1117 
Winter Injury ol the Grape in New York, 
1917.1918 
Much is bcin;; ^nid and written con¬ 
cerning the ^’inter injury of the fruit 
trees of New York as a result of the 
continuous, abnormally low temperatures 
of the Winter of 1917-1918. Each week 
the toll increases, and the end is appar¬ 
ently not yet. As one writer predicts, all 
evidences are not seen as yet. but we 
may look for the ill effects for some years 
to come. This is especially true wdth the 
vine. While vines are daily succumbing 
to the effects of last Winter’s cold, it is 
reasonable to believe that hundreds of 
vines that have come through till the 
present time, and will probably present 
some semblance of life even at the close 
of the growing season, will fail to put out 
another Spring. 
A few statements based on the obser¬ 
vations of the writer relative to the be¬ 
havior of the cold Winter of 1917-1918 
toward the vines of the Lake Erie fruit 
belt follow. Several severe freezes oc¬ 
curred in succession in the Fall of 1917 
before the grape crop was over half har¬ 
vested. Much of this fruit was actually 
frozen solid. Wood maturity does not 
normally occur until fruit maturity has 
been reached in normal seasons. As a 
consequence there was not the normal 
transference of elaborated plant food from 
the aerial parts, arms and canes, to the 
roots and trunks. That wmod maturity 
was not reached was predicted by the fact 
that the sugar content of the grape had 
reached only a low reading at the time of 
the freezes. Dates in hand indicate that 
there is a close relationship between the 
sugar content of the grape and wood ma¬ 
turity. When the sugar content of the 
Concord reaches 17 per cent little if any 
winter-killing of the parts above ground 
occurs. If the sugar fall to 1.8 or 14 
per cent, a very mild Winter mxist follow, 
that the buds and canes escape injury. 
When a combination of low sugar, hence 
poor maturity, and a most severe Winter 
follows, serious results follow’. There are 
ahvays a few’ buds on individual vines 
that succumb to cold, no matter how fa¬ 
vorable conditions of the majority to with¬ 
stand cold, and quite independent of ex¬ 
treme low temperature. This loss approx¬ 
imates in average years not over tw’o per 
cent of the buds left for fruiting. In 1910 
it was found that an average of over .W 
per cent of the Concord buds W’ere win¬ 
ter-killed. In 1917 in the same vineyards 
le.ss than two per cent were killed. In 
1918 the killing in the same vineyards 
averaged 23 per cent. In this connection 
it is interesting to note that the sugar 
content of fruit in these vineyards W'as 
14.5 per cent in 1915. 17.5 per cent in 
1910, and somewhat le.ss than 14 per cent 
in 1917. 
However, with less buds killed in 1918 
than in 191G the grape crop proinise.s 
much le.ss than that of 191G. ITow can 
this difference be accounted for? In 
part it is due to the fact that less fruit¬ 
ing wood was of necessity put up in 1918, 
hut the chief factor tending to the smaller 
crop was t'he killing outright of the flow’er 
parts from many of the .shoots that start¬ 
ed into growth normally, or the injury 
was so severe that the flower parts did 
not function. In many attempts to ger¬ 
minate Concord pollen in the lahoratorv 
we were able to induce but little 
growth. Those grains that did put out 
the pollen tube showed a much attenuated 
growtli. Many avaries appeared to 
have been fertilized directly after bloom¬ 
ing, sloughed off, as fertilization had not 
been complete. This condition was ag- 
gravate'tf by severe winds directly after 
the blooming period, to the end that many 
berries that had been perfectly fertilized 
were rubbed off along with the imper¬ 
fectly fertilized. The failure of Baldwin 
even to blossom in many instances, and 
with tho.se trees that did, the failure to 
set may be accounted for through the in- 
jurv to the e.ssential organs. 
With the grape it is now apparent that 
(lie vines that were in good vigor are the 
ones that e.scaped with least injury. This 
does not mean that those making an exces¬ 
sive growth late came through unharmed, 
for they too suffered much bud-killing, but 
the ill effects that are now showing in 
scant growth and dying vines are more 
to be noted in connection with previous 
poor vigor. The best vineyard in the 
I-ake Erie fruit belt today is one that for 
the past ten years has held this distinc¬ 
tion. 
One writer in your columns states that 
where the ground was hare during the 
Winter the killing of apple trees was 
more severe than when covered with a 
crop of some kind. This is equally true 
in connection with root injury of the vine. 
The expo.sed bare knolls show more kill¬ 
ing than the more sheltered depressions, 
but the exposure in general of land must 
also be considered an important factor in 
favoring or lessening root injury. It is a 
truth that the vineyards sheltered from 
the prevailing winds of Winter in the 
Tiake Erie fruit belt by hedges, buildings 
or by the slope of the land away from the 
prevailing winds, came through the past 
Winter in much better condition than 
those on exposed areas. With the wind¬ 
swept knolls the factor of a root covering 
also enters. For it is the barren knoll 
that grows the poor cover crop: likewise 
it is the knoll that is deficient usually in 
the requisite amount of available plant 
food, lienee weak-growing vines. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Thus far under like soil conditions and 
exposure there has been no more killing 
of vines with those vineyards in which 
a gr^en manure was turned under in the 
I'all as compared with those in which the 
turning down was left till Spring. In 
the first instance the blanket of green 
manure is still interposed between the 
root system and the cold above ground, 
while the furrows tend to hold the snow. 
