n 
\ r i 
fotmiifflogicad. 
GEAPE DETERIORATION. 
On llir Cniiwo ol' Drierinrntinn in rniiiir of 
onr Native Grape Vine* nml the Proba¬ 
ble Ucimnn Why European Vines ilnve 
so Generally Failed in the Eastern Half 
of the United Htates. 
BY C. V. RJBET. 
It is well known that nearly all the. varie¬ 
ties of Lite European grape vine (ntis vinife- 
ra) have, in the end, proved valueless when 
introduced and cultivated in the Eastern 
half of lhe United Stales. The majority of 
them grow well at. first, and a few excep¬ 
tional eases might be mentioned where some 
of them have even fruited successfully for 
many years, especially when isolated or 
trained against walls; while they more gen¬ 
erally do well when isolated in cold houses. 
But the general truth of the first statement 
holds good. It is also well known that some 
of our native vines, which for a while were 
universal favorites on account of their pro¬ 
ductiveness, vigor and other excellent quali¬ 
ties, have of late years sadly deteriorated. 
Among such the Catawba was, for a long 
time, the popular grape; but its cultivation 
is now nearly abandoned in many parts of 
the Mississippi Valley, and even at Ilam- 
momlsport and other parts of New York, 
and at Nauvoo, III,, where it is still largely 
cultivated, I learn from experienced grape 
growers that it is fast, on the decline. 
This deterioration—this failure, has been 
attributed to a variety of causes, for in the 
absence of anything definite and ascertain¬ 
able to keep it within bounds, the specula¬ 
tive Him of our minds is sure to have full 
scope, and—grasping at every shadow of 
probability—leave no possible theory un- 
searchcd. As in all such eases, also, the 
mind gets lost in and is satisfied to vaguely 
rest with the theory least provable; and to 
some occult and mysterious change of cli¬ 
mate we are at last satisfied to attribute the 
change, though if the meteorological records 
.were carefully examined, they would proba¬ 
bly show no difference in the mean annual 
condition of our climate during the past 
half century. 
It is very natural to suppose that vines of 
European origin should be less hardy in thi;* 
country Ilian our native varieties. I would 
by no means deny that such is the case, for 
it is this very comparative tenderness which 
predisposes them the more to the destructive 
agent of which l am about to speak. Yet 
when we consider that in some parts of 
Europe where these vines flourish, the ex¬ 
tremes of heat and cold are as great as here ; 
that we possess a great variety of soil and 
climate, and that l>y covering and other 
modes of protection in winter, we may, 
where necessary, counteract the rigor of the 
latter—it would appear that we certainly 
have attributed too much to climatic influ¬ 
ence. And such a view is strengthened by 
the fact that our native varieties, if free from 
the insect which forms the subject of this 
article, usually do well when cultivated in 
Europe. 
One of the reasons why the European 
vines do well in California, outside of and 
beyond the more favorable clime in that 
portion of the continent, is, no doubt, be¬ 
cause the insect which here affects them, 
like many other species common on this 
side of the Ilocky Mountains, has not yet 
crossed to Hie other side. If such is the 
case, our California neighbors should take 
warning from Europe, and guard, if possi¬ 
ble, against an invasion. 
The announcement that I have at last 
ascertained the one real and principal cause 
of this decline, and that, knowing the cause, 
we may in a measure obviate it, will doubt¬ 
less cause many a grape grower to wonder. 
Some may even pooh-pooh the idea, and 
deem it Impossible that they have so long 
remained In ignorance of so important a 
fact, that a “bug-hunter” should discover 
it at last! Let the facta speak. 
This destructive agent is none other than 
a little insect that has long been kuown in 
this country by the name of 
The Grape-leaf Gall l.oune, 
(Phi/lloxera Vitlfolla,* Frrcn.) 
