E%<?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
779 
RURALISMS 
Notes  on  Grapes 
Spraying  For  Rot. — The  black  rot  in 
the  vineyard  has  been  held  in  control  by 
two  annual  sprayings,  one  just  after 
grapes  have  set  and  the  other  when  they 
are  half  grown.  The  lime  in  the  Bor¬ 
deaux  persists  in  spots  on  the  berries  for 
an  incredibly  long  time,  as  long  as  six 
weeks,  and  great  care  must  be  given  that 
the  last  spraying  is  not  too  near  ripening 
time  if  lime  is  an  ingredient.  Two 
months  would  be  a  safe  margin,  and  as 
the  first  parlies  begin  to  ripen  here  the 
first  of  August,  the  last  application  of 
Bordeaux  should  not  he  much  later  than 
the  tirst  of  June.  In  1911  there  was  one 
sporadic*  case  of  rot,  a  Duchess,  and  half 
the  berries  were  affected.  Last  year, 
191  n.  the  fruit  of  this  same  vine  rotted 
worse  than  ever,  and  infected  that  of  a 
Merrunae  and  Massasoit  that  grew  next 
cross  and  of  a  Catawba  color,  has  so  far 
not  proved  productive  enough  nor  full 
enough  in  hunch.  I  am  hopeful  I  may 
find  the  best  late  in  the  Muench,  another 
Munson  seedling,  and  perhaps  a  pollen- 
izer  that  may  improve  the  clusters  of  the 
Fern.  Last  Summer  a  young  vine  set 
two  hunches,  line  in  size,  in  quality  and 
in  keening  power.  The  Wapanuka.  a 
white  Munson,  and  the  best  in  quality  of 
any  white  grape  (in  the  opinion  of  some) 
has  russeted  now  for  two  seasons,  and  so 
badly  that  most  of  its  fruit  was  ruined. 
It  has  occurred  to  me  that  as  the  fruit 
is  very  thin-skinned,  the  rnsseting  may  be 
occasioned  by  the  Bordeaux  mixture 
which  we  know  will  russet  tree  fruits. 
We  shall  try  to  bear  in  mind  to  skip  this 
grape  when  spraying  and  note  results. 
The  Munson  M  erica  del  (America  crossed 
with  Delaware)  is  an  excellent  table 
grape,  black,  berries  a  grade  larger  than 
Delaware,  but  with  clusters  much  longer 
and  cylindrical,  showing  its  wild  hkod 
very  plainly  in  general  appearance  of 
to  it..  It  seems  plain  that  the  Duchess 
must  be  especially  susceptible,  and  I 
shall  either  grub  the  vine  out  or.  better 
still,  try  the  effect  of  five  or  six  spray¬ 
ings  instead  of  two.  The  Duchess  is  of 
high  quality,  but  its  color,  white,  and  its 
small  berry,  arc  against  it. 
Roughs’  Hybrids.-  It  is  rather  puz¬ 
zling  to  understand  why  the  Rogers’  Hy¬ 
brid  group  are  not  more  popular.  Aga¬ 
wam  is  most  widely  planted,  but  it  is  the 
last  one  of  the  lot  I  should  choose,  unless 
it  he  Lindley.  Massasoit  is  a  fine  second 
early,  the  largest  of  its  season  and  of  ex¬ 
cellent  quality,  much  better  than  Aga¬ 
wam  in  my  opinion.  For  a  main  season 
tin*  red  (Jaertner  is  hard  to  heat,  im¬ 
mensely  vigorous  and  productive,  and  also 
better  than  Agawam.  Then  as  a  main 
crop  black,  what  is  any  better  than  Wil¬ 
der  supported  by  Herbert  or  Barry?  As 
productive  Imre  as  Concord,  more  vigor¬ 
ous  in  growth,  with  berries  much  larger 
and  as  superior  in  quality  as  in  size. 
Then  we  must  give  to  the  Goethe  the  dis¬ 
tinction  of  being  our  best  late  variety.  It 
also,  like  all  of  the  Rogers  group,  is  a 
rampant  grower;  the  old  vine  is  the  larg¬ 
est  in  my  Collection  and  bears  more 
pounds  of  fruit.  The  grapes  are  per¬ 
mitted  to  hang  on  till  frost,  growing 
daily  thinner  from  the  supply  they  pro¬ 
vide  for  the  table.  They  keep  better  ua- 
sacked. 
Other  Varieties.-  -The  Catawba  does 
fairly  well  here,  but  there  is  a  lack  of  a 
late  black  grape.  Carman,  which  is  said 
to  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  South,  is  not 
a  success  here.  Fern  Munson,  a  Catawba 
bunch.  It  has  never  failed  to  bear  a  good 
crop.  Wapanuka  is  also  very  prolific. 
Brighton  does  splendidly,  producing  many 
clusters  so  beautiful  in  combination  of 
size,  symmetry  and  color  that  one  has  to 
pause  in  gathering  to  admire  their  per¬ 
fection.  It  will  overhear  if  not  watched 
closely.  Its  thin  skin  makes  it  a  favorite 
for  the  birds  and  they  make  it  the  object 
of  their  first  attacks.  When  overloaded  it 
cannot  give  tin*  deep  red  color  that  should 
distinguish  its  fruit.  All  in  all  it  is  one 
of  the  best  standards,  but  as  a  market 
grape  it  is  outclassed  by  the  large  blacks 
such  as  .Moore’s.  Campbell's  and  Wilder, 
and  even  Concord,  for  the  public,  judging 
by  them  here,  prefer  a  black  grape  just 
as  they  prefer  a  ml  apple,  and  a  big 
grape  just  as  they  pick  a  big  apple.  Peo¬ 
ple  here  arc  impressed  with  Campbell, 
and  many  want  vines  of  cuttings  of  “that 
big  black  grape.”  They  are  right,  too, 
for  I  have  never  found  a  grape  that  could 
compete  with  Campbell.  For  the  first 
time  in  their  10  years  some  of  the  vines 
showed  signs  of  decadence  in  their  weak 
growth.  The  trouble  seems  to  be  poor 
circulation  in  the  old  stem.  No  sprouts 
have  emerged  to  make  it  possible  to  renew 
the  original  stems  in  many  of  them.  One 
that  was  broken  off  close  to  the  ground 
made  a  splendid  new  growth  that  was 
extensive  enough  to  support  a  full  crop. 
These  decadent  ones  I  shall  cut  into 
close  to  the  ground  to  induce  sprouts,  and 
if  this  does  not  succeed,  shall  cut  them 
off  close  to  tin*  surface  and  wait  for  new 
growth.  Meanwhile  I  shall  try  grafting 
onto  some  Ives  stocks.  I.,  r.  JOHNSON. 
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