
as fast as they grow, and by June the whole 
orchard presents a russet, burnt appearance, as 
if scorched by fire. They are terribly destruc- 
tive. The seem to like the apple and elm trees 
best, but are found upon the cherry, plum, and 
lindens, and other cultivated trees and shrubs, 
when their favorite food is wanting. The worms 
feed for about four weeks, and 
when full grown measure 
about one inch in length. (Fig. 
4.) They are ash colored on 
the back, and black on the 
sides, with a yellowish line on the belly, but 
vary somewhat in shades of coloring-, depend- 
ing perhaps upon the quality of their food. 
When full grown, they either crawl down the 
trunk, or descend by a web, and immediately 
burrow in the soil if they find it soft enough, and 
turn to cbrysalids in their cells. The chrysalis 
(fig. 5) is of a light brown color, and 
varies somewhat in size according 
to the sex, the female being the larger. g ' 
It will be seen from the character of the 
insect here described, that the most available 
method of destroying it must be by attacks upon 
the wingless mother, as she ascends the trees in 
spring. Various methods are given to accom- 
plish this, but we like best that presented by 
Ralph W. Robinson, of Hampton, member of 
the Connecticut State Board of Agriculture. 
It involves a good deal of labor, but that is the 
price of good apples by any or all methods. 
He who will not take the trouble must go with- 
out apples — and ought to. Mr. Robinson says : 
" I take a sufficient quantity of common tar, 
and an equal quantity of urine, (the latter to 
be increased or diminished, according to cir- 
cumstances, or the judgment of him who ap- 
plies it.) Heat it in an iron kettle, and stir it 
until well mixed. I then, with a brush, or swab, 
made of old rags for the purpose, apply it 
around the trunk of the tree, on a space about 
three inches wide, in the best place I can find 
between the ground and the limbs. The females 
stick fast in this tar, and the millers coming to 
pair with them, stick fast also, where their de- 
struction is sure. The application should be re- 
peated every evening (unless the ground be 
frozen), until they have done running, which 
is usually in from one to four weeks. 
"Last year the ground did not thaw out until 
late in March, and kept so until they finished 
their running, which was five days. The reason 
of mixing urine w : .th the tar is this : If tar is 
put on clear, it lardeus so rapidly that the grubs 
crawl over it; whereas if softened with urine, it 
remains soft 'or a longer time, and completes 
the work of destruction more effectually. 
" I think also that clear tar is more liable to 
injure the trees. It is recommended by some to 
put a strip of cloth about three inches wide 
around the tree, and put the tar upon that, but 
mixing it as I do, and then scraping it all clear 
from the tree as soon as they have done run- 
ning (which may be done advantageously on a 