The Clinton vine and its near relatives 
have long been known, in this country, t.o 
be subject to the attacks of an insect which 
covers the leaves with galls, as represented 
at Fig. 1. No one, however, dreamed that 
the roots of our vines were afflicted with a 
similar insect until last fall, when 1 showed 
dial the gall-louse wintered on the roots, 
These facts were published in my last Re- 
. * A Hie » pacific name first jrivnn to the Insect 
Dy or. rm li of vuiir S ate, simply hec-aust- It Is the 
Dost known In this country, and suffices lor my pres¬ 
ent purpose. The uiitno itself Is perhaps oPjecllou- 
itnitt, arid so little was known of the true olmrnetor 
ot the l.ntse when Hi. Kitcu described It, that he 
(ini not. nvon refer it r.o Its proper ncnns. It Is dopbt- 
f’i | therefore, whether Uie accord <>t the en loin oh ii<- 
, 11 world will ha -Iven to tills name, notwxhsiaml- 
iim Its priority, in the plncc of I'fii/ilnrer'i viixhilrw, 
oo.iii ! I-AM’llCIN firs! eorroettf ttnve to the root- 
i.'A./iv 1 , ,oru !‘ UMt * which has been generally ro- 
?<>K'tUed abroad. The same may be said of Wkst- 
nunij H nn<ue. Prrltffnlhia rUititrin, whlfh win. also 
proposed for the Mime Insect In IftB. In a coniinunl- 
cation to the Antira<il«H»i Society or Oxford. Him. 
miV Wrail Oiipmisn this matter in ereatcr length in 
my forthcoming Report. 
port, from which I quote the following para¬ 
graphs in order to give the recorded history 
of the insect.. It will be seen, from these 
extracts, that the first mention of the galls 
in print wns in 1850; but there is good evi¬ 
dence that they were noticed and even re¬ 
ferred to, many years before, without any 
knowledge of their real character. 
The first reference to this insect was 
briefly made by Dr. Fitch ot New York, in 
the year 1856,* and lie subsequently de¬ 
scribed it in a very insufficient manner, 
under the name of* Pemphigus vitfolue ;f 
Figure t. 
Ten years afterwards this louse wns again 
refered to by myself in the Prairie Farmer 
for August, 8, 1800, and during the fall of the 
same year articles were written upon it by 
Dr. Shiftier,$ and by my lale associate, Mr. 
Walslifl—ilie former claiming that it was a 
true Plant-louse {Aphis family), and the lat¬ 
ter that it was a Bark-louse {UoWHS family). 
In this Dr. Slimier was evidently right, and 
Mr. Walsh wrong. In January, 1807, Dr. 
Shinier proposed lor this insect a new family 
(Dacti/fosp7ur.iid<x),% which, in my opinion, 
cannot stand. 
This louse wns subsequently treated of by 
Mr. Walsh in his report ns Acting Slate En¬ 
tomologist of Illinois (pp. 21-21), where he 
slill fell, inclined to place it with I Lie Bark- 
lice, though 1 have, good reason to believe 
that he. afterwards changed bis mind. During 
all Ibis time a serious disease of Hie roots of 
the grape vine began to attract attention in 
the south of France, and ii finally caused 
such alarm that the Minister of Agriculture 
and Commerce in France offered a prize of 
20,000 francs for the discovery of an effica¬ 
cious and practical remedy, 
A. special commission was also appointed 
to draw up a programme of conditions, ex¬ 
amine memoirs submitted to it, settle) the 
experiments to be made, collect evidence 
from local commissions, and if they saw rea¬ 
son lor so doing, to award the prize offered 
by Government, The commission consisted 
of M. Dumas, M. Milne Edwards and M. Du- 
cliartie, of the Paris Academy of Sciences; 
M. Gcrvais, M. Plauchon, M, Ilenri Mares 
and M. Louis Vialla of Montpellier; the 
Figure *\ 
Comle de Vergue of Gironde; M. Bedel of 
Vaucluse, and three members of the Ministry 
of Agriculture. 
The disease is known as pourridie, or rot¬ 
ting. It is in tlio form of little Cankerous 
spots, which cut off the supply of nourish¬ 
ment. ami cause the roots to rot, and these 
spots were ascertained by MM. Plauchon 
and Lichtenstein of Montpellier, to be caused 
by a louse ( phylloxera vnMutrix, Plauchon,) 
which bears a close resemblance to our gall- 
insect. Tills is not all, for a leaf-gall abso¬ 
lutely identical with ours also occurs there, 
and the identity ol the gall-inhabiting with 
the root-in habiting insect was demonstrated 
by “JO, W.” in the Gardener's Chronicle 
of England, for January 30,1869, and M. J. 
