110 
May, 1889. 
CONDCCTED BY PROF. F. LaMSON SCRIBNER. 
Botanist, Experiment Station. Knoxville, Tknn, 
To romhat Black Hot. 
The season of 188^ will be memoriblein 
ihe annals < f American viticulture for the 
discovery of a successful treatment ofBlack- 
rot. This disease, which, for so many years 
has ra vaged our vineyards, driving many 
with empty pockets from the business of 
grape growing, and preventing many < tliers 
from engaging in the work, has at last been 
overcome by methods which are practical 
and which may be performed by anyone. 
The methods consist in spraying the vines 
a number of times with a preparation of 
sulphate of copper and lime, known as the 
Bordeaux mixture. There are several pre- 
parations of sulphate of copper which, prop- 
erlv applied, will prevent mildew. The 
Bordeaux mixture will do this and at the 
same time prevent that worse disease — 
Black-rot. 
It is indispensable to success, however, that 
the first application should be made early. 
As soon as the first leaves appear is time to 
begin operations. Make the first applica- 
tion then: follow this with a second just be- 
fore the vines begin to bloom and another 
immediately after the flowering period. 
The number and frequency of subsequent 
treatments will depend on the season and to 
some extent also on the varieties to be treat- 
ed. In seasons favorable to the disease, they 
should follow each other at intervals ot from 
12 to 15 days, until the berries begin to color. 
The first three treatments ought never to be 
neglected wherever the grapes have suffered 
from the disease, no matter what the char- 
acter of the season may be. In addition to 
this it would be well to x ash the vines just 
liefore the buds begin to swell in the spring, 
with a strong solution of sulphate of iron 
(at least 2 pounds to the gallon). This 
should certainly be done if the vines are 
subject to anthracnose, and in any case this 
treatment will destroy many spores of fungi 
that may be resting on the stocks or con- 
cealed in the crevices of the bark. 
Although we have given the formula of 
Bordeaux mixture so many times it may be 
useful to some to again repeat it here. 
In from 10 to 15 gallons of warm water 
dissolve 6 pounds of sulphate of copper; in 
another vessel slake 10 pounds of the best 
quick lime in 7 gallonsof water. When the 
copper solution and the lime inixure have 
cooled to the temperature of the air, pour 
the latter slowly into the former, mixing 
them thoroughly by constant stirring. 
When ready to use the mixture should be 
made up by the addition of water to 22 gal- 
lons. It is one of those medicines which 
must be shaken before taken, and it should 
also be strained before going into thespray- 
ing pump. The Eureka Sprayer is provided 
with a strainer for this purpose. Even af- 
ter this straining it will quickly clog such 
spraying nozzles as the Nixon Climax. The 
pump should have attached a Vermorel, 
Japy orVigoroux nozzle, either of which are 
so made that they can be quickly cleaned 
when obstructed by any particles of lime or 
dirt. The spray should reach all parts of the 
vine and particular care must be taken to 
reach the flower clusters and young fruit. 
With a sprayer like the Eureka or like those 
now made in France, this can be done very 
quickly and effectively, the operator can 
k ep moving constantly along the rows as 
he works. The pump is worked by the 
right hand, the spraying directed by the 
left while the liquid is carried on the back 
in a tank. 
Paris of Ihe Vine Attacked by tlie Black 
Bot Fungus. 
In the January number of the Orchard & 
Garden, I am quoted as saying that “the 
Black-Rot affects only the berry.” At first 
this was supposed to be true, but later in- 
vestigations led to the discovery that the 
fungus attacks all the green parts of the 
vine — the leaves and growing shoots as well 
as the young fruit. In fact, it is the leaves 
and tender growing canes which are first at- 
tacked and give the first indications of the 
presence of the parasite in the vineyard. 
