Juiy, 1859. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
909 
Standard of Excellence in Grapes. 
In these times, when one is continually hear¬ 
ing of “ new and superior ” grapes, it is well to 
inquire what a really excellent grape is. Mr. 
Jones offers for sale a seedling which he declares 
is “ superb, unsurpassable, a great acquisition 
and Mr. Smith advertises another which he de¬ 
clares is “ hardy, sweet, luscious, superior to all 
others and so on through the catalogue of ex¬ 
cellences. Now, what do those words mean! 
If, in our bewilderment, we buy and plant every¬ 
thing that is recommended, we shall get our 
grounds full of new sorts, each one, ofcourse, like 
the last-born baby, supposed to be better than the 
preceding, but often proving in the end to be 
rather otherwise. Witness here, the “ Charter 
Oaks ” bought by many a gardener in his sim¬ 
plicity. What, then, is the standard to judge a 
new grape by ! 
1. One point to consider, is hardiness. Itmat- 
ters not that a grape is as delicious as the best 
hot-house varieties, if it is not hardy, and does 
not ripen its fruit well in the climate where it is 
to be planted, it is of comparatively little value to 
the public. Amateurs, by burying the canes in 
Winter, and by enclosing the tops in glass frames 
in Autumn, and by other nursing, may get some¬ 
thing out of it, but for people generally it is worth¬ 
less. It has often been supposed that a foreign 
grape could not be hardy in this climate. But, 
as it has been well shown by the Gardener's 
Monthly, “ whenever the foreign grape does not 
mildew , it is perfectly hardy.” The canes can not 
ripen well, if the foliage drops off prematurely, 
whether from mildew or any other cause ; and if 
they do not ripen, they can not endure the frosts 
of Winter. But all foreign grapes do not mildew. 
The Black Hamburgh, when trained on brick 
walls in Philadelphia, is generally untouched by 
this blight, and when so, matures its wood and 
ripens its fruit. It is said, moreover, that the 
Brinkle and Clara , both with foreign blood in their 
veins, seldom mildew, and when they do not, they 
ripen their wood well. 
The simple question, then, is as to the actual 
hardiness of a vine, let its origin be what it may. 
If it can endure our Winters as well as the Isabel¬ 
la, Concord and Delaware, it is one point of 
great excellence. 
2. Fertility. —If a vine has the constitution of 
an oak, yet bears only a few clusters, or a few 
berries on a cluster, it must be pronounced want¬ 
ing. And if to this, it be added that the berries 
ripen unequally, or drop from the vine at a touch, 
it is also a great defect. Some of the much- 
lauded novelties fail here. 
3. Superior Flavor. —This is the crowning ex¬ 
cellence. Our forests are full of wild grapes in 
large variety ; and those persons who like them 
and the Charter Oaks, and Northern Muscadines, 
because their musky odor can be smelt a longdis¬ 
tance, can be easily satisfied. But there are cer¬ 
tain fastidious people who want something better 
or at least something else, and they must be grat¬ 
ified. They are not partial to acids, or astrin¬ 
gents, or hard pulp in grapes, and theirwhims must 
be indulged. Give them a new grape that is sweet, 
or slightly brisk and sprightly, tender, juicy, and 
melting, and their eyes will swim with satisfac¬ 
tion, they will heartily thank you, and pay you a 
fair price for it. 
I The above remarks suggest, in few words, the 
true standard by which the new grape should be 
tried. And as every man can not for himself test 
each new candidate, let him inquire whether the 
committees of our State and National Pomologi- 
cal Societies recommend them on these grounds. 
These committees at least ought to be composed 
of capable, judicious, and reliable men ; and if so, 
their opinion is worth more than that of any in¬ 
dividual who may be pecuniarily interested in the 
sale of his new plants. 
-«s>-«-»-o - - 
Summer Pruning the Grape Vine. 
When vines are properly pruned in the Fall or 
Winter, they will need only moderate pruning in 
Summer. The first item in this work is rubbing 
off all superfluous shoots before they have attain¬ 
ed to much size. Where several push out at a 
single joint, all but one, or at most two, should be 
rubbed off. Again, after the fruit has set, if there 
are more than two bunches on a single spur, they 
should be pinched out. One good, heavy bunch 
is often enough for a spur, and certainly two are 
all it should ever be allowed to carry. Another 
item is pinching off the ends of the bearing 
shoots as soon as the berries are half grown. 
Pinch off at two or three. buds beyond the last 
cluster; never nearer than this. In a week or 
ten days afterwards, the ends of these shoots will 
have pushed several inches more : pinch off this 
new growth, leaving one leaf at the base of it, 
so as not to cause buds to break out prematurely 
lower down on the spur. Continue this operation 
every week until the fruit is full grown and be¬ 
gins to color well; then let them go. 