Lichtenstein even contended that their Eu¬ 
ropean species was identical with ours, and 
imported from this country, in which opinion 
lie was supported by A. Combe—Dulmus."| 
♦ N. Y. Hep. I. p. 158 . 
+ Rep, 3, I 117. 
i Prairie Farmer, Nov. 3 anil Ilec. 8 . 1866 . 
i Pract. Knt.. Vol. I. p. Ill; Vol. 11 , |>. 19 ; and Proc. 
Knl. Sue.. Phil., VI, pp. 283 - 4 , notes, 
il Proc. Acad. Nut. Set., Phil., Jan. 1867 . 
T Insectologie Anri cole, 186 ‘J, p. 169 . 
Proof of the Identity of the American In¬ 
sect with the European. 
I have elsewhere adduced proof of the 
identity of Hie two insects,* but with the ex¬ 
perience ol the present year every shadow 
of a doubt vanishes. 1 have critically ex¬ 
amined the living lice in the fields of France, 
and brought with me, from that country, 
both winged male, and female specimens, 
preserved in acetic acid. I find Unit Hie in¬ 
sect has exactly Hie same habits here as 
there, and that winged specimens which 
I have lately been bleeding from the roots 
of our vines accord perfectly with those 
brought over with me. In Hie different 
forms the insects assume, in their work, 
ami in every other minutiiv, Hie two agree. 
Why I Consider the Giilt-I,ou*e nnd 
Uuot-liOiiHC Identical. 
Firstly, Wherever this insect has been 
noticed in England, both the gall-inhabit¬ 
ing and root-inhabiting types buve been 
found. In France the galls occur abund¬ 
antly on such of our American varieties 
as tire subject to them here, while a few 
ha ve occasionally been found mi their own 
varieties. Secondly, 1 have successfully 
transferred tile leaf-lice on to the roots, 
while M. J E. PLANOHON has succeeded 
in obtaining leaf-galls from lire hatched 
on the roots. Thirdlv, The winged form 
obtained by Dr. Simmer Irom the galls in 
this country agrees in its characters with 
those from the roots. Fourthly, The no¬ 
dosities on the roots are perfectly analo¬ 
gous to Hh 1 galls mi the leaves, and differ 
only in just such a manner as one would ex¬ 
pect from Ihu difference in the plant tissues 
—a view greatly strengthed by Hie. fact that 
when the gall lice are forced, by their ex¬ 
cessive numbers, to sett le on Hie tendrils or 
leal-stalks, they produce swellings and knots 
approaching more, nearly to those on the 
roots than to the galls. These facts suf¬ 
ficiently attest the identity of the two types, 
and we have here another case, of an insect 
possessing two distinct, habits. It. is also, as 
WO shall presently see, like ninny others of 
its family, polymorphic, i. e. } it exists in 
different forms; yet we have to do with but 
one species. 
Habit* of the Gall-lnlinbitinn: Type, 
In order to give the habits of ibis type, 
I again quote from my Report;— in this 
latitude (St. Louis) the first galls are noticed 
by about the middle of May, and by the 
middle of June they begin l<> be quite com¬ 
mon. * * * The galls vary somewhat 
in appearance, according to the vine upon 
which they occur, those 1 have noticed on the 
wild Frost. Grape being more hirsute than 
those on the cultivated Glinton, and these 
again rougher than on the Taylor. 
The few individuals which start Hit; race 
early in the year slat tun themselves upon 
the upper bide of t he l^irus, mid by constant 
suction and irritation soou cause tin* leaf to 
swell irregularly on Hie opposite side, while 
the upper part of the leaf gradually becomes 
fuzzy and closes, so that the louse at last 
sinks from view, and is snugly settled in her 
gall. Here Him commences depositing, her 
bulk iucruiuung during pregnancy. Even¬ 
tually she grows to be very plump and swoll¬ 
en, acquires a deep yellow or orange 
tint, and crowds the space within 
the gall with her small yellow eggs, 
numbering from fifty to four or five 
hundred, according to the size of the 
gall. The young lice are pale yel¬ 
low, arui appear as at Figure 2, </, a. 
