18 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[J ANUARY, 
The Curculio is Repelled by Water. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
At the “ Fruit Growers’ Meeting,” as reported 
in the October number of your excellent period¬ 
ical, the plum curculio was under discussion. I 
notice one gentlemen remarked he “heard much 
about the instinct of the curculio, and that the 
female will not deposit her eggs over water but 
a visit to Dr. Underhill’s place where the plum 
trees hang over a pond, proved that such was 
not the case, as the plums overhanging the wa¬ 
ter were equally affected with the others. I 
take the liberty to say the gentleman is mistaken, 
and will explain how he fell into the error. 
The usual care bestowed on plum trees plant¬ 
ed near my house, having failed to secure a 
crop of plums from the ravages of the curculio, 
it occurred to me some fourteen years ago, 
that the presence of water under the tree might 
deter the insect from placing its progeny where 
it would be inevitably destroyed. I planted 
about one hundred plum trees of the choicest 
kinds (most subject to injury from the curculio) 
on the margin of a two-acre pond, formed by 
removing the alluvial soil to enrich my farm. 
The pond is supplied with salt and fresh water, 
as well as fish, through sluice-way connections 
with the mouth of Croton River. The plum 
trees, of large size, were planted on the side of 
the bank, from one to two feet above the water 
at high tide, at an angle of from 35° to 40°, so 
that the tops might hang quite over it. They 
have borne fine fruit with as great, if not greater 
certainty than my apple orchards. I have had 
plums when I failed to secure a crop of apples. 
I have had crops of plums when, so far as I 
could learn, there was an entire failure through 
Westchester County. Finding my experiment 
succeeded so well around my pond, I concluded 
to plant plums and nectarines on the banks of 
the ditches in my reclaimed meadows. My 
sluice-ways connected with these ditches leave 
them 1 bare of water ’ at low tide, every day 
for three or four hours. The insect during this 
period perceives no danger from placing its nits 
in the fruit—and it has done so to the destruc¬ 
tion of nearly all the crop for a number of years. 
The loss here has been nearly as great as when 
planted on the dry land. 
The twelve years of successful culture of the 
plum around my pond, and the six years of 
failure to secure a crop of ripe plums and nec¬ 
tarines over my ditches that run bare at low 
tide, induced me to commence another pond 
that I might remove these to it, and secure them 
also from the ravages of the insect. To obtain 
the proper depth, it was necessary to discharge 
the spring water through sluice-ways into the 
other pond, and to keep the tide-water low in 
the latter we were obliged to shut out most of 
the water from the river, which left a few plum 
trees on a shoal part of the pond, free from wa¬ 
ter several hours every day. Many of the plums 
that hung on the trees over this bare spot were 
stung. These were the trees, the examination of 
the fruit of which, led the gentleman whose 
remarks I have above quoted, to believe my ex¬ 
periment was not a success—and yet it furnish¬ 
es the strongest proof in its favor. 
I have seen the segment cut in the plum in a 
very few instances where it hung constantly over 
water , but have failed after twelve years search 
tD find the larva of the curculio in the plums 
in this position, though “marked by the Turk.” 
The Bolmar or Washington plum is so subject 
to attack from the curculio, that for many years 
my trees planted on dry ground failed to secure 
a single specimen at maturity. I now ripen, 
on a single tree, hanging over the water of my 
pond, more than a bushel without a blemish. I 
have the pleasure to state further that I have 
been assured by several persons who have 
planted plum trees over water within the last 
five years, that the result has been with them 
entirely satisfactory. R. T. Underhill, M. D. 
Croton Point Vineyards , Nov. 17 tk, 1863. 
-♦_« - =— - *-♦- 
The Cause of the Grape Rot. 
The decay of grapes after they have attained 
their full size, has been of more frequent occur¬ 
rence this past year than usual. Varieties, 
which like the Concord have generally been 
free from all disease, have been attacked in 
several localities. The matter has been investi¬ 
gated by F. G. T. Ludas, of Wisconsin, who has 
communicated his views to the Cincinnati 
Horticultural Society. Mr. L. finds that the de¬ 
cay of the berries is accompanied by a diseased 
condition of the roots; that vines which grew 
in ground covered with turf or by fallen leaves, 
were less attacked than others, and that when 
the ground was not well covered with snow dur¬ 
ing the previous Winter, the rot was more likely 
to appear. If it really be the case that the de¬ 
struction of the berry is due to the injury of the 
roots by frost, the obvious remedy is to cover 
the ground with a protecting mulch of some 
non-conducting material. Coarse manure would 
protect the roots from frost, and also enrich the 
land and promote the vigor of the vines. 
Training the Grape-Vine. 
