158 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Grapes grow abundantly in all parts of the State, but do not ship well 
from the southern part of the State, as they often shatter badly and some- 
times develop “ripe rot” in transit. Good shipping stock of fine quality 
is grown in the mountainous part of northeast Alabama. In fact, this is 
an exceptionally fine grape region, and a considerable acreage is being plant- 
ed. Concord, Delaware and Ives are the leading varieties. All the usual 
diseases are known here, but as a rule they do comparatively little damage. 
A root disease, cause unknown, often kills vines after a few years, especially 
on sandy lands. Delaware has proved to be more resistant to this disease 
than any other variety. Niagara is particularly susceptible to it. There was 
little or no injury from the winter. The Scuppernong and other varieties 
of the rotundifolia type all do well, but they are especially adapted to the 
southern portion. In the moist coast soils they thrive with almost no care or 
attention and yield heavy annual crops. They are not planted for market, 
but are used locally for wine. In central and northern Alabama they were 
severely injured by the past winter. 
Pears are being less planted than they were five years ago. Growers are 
greatly discouraged by the blight. Except for this one serious drawback 
southern Alabama is particularly well adapted to the Oriental pears. European 
kinds should not be planted, except in the northern part, and there they 
will do better if on Japanese roots. Kiefiler and LeConte trees were con- 
siderably injured by the cold in middle Alabama, as they were filled with sap 
when the freeze came. The crop was an entire failure except a few Kieffers 
on the coast. 
Peaches will grow in all parts of the State. Our best peach soils are the 
high ridges of red granitic clay found in eastern Alabama, north of the cen- 
tral part of the State. This is a continuation of the Piedmont region of 
Georgia. The next best peach lands are the reddish soils of middle and south- 
ern Alabama that are derived from the Lafayette drift. The largest Georgia 
peach orchards are in soils similar to these. Georgia varieties and methods 
of cultivation are entirely applicable in this State. Here, as there, the prin- 
cipal enemies are the curculio, brown rot and borer. On the sandier lands, 
and especially toward the far south, gummosis should be included in this 
list, if indeed it should not claim the first place. This mysterious disease 
makes the peach a very short-lived tree in many parts of the south. Only 
lands that are well drained naturally, and that have a red clay subsoil should 
be planted to peaches in southern Alabama and, even on these best lands, 
the orchardist should continue planting year after year so as to constantly 
have fresh young orchards coming on to take the place of those that fail. 
As a rule peach trees were very little injured by the cold in February, 
though the crop was almost entirely killed. Early blooming kinds like Peento 
were in some cases killed to the ground. 
The above remarks on peaches will in a general way apply to plums also. 
In our choice of varieties we are largely confined to the Japanese. The 
European and American sorts fail here. The Chickasaws have little com- 
mercial value and the Wild Goose is very uncertain and short lived. The 
Wayland group alone among the natives seems to promise to be valuable 
for us. The trees are hardy and Golden Beauty has borne its fourth heavy 
consecutive crop this year, when nearly all varieties are a total failure. 
Ripening as late as these kinds do they should have some value for the 
southern markets. Among the Japanese kinds the early bloomers like Kelsey, 
Satsuma, Wickson, etc., were very badly injured by the February cold. The 