As soon as they arc hatched they 
escape from the gull through the 
orifice on the upper surface of the 
leaf, winch was never entirely clos¬ 
ed; and, taking up t.lu ir abode oil 
the young and lender leaves, iu 
their turn form galls. Thu mother- 
louse, after completing her deposit, 
dies, and the gall which she occu¬ 
pied dries up. There are several 
generations during the year, and 
this process goes on as long as the 
vines pul lbrl.li fresh leaves. As 
the galls multiply and the growth 
of Hie vine becomes less vigorous, 
the young lice sometimes wo com¬ 
pletely cover Hie upper surface of 
the newly expanded leaves as not 
to leave room for them all to form 
galls. Lo this Cvent, the leaf soon 
perishes,and the lice perish with it. 
When two or more lice arc station¬ 
ed closely together they often form 
but one gall, which accounts lor 
the presence of the several females 
that arc sometimes observed in a 
single gall. Tlmse leaves which 
have been badly attacked turn 
brown or black, and sooner or 
later fall to the ground, so that 
the viuo may become entirely de¬ 
nuded. 
By August, the insects become 
so prodigiously multiplied that, they often 
settle on the tendrils, leaf-stalks and lender 
branches, where limy form excrescences and 
gall-like growths, differing only Irom those 
on the leaves in such manner as one would 
naturally expect from Hie difference,in the 
plant, tissues. By this time the many natu¬ 
ral enemies of the lice begin to play sad 
havoc with them; and after Hie vine lias 
finished its growth, the .young lice, finding 
no more succulent and suitable leaves, begin 
io wander and lo seek the roots, so tlialby 
the end of September Hie galls are deserted, 
and those tew remaining on the vines gene¬ 
rally become mildewy, ami finally turn 
brown and dry up. 
Explanation of Figure. — a, represents the 
winged female; b, her foot or tarsus—after 
Signoret; c, an enlarged eye; d, Hie newly 
hatched gall-in habiting type, ventral view ; 
e, same, dorsal view ; /, a section of a gull; 
rj, Hie tuheroled root-inhabiting form ; h, the 
mother gall-louse at the higlitoj her fertility, 
ventral view ; i, same, dorsal view—all from 
nature ; j and k, differently veined wings of 
the Oak Phylloxera of Europe. All these 
figures are greatly enlarged, and the natural 
size is approximately shown by hair-lines. 
*3d Mo. Rep. p. so. 
From the preceding it will be seen that the’ 
mother gall-louse is extremely prolific. She 
shows no signs of tubercles and I have never 
been able to find any tuhcreled individuals 
in the galls. Yet they may, on rare occa¬ 
sions occur, since Ihu winged form must 
come from tubercled puptc, and this form 
lias been found in Hie galls by Dr. SrmrBii. 
It is so very rare, however, that lie is the 
only person who lias been so fortunate, and 
I strongly incline to believe Hint his speci¬ 
mens came from the roots and crept into the 
galls.—[To be confined. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
honey extractor, and would recommend 
every bee keeper to procure one, and then 
use it. The best results can not he obtained 
Vom any npinry, unless the honey-emptying 
Machine is used, h still remains an open 
qeslion whether the greatest profit is to he 
ol'ained where the extractor is used exclu¬ 
sively. Although double and even treble 
thormount ufUonoy may be obtained by its 
use, t docs not sell as readily, nor command 
as Itifii ft price. But the body of Hie liivo 
often tmei becomes too full, nnd by emptying 
and returning Hie comb, wo give the queen 
a chancs Inlay, thereby keeping Hie colony 
strong. In fact, more box honey may be 
obtained byji judicious use of the extractor, 
while the extracted honey is Just so much 
clear gain. Ve have several inquires which 
will be answired in our next. 
Herbert A. Burch. 
TIoiv to limit. Wild Hues. 