For many years it has been the practice 
of some vineyardists to go through the 
rows late in the season, but before har¬ 
vesting. with a scraper, and throw the 
soil to the vines. This leaves a hard sur¬ 
face free from all growth. The object 
has been given as making a smooth, weed- 
free surface for the pickers, as well as 
throwing the soil to the vines. Both pur¬ 
poses have been accomplished, and with 
no apparent ill effects until this season. 
Tt is now to be seen that this practice 
did not have a very pronounced bearing 
the past season upon the degree of win¬ 
ter-killing. Vineyards thus managed are 
in a much poorer condition than those 
growing under similar soil conditions of 
exposure, etc. It is quite probable that 
much of the bud and root-killing is due 
to the drying action of cold and wind 
combined. It has been proven that the 
bending and twisting of canes and 
branches by wind increases rapidly the 
evaporation of water from the plant. The 
drying action of freezing is well known. 
The vineyard exposed both by reason of 
its location with reference to the pre¬ 
vailing winds of Winter, and with no pro¬ 
tective covering to interrupt soil evap¬ 
oration suffered the most severely. An¬ 
other form of killing that is now begin¬ 
ning to show is that brought about by 
the actual freezing to death of the tissues 
of either or both of the parts above 
ground and the root system. Actual freez¬ 
ing of the trunk and stem of the vine is 
indicated only by careful examin.ation of 
the trunk after the removal of the loose 
hark. Vines affected by this type of in¬ 
jury show’ at this time narrow cracks ex¬ 
tending lengthwise w’ith the trunk. These 
gradually widen, and later on. if the root 
be fairly free from injury, a corky growth 
will form along the crack and cover the 
wound. This renewal tissue, however, 
does not apparently function as conduc¬ 
tive tissue, for observation show’s that a 
vim', once it has arrived at this stage, 
will require a cutting to the ground and 
a new’ trunk grow’n. This, of cour.se. is 
impossible if the root system is severely 
injured. The w’riter has under observa¬ 
tion several vines that have been renew’ed 
through this practice. Some vines are 
occasionally so badly split w’ith frost 
cracks that they die to the ground be¬ 
fore the healing or knitting develops. In 
this instance shoots are frequently thrown 
from the ground level or below’ if the 
root system be uninjured. 
It has usually been the second season 
after the injury that vines affected in 
the last named manner have shown most 
prominently, hence we may conclude that 
many vines still growing w’ill later suc- 
cumh to the injury that occurred during 
the Winter of 1917-1918. 
F. E. GL.\I)W’IN. 
Paper White Narcissus 
What is the proper treatment for Paper 
White Narci.ssus? 1. For bulbs that have 
been forced for indoor bloom? 2. For 
bulbs for outdoor bloom ; in what month 
should thev he planted? P. 
Dxford, O. 
1. Paper White Narcissus bulbs that have 
been forced for indoor bloom are usually 
quite w’orthless for any use afterw'ards. 
We do not recommend any attempt to 
force them again. 2. Paper White is not 
suited for outdoor culture in the North ; 
its type is tender and is only suited for 
indoor culture under such conditions. It 
does not appear able to endure our Win¬ 
ters. We would use Poeticus varieties 
for outdoor culture, where the starry 
white' flow'er is desired ; they are hardy 
and beautiful, and always give satisfac¬ 
tion. The Tazetta group, to w’hich Paper 
White belongs, has been crossed w'ith 
Poeticus varieties, and the result, know’ii 
ns Poetaz Narcissi, includes some charm¬ 
ing sorts recommended for garden use, 
hut in our experience in Northern New 
.Jersey they did not survive the second 
Winter, which happened to be very severe. 
Celery Storage; an Amateur’s Experience 
I grew celery for the first time last 
year, and succeeded so well in my storage 
plan that some other amateur may be in¬ 
terested. A pit W’as dug in the garden, 
about six feet long, two feet deep, and 
two feet wide. The plants with all the 
roots attached were set close together and 
watered at the root as I progressed. This 
W'as about November 15. The pit w’as 
covered with short boai'ds laid crossw’ise 
and as the w’eather grew’ cold a heavy cov¬ 
ering of leaves was added. A strip of 
patent roofing eight feet long w’as cut in 
tw’o and laid over the leaves, lapped at 
the middle. This kept the leaves dry all 
Winter. It was no trick at all to take 
the snow’ shovel, scrape aw’ay the snow’, 
slip back the roofing, remove the leaves 
and a board, and take out the celery 
needed. If the w’eather w’as mild the pit 
W’as left open for a time. The celery kept 
w’ithout the loss of a stalk and lasted un¬ 
til April. The dry Winter preserved the 
pit from caving in, but it might be w’ell 
to provide a board lining. p. 
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