A correspondent in Schuyler Co., N. Y., says 
that he dissents from the method of pruning 
the vine described in the November Agricultu¬ 
rist, for the reason that “only ten spurs, with 
two buds each, in all twenty buds, are left. The 
shoots from these buds will produce three, or at 
most , four bunches of grapes each, making in all 
at most only eighty bunches for the whole vine— 
not half enough for a strong vine four or five 
years old. It is very easy to manage a vine for 
two or three years, but not so easy a vine eight 
or ten years old and a rampant grower. I have 
some of the latter, which truly bear bushels 
every year, and it is a task to keep them within 
bounds and at the same time not cut them to 
death. I should like to see Mr. Fuller’s plan 
extended to suit a vine capable of bearing a 
thousand bunches.” 
Our correspondent’s complaint is given in 
full, for the reason that it is a good illustration 
of a very common failure to appreciate the 
reason for training the vine at all. The fruit 
of the vine is always borne on new wood; that 
which has borne fruit, if allowed to remain, 
only cumbers the vine, and its fruitfulness is 
diminished. A vine allowed to run wild pro¬ 
duces its fruit near the top, and is year by year 
more out of reach. In training and pruning, 
the aim is to always have a supply of new 
wood, and to keep the bearing portion of the 
vine within reach. Each vine is allowed to 
bear but a moderate crop, and all experience 
shows that this will be of larger and better- 
ripened fruit than if a greater quantity be 
permitted. After the arms are established, the 
vine is easily kept in control, no matter how 
rampant a grower it may be. There is no more 
“rampant” vine than the Hartford Prolific, yet 
we have seen this kept perfectly within bounds 
by the method of which the gentleman coin- 
I plains. His difficulty in managing his own 
vines shows that they were not started right, 
for had they been laid down with arms of 
definite length, he would not have his present 
trouble. We have seen, in other countries, vines 
nearly a century old, which had certainly been 
kept within bounds, as their arms were shorter 
than those we have described, though the trunk 
was as large as a man’s thigh. If our corres¬ 
pondent wishes to train a vine to bear one 
thousand bunches, he can do so if he will take 
the time for it, but it is far preferable to have 
many vines bearing fewer bunches, as they may 
be had in full bearing in three or four years 
from the time of starting. The methods of 
pruning and training described in November 
are the simplest, and were given to show that 
there is no great secret in vine-dressing. There 
are other modes, essentially the same, described 
with an amount of detail which deters 'most 
people from attempting to do anything with 
their vines. An observance of the rules given 
in the article alluded to, will enable any one to 
start a vine in the right way, and keep it so 
with but little trouble. 
Queries and Notes on Grape Culture. 
The great interest which has been awakened 
in grape culture, manifests itself among other 
ways, in the numerous letters of inquiry sent to 
the Agriculturist. Some of the writers will find 
that their questions are already anticipated in 
previous numbers; others are replied to in the 
present article. It may be well to state, in 
passing, that the demand for vines during the 
past Autumn has been unprecedentedly large, 
and many of the nurseries are already exhaust¬ 
ed of some varieties. It will be well for those 
who intend to plant next Spring, to send their 
orders to the nurserymen at once. Several 
have requested a list of the time of ripening of 
the leading varieties. It is not possible to give 
<flates which will answer for all regions, but we 
name those of a single locality near the City of 
New-Yorlr, remarking that this is only for the 
past year, and that its only value is in giving the 
comparative time of the different sorts: (Crev- 
eling in Penn., Aug. 25;) Hartford Prolific, 
Aug. 25, to Sept. 1; Delaware, Sept. 1—10; Al¬ 
len’s Hybrid, Sept. 1—10 ; Concord, Sept. 10— 
15; Catawba, Sept. 15—20; Iona, Sept. 15—20; 
Diana, Sept. 15—20; Edinburgh, Sept. 20 
Union Village, Sept. 20—25; Anna, Oct. 1; 
Herbemont, Oct. 1—10. These dates are gen¬ 
erally earlier than those at a short distance 
North, and some of them are later than have 
been published.—We are asked to name an early 
grape which will sell as well as the later ones. 
The earliest reliable grape we have is the Hart¬ 
ford Prolific, but there are others of great prom¬ 
ise, which are yet to be tested in general cultiva¬ 
tion. The Creveling and Israella have in cer¬ 
tain localities shown that they have claims to an 
extended trial, but as yet they have not been 
sufficiently proved to induce us to recommend 
them for general planting for marketing. 
The inquiry is made, if tender foreign grapes 
may be made more hardy by grafting upon na¬ 
tive stocks. Doubtless those varieties which 
have hardy wood and tender roots may be ben¬ 
efited by this treatment, but the rigor of our 
Winters is such that the hardiest of the foreign 
grapes will succeed only in very sheltered local¬ 
ities. A subscriber in Kentucky, asks for a list 
of wine grapes for his State. Norton’s Virginia, 
Cassidy, Louisiana, and Concord, are among the 
prominent sorts grown in Missouri, and would 
probably answer for Kentucky. The statistics 
lie asks, are not in our possession. 