Choose a warm, clear day in the fall, when 
the bees do not find an abundance of honey 
to gather from natural sources. The neces¬ 
sary articles which we want, to take with us 
are honeycomb nnd coals of fire. Take four 
or five pounds of liquid honey; if it has been 
gathered I lie present season so much Hie bet¬ 
ter. Select three or four pieces of bright, 
new comb, ancl ns much old comb, which 
should contain some bee-bread. Take an 
old till pail that will hold five or six quarts, 
till it a quarter full of ashes, put in some 
good, hard wood coals Of fire, and cover 
them mi with more ashes. Get a hoard an 
inch thick and eighteen or twenty inches 
square. Bore an inch hole in its center and 
insert, therein a piece of hard wood two 
inches in diameter and three or four feet in 
length. 'I'llis is our bee stand. Now we are 
ready for action, Go at least, a mile from 
where tame bees are kept, and as near the 
locality as convenient where the wild bees 
are supposed to he. Set. up your bee stand. 
The lower end of the standard should he 
sharp, that it may readily enter the ground 
Lay a piece of the empty comb on the stand 
and fill it with the liquid honey, Unless the 
honey be quite thin it should be diluted with 
water. Now uncover your coals of fire and 
drop pieces of your old comb on them. If 
Hie comb lie moist and scented with a few 
drops of anise, it, will be more sure to attract 
bees to the place, As soon as the bees find 
the honey they will fill themselves with it 
and Hy In a direct line for home. As soon 
as Hie bees are at, work in large numbers, 
follow lip Hie line; hut if unsuccessful in 
finding Hie tree, remove your stand for some 
distance away, at right angles from where 
it. stood at first. Get the bites at work as at 
first, and by following up the two lines to 
where they meet, (lie tree may lie found. 
Artificial Comb. 
We arc not aware that artificial comb has 
Loci j made from beeswax that, is of practical 
value. Mr. Wagner patented a machine 
several rears ago, which would stamp the 
huso of the cells on paper. It is said that 
the bees will readily accept these comb 
foundations and lengthen out the cells. Wo 
have not as yet tested them, We are unable 
to state the exact cost of Mr. Wamner’s 
machine. Should these comb foundations 
be found of practical value, another and 
important, advance in bee-culture will have 
been attained, 
Abwcomlins Swnvms. 
When young swarms leave for Hie woods 
wo arc of the opinion that their home-lias, 
in a majority of cases, been selected before¬ 
hand. Or, in other words, that they do 
know to what particular tree they are going. 
Still, we have known of instances which 
would go to prove an opposite conclusion. 
Wc once knew a new swarm to bang upon 
the limb of a tree till they were destroyed 
by cold rains in the fall. Again, we have 
known them to leave for the woods without 
clustering at all. 
IntroducinK Queens. 
To introduce Italian queens to colonies of 
native bees proceed us follows. Remove the 
native queens. Cage the Italian queen, and 
if the weather be warm, and the bees are 
gathering honey freely, lay the cage on the 
top of frames. Thirty-six hours afterwards 
release the queen and she will, as a general 
rule, ho well received. Butin cool weather, 
and especially if honey lie scarce, the case 
is different, and greater precautions must bo 
used, Move two of the central frames suffi¬ 
ciently apart so as to admit the cage and 
push it down between the brood. At the 
end of thirty-six hours open the lave and 
sprinkle the bees well with sweetened water, 
well scented with essence of peppermint. 
The queen cage should also be well sprink¬ 
led. As soon as the bees have filled them¬ 
selves liberate I he queens. While there are 
numerous methods of introducing queens lo 
full colonies, we consider the last method as 
not only the best, but Safest, of any that lias 
come to our notice. All persons who intend 
to Italianize their bees should bear in miml 
that Hie introduction of queens is attended 
with much less risk when the weather is 
warm ami the bees are gathering an abund¬ 
ance of honey. 
The Honey Extractor*. 
Wc are decidedly iu favor of using the 
TOT 
Fredonia, N)Y. 
(flic Naturalist. 
THE ORIGIN 01 MOSQUITOES. 
-V 
The Red River Indians have a curious 
legend respecting tlx* origin of mosquitoes. 
They say that, once upon a time there was a 
famine, and the Indians could get no game. 
