ON TIIE DISEASE CALLED “SHRIVELLING” OF GRAPES. 407 
tution of the vine be more or less affected, and not merely a few berries 
on a few bundles, as is too frequently the case?” 
A similar question may also be put against Mr. Judd’s doctrine; for 
if the disease was caused by an over-moist and over-heated atmosphere, 
would not the syringing and shutting up of vineries early in the after¬ 
noon of warm days, have the same tendency to injure the young crop 
as the over-heated, condensed moisture of the morning? Yet this is an 
almost universal practice with all good gardeners, and one which is 
attended with the best possible result. 
In the September number of the Gardener’s Magazine, there is a 
paper on this subject from the pen of Mr. John Damper Parks, nursery¬ 
man, of Dartford. Mr. Parks thinks the disease originates from the 
foot-stalks of the berry not being grown sufficiently firm and hard, in 
consequence of being grown in too humid an atmosphere; and the 
palliative recommended is a more arid atmosphere while the crop is 
young. There is certainly something plausible in Mr. Parks’s doc¬ 
trine ; but I cannot bring myself to believe this “ is the only cause.” 
I shall now describe some of the circumstances under which I have 
seen the disease. It has been my fortune, or rather misfortune, to see 
more or less of it in all the places where I have lived. In 1832 I saw 
a complete failure in a crop of early grapes—so complete, indeed, that 
I do not think there was a ripe berry on all the bunches (upwards of 
two hundred) in the house. And what did this arise from ? The 
answer is simple and conclusive. It arose from the pipe, which con¬ 
veyed the water from the roof of the house, and which passed through 
the vine-border, having burst, and thus allowed the water to enter the 
border, instead of passing off to the main drain. Here, then, is a proof 
that the disease does sometimes originate from the absence of roots; for, 
on examination, we found three parts of the young roots of these vines 
completely perished and rotten from the saturated state of the border. 
But here, it must be borne in mind, the failure was general, and there¬ 
fore cannot be taken as a proof of the correctness of Mr. Gordon’s 
hypothesis. 
In 1834 I witnessed this disease make considerable havoc on a White 
Muscat of Alexandria vine, in the large stove in the gardens of the 
Duke of Portland, at Welbeck. The disease commenced at or about 
the time when the grapes were making their first approximation to 
maturity. Mr. Mearns ascribed it to the want of atmospheric air,” 
and the preventative resorted to was of course a more abundant supply 
of that element. The sashes were accordingly moved a little, both at 
the front and back of the house, every day, so as to allow of a current 
of fresh air through the house; and so strong was it on very fine warm 