I have in the columns of this paper, re- 
ferred to the identity of the leaf-spot dis- 
ease of the vine with the black-rot of the 
berry. In the annual report of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture for 1887, p. 327, I said, 
refei ring to the grape-leaf spot disease and 
black-rot, “ Special attention has been di- 
rected to this subject during the past sum- 
mer, and, as the result of extended field ob- 
servations, I have been forced to conclude 
that the grape-leaf spot fungus and the fun- 
gus of black-rot of grapes are identical 
***** The brown spots upon the 
leaves, figured and described in my report 
on the Fungus Diseases of the Vine (p. 
40, Plate VII. fias. c, d, e. ) must then be re- 
garded as simply the manifestations of the 
black-rot on the foliage. * * * Asa rule 
the black-rot fungus attacks the leaves some 
days and often a week or two before the ber- 
ri '8 are affected.” 
In Bulletin No. 5 of the Botanical Divi- 
sion of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
p. 42, I said, “ On the leaves the black-rot 
appears in reddish brown spots and, as these 
spots usually develop some days or even a 
week or two before the berries are attacked, 
one is warned of the presence of the disease 
in season to take measures for the protection 
of the latter.” In Bulletin No. 7 of the Bo- 
tanical Division, by Prof. Viala and myself, 
there is frequent reference to the presence 
of the black-rot fungus on the foliage, and 
on p. 18, the statement is made that “black- 
rot always begins by attacking the leaves.” 
Mycologists for a long time held that the 
fungus on the leaves, which they named 
Phylloslida lahruscoe was distinct from that 
on thefruit which wascalled Phoma uvicola. 
The botanical characters of the fruit and 
leaf forms are the same, and there are few 
now who claim that the difference in posi- 
tion — the one on the leaf the other on the 
berry — is sufficient in itself to class them as 
distinct species. The careful investigations 
to which these forms have recently been 
subjected, places the question of their iden- 
tity beyond a doubt. 
On the shoot? or young canes the attacks 
of the parasite are indicated by depressed, 
more or less elongated, dark brown or nearly 
black spots, over the surface of which the 
characteristic pimples or pustules are 
more or less thickly scattered. These spots 
usually appear near the growing tips, but 
they somel imes occur on rapidly growing 
canes a foot or more below the apex. 
ITIal-Nero of Ilie Vine. 
This disease, which is well known in 
Southern Europe and which has frequently 
been made the subject of investigation by 
scientists, has recently been studied by Sig. 
O. Comes, an Italian botanist, who finds it 
to be characterized by the presence of small 
brown bodies in the starch bearing tissues. 
These have been described by some as ele- 
ments of solid tannin, but Prof. Comes re- 
gards them as being a gummy degeneration 
of the starch producing cells. 
This does not enlighten us as to the cause 
of the malady, it only announces one of the 
effects of the disease. What leads to or 
what causes this degeneration of the starch 
bearing cells is what the grape grower wants 
to know, and how it can be prevented. We 
hope Prof. Comes’ studies may be continued 
until these facts are discovered. 
Mal-Nero is not known in our Eastern 
States but in California this or a very simi- 
lar malady has, within the past few years, 
swept away entire vineyards. The Mission 
grape was the first to succumb, particu- 
larly vines trained high on trellises; it then 
extended rapidly to other varieties until 
the vines on many hundreds of acres were 
destroyed. The same gummy deposits or 
brown bodies as described by Prof. Comes, 
were found in the tissues, but these certain- 
ly were not the cause nor did they help us 
to explain the cause of the devastation. 
Possibly the trouble arose, as was thought 
by some, from unseasonable activity of the 
vital forces during a very warm spell in 
winter suddenly checked by a lowering of 
temperature. This is fatal to many plants, 
but if this be the cause of Mal-Nero, we can 
scarcely hope to control it. When the 
vines first show signs of weakening, and 
this is very evident, so far as the disease in 
California is concerned, by the characteris- 
tic coloration of the leaves and dwarfing of 
the shoots, it may be well to prune the roots 
severely. In the many diseased vines ex- 
amined by us we found the extremities of 
the finer roots dead, in many cases rotten, 
and possibly the pruning of these roots well 
back towards the stock, effectually seper- 
ating the diseased portion from that which 
is apparently healthy, might force the vine 
to send out new roots and a renewal of a 
healthy growth. 