Hundreds had died from hunger, and deso¬ 
lation filled their country. All kinds of of¬ 
ferings were made to the Great Spirit with¬ 
out avail, until one day two hunters can\e 
upon a white wolverine, a very rare animal, 
Upon shooting the white wolverine, an old 
woman sprang up out of the skin, and say¬ 
ing that, she was a “ Manito,” promised logo 
and live with the Indians, promising them 
plenty rf game as long as they Iren led her 
well and gave her the first choice of all the 
game that should be brought in, The two 
Indians assented to Ibis and took the old 
woman home with them, which event, was 
immediately succeeded hy an abundance of 
game. When the sharpness of the famine 
had passed in the prosperity which Hie old 
woman had brought to Iho tribes, the In¬ 
dians became dainty in their appetites, and 
complained of the manner In which the old 
woman took to herself all the choice bits; 
and this feeling became so intense that, not¬ 
withstanding her warning that it they vio¬ 
lated their promise a terrible calamity would 
come upon the Indians, they one day killed 
her as she was seizing her share ot a fat rein¬ 
deer which the hunter had brought in. 
Great consternation immediately struck 
the witnesses of tile deed, nnd the Indians, to 
escape the predicted calamity, bodily struck 
their tents and moved away to a great, dis¬ 
tance, Time passed OU without any catas¬ 
trophe occurring, nnd game becoming even 
more plentiful, Hie Indians again began to 
laugh at their being deceived by Ihc old wo¬ 
man. Finally, a hunting party on a long 
chase of a reindeer, which bad led them buck 
to the spot where the old woman was killed, 
came upon her skeleton, and one of them iu 
derision kicked the skull with his foot. In 
an instant a small, spiral, vapor-like body 
arose from the eyes and ears of ihe skull, 
which proved to lie insects, that attacked 
the hunters with great fury,and drove them 
to the river for protection. The skull con¬ 
tinued to pour out, its little stream, and Hie 
air became full of avengers of tlx* old wo¬ 
man’s death. The hunters, upon returning 
to camp, found all the Indians Buffering ter¬ 
ribly from the plague, and ever since Hint, 
time the Indians have been punished by the 
mosquitoes for their wickedness to their pre¬ 
server, the Manito. 
—-» » » 
THE CROW AND CORN. 
J. J. S., Salisbury, N. C., objects to all 
statements that the crow is the Iriend of the 
farmer, and writes the Rural New-York¬ 
er :—“Indeed I always knew him to he Hie 
very opposite. 1 send you a couple of ears 
of corn from a field where many hundred 
of the same kind could be procured, to show 
von wlnit a crow can do in the way ol de¬ 
stroying the corn, and what lie does all 
through this country every year. I send Hie 
ears with the shucks Still unreinoved to de¬ 
monstrate tlx; fact Hint lie does not simply 
pick open the outer end of the ear to remove 
the worm which is sometimes found iIxTe.bnt 
that he removes the Covering of the young 
grains nml appropriates them to bis use,op¬ 
en lo the dealruciion of the whole ear, and 
always of a large pint of il, besides injuring 
the oilier part, by damage to Hie cub, the mat¬ 
rix in which the grain is perfected. Please 
examine it and be satisfied on the subject. 
You will want, to know, probably, if you are 
one of tlmse wlx> say farmers ought lo fouler 
and cherish the crow for Ids virtues, Ixnv 1 
know Hie crow did il. 1 answer, bemuse L 
aaw him do it, ami have seen him do just 
the same tiling year alter year ever since l 
was large enough to observe anything. Al¬ 
ter you have done with lhese two ears ot 
corn please hand them over lo Ihe “ Farmers’ 
Club,” t hat its eyes may be opened iu regard 
to the crow.” 
The ears sent are almost wholly destroyed 
—at least half of Ibe corn the whole length 
of the ear being gone. We never saw any 
such work performed by the crow; but have 
known black birds to devastate corn fields 
in much Hie same way,and know no reason 
why the crow should not. Our doctrine is 
that when a man steals or murders—does 
more barm than good—lie should be de¬ 
prived ot liberty; so of crows. 
I 