Summer pruning docs not consist in pulling off 
the leaves of the vine. Many persons still con¬ 
tinue this barbarous practice. But they should 
consider that the leaves are the lungs and stom¬ 
ach of the vine, and are as essential to its vigor 
and health as the same organs well cared for, are 
to man. The leaves are particularly necessary 
in the latter part of Summer, not only to finish 
the growth of the berries, but also to elaborate 
the juices on which the fine flavor of good grapes 
so much depends. Give the leaves all possible 
sunlight, but do not tear them off in order to ex¬ 
pose the fruit. 
Look after the Grape Vine Worms- 
For a few years past the grape vine has suffer¬ 
ed much from an insect called the Gartered or 
Grape-Vine Plume (Pterophorus pcriscelidactylus). 
This is a small greenish caterpillar, or bristled 
worm, half-an-inch in length, which first hatches 
out early in June from an egg laid upon the leaf 
by a small moth of tawny-yellow color. The cater¬ 
pillar almost as soon as hatched commences 
feeding upon the leaf into a coil and thus forms a 
house for its residence, which it soon destroys 
however, by eating away the sides. The leaves 
thus attacked are very readily discovered from 
their curled shape and faded appearance. After 
partially destroying its first habitation it attacks 
other leaves. When its growth is completed, the 
insect spins its cocoon, and later in the season 
comes out a moth, to lay a new crop of eggs which 
produce another generation of worms in July or 
August. These again deposite eggs for the fol¬ 
lowing season. 
The destruction of the leaves is often very rapid, 
and the vines look as if struck with blight. In the 
absence of leaves, the grapes must mature very 
imperfectly of course. The fruit itself is often 
eaten by the caterpillars. 
The ravages of this pest can be very much les¬ 
sened, and nearly prevented in the future, by 
spending a little time twice a week in picking off 
the leaves which are attacked and burning them. 
This not only stops the further ravages of the 
worms already hatched, but also intercepts the 
laying of eggs for another brood. During the past 
month we have succeeded in nearly ridding our 
own vines. Several specimens of the insects 
have been sent and brought to our office, by per¬ 
sons who say they must despair of raising grapes 
any longer, and rather than have plants to nurture 
an army of such marauders, they contemplate 
rooting out their vines. To such we say spend 
a little time as recommended above, beginning be¬ 
fore the vines have become overrun with them, 
and continuing the examination as long as any 
insects can be found. Where vines have been 
neglected until now, commence upon them at once, 
even if the insects have already done the mis¬ 
chief for this season. A few minutes work upon 
each vine will destroy the eggs which would 
otherwise hatch out an armvof worms hereafter. 
The birds here exhibit another instance of their 
usefulness to man. While examining our own 
vines the other morning, we were quite interested 
in watching the operations of a wren as he darted 
among the foliage peering above and below the 
surface of the leaves. We soon discovered that 
he was materially assisting our labors, for his 
keen eye and sharp bill found and nabbed the 
caterpillars much more rapidly than we could do 
so. So far the principle complaints we have 
heard have come from the residents of cities and 
villages, rather than from the country. This may 
be, in part, owing to the easier diffusion of the 
insects from one location to another near by, but 
probably the less number of birds in such places is 
the main cause of the more rapid increase of the 
insects. Two or three wren-houses near the 
vines will be the best remedy we can prescribe in 
addition to the hand-picking. 
- - * Q 1 — ■■ » -- 
How to Cure Fruit Stealers. 
One great hindrance to fruit growing, in the 
neighborhood of towns, and one of the greatest 
annoyances to those who persevere in its culture, 
is its exposure to being stolen. One may send 
to a distant, nursery for a rare and expensive kind 
of fruit, may watch over and nurse it for several 
years, and then when his eyes are gladdened by 
its first productions, some ragged loafer may enter 
his grounds by night and devour them. Nay, 
some loafers not ragged , but professedly genteel, 
may rob him of his treasures, and then chuckle 
over their success as a first-rate joke 1 
Why should not our legislators give us a law 
punishing fruit-robbing with heavy penalties! 
Better that a thief enter our barns and carry off 
oats or corn, than enter our garden and strip our 
pear-trees and grape-vines of their delicious bur¬ 
dens. We wish, too, that public sentiment vis¬ 
ited the robbery with greater reprobation and dis¬ 
grace. But until such a good time comes, every 
man must guard his own castle in the best way 
he can. A neighbor of ours treats his pilfering 
visitors to a dose they don't relish. For exam¬ 
ple : When his Early Sweet Bough apples are 
being nightly stolen, he takes several fine speci¬ 
mens and immerses them in a weak solution ot 
ipecacuanha, and scatters them again on the 
ground; first marking them so that his own fam¬ 
ily shall not eat them by mistake. He treats a 
few of the outside hills of his strawberry patch in 
the same way. It affords him no little amuse¬ 
ment to learn, privately, that the doses take 
effect where they were designed to do so, his 
father, (a doctor,) being soon sent for by suspect¬ 
ed persons to prescribe for their disordered stom¬ 
achs and unaccountable nausea 1 This gentle¬ 
man’s fruit garden lies on the bank of a canal, and 
the indigcstibility of his fruits is well known to 
the canal-drivers all along that route ! 
I Last Summer, a very intimate friend had hi? 
