Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/172

 164 GRAPE and bear fruit under the most adverse cir- cumstances, and it is cultivated for its abun- dant shade as well as for its fruit. Within a few years a new class of grapes has sprung up, produced by hybridizing native varieties with the foreign. Mr. Rogers of Salem, Mass., was the first to attempt this upon an exten- sive scale, but the varieties he produced are not very strongly marked with the charac- teristics of the foreign vine. Dr. Wylie of Chester, S. 0., Mr. Underbill of Croton Point, N. Y., and others, have produced varieties which in the fruit make a near approach to the exotic grape, while the foliage is more like that of its native parent. The vine is propa- gated with the greatest ease by layers and from cuttings; in commercial nurseries the propa- gation is from cuttings, except with a few va- rieties that take root with difficulty, and these are grown from layers. Cuttings of the last season's growth of wood removed in the au- tumn pruning, with two or three buds upon each, are buried in a dry place until spring, and then set out in rows with one bud at the sur- face of the ground and the others below ; with some varieties a large percentage of such cut- tings will form roots and make salable vines by autumn; other kinds are very uncertain when treated in this way, and these are started under glass, from what are called single eyes, which consist of one bud with a short piece of the wood attached ; these eyes are planted in a bed of sand, and by a proper management of heat and moisture roots and leaves are soon formed, when the young plants are transferred to a rich soil. Vines are sometimes propagated, especially in the case of rare kinds, from cut- tings of green shoots, but planters do not ap- prove of vines thus produced. In the matter of pruning and training there is a considerable difference of opinion and practice among vine- yardists, but they all agree in controlling the growth of the vine within certain bounds. Whatever the system of pruning, its successful practice depends upon a knowledge of the man- ner of growth of the vine. The fruit of a vine is produced upon shoots which in spring push from buds upon branches or canes which grew the season before. If a young vine consisting of a single stem having 20 buds is left unprun- ed, the majority of these buds will develop as shoots ; the few uppermost will start first and be the most vigorous, while those below will be weak ; at the end of the season such a vine will have two or three strong canes above and a few slender ones below ; the next year, if still unpruned, the stronger canes will follow the same course as did the single one, and the most vigorous growth and the fruit-bearing buds will be still further from the root; and if the vine be allowed to grow entirely wild for several years, fruit will be found only upon the extreme branches. One great object in pruning is to keep the fruit-bearing portion of the vine near the ground ; another is to keep up a constant supply of fruit-bearing wood, and another to GRAPE SHOT so regulate the amount of fruit borne by each vine that it shall attain the greatest possible development and excellence. The methods of pruning are thoroughly discussed in the recent treatises upon grape culture. The vine grower has many enemies to contend with, one of the most destructive of which is mildew, which consists of two or more forms or species of parasitic fungi. The most common mildew up- on native grapes, peronoapora, appears as small grayish patches of down on the under side of the leaves, and on the young shoots and fruit stalks ; if not arrested, it soon destroys the foli- age of the vine and checks the development of the fruit. Flowers of sulphur, frequently and persistently applied by means of a bellows in- vented for the purpose, will prevent the further spread of this destructive parasite. Another form of mildew, oidium or erysiphe, makes its appearance on the upper side of the leaves and on the fruit, especially upon exotic vines under glass, though in certain situations and in very dry seasons it attacks vineyards of the native grape; one form of "rot" upon the fruit is due to this. Insects of various kinds, from the time the' leaf begins to expand until the fruit is gathered, demand the constant vigilance of the cultivator. Of late years a minute aphis-like insect has been discovered, though its ravages were noticed long before the cause was ascer- tained, the phylloxera vastatrix; this attacks both the roots and the leaves, but not always to the same degree in all varieties ; those that have descended from the summer grape (V. (Estwalis) seem to be more exempt from its attacks than others. In Europe the devasta- tions of this insect have been so great as to completely destroy the grape industry in parts of France as well as in other vine-growing countries. It is believed in France that the in- sect was introduced from this country, and in 1873 the commissioner of agriculture sent M. Planchon to investigate the habits of phyllox- era in what they regard as its native locali- ties. The best history of this insect will be found in the third, fourth, and fifth reports of C. V. Riley, state entomologist of Missouri, which are comprised in the reports of the Missouri state board of agriculture for 1870, '71, and '72. No satisfactory remedy has been discovered. The principal varieties of foreign and native grapes are described in Downing's "Fruit and Fruit Trees of America" (revised ed., 1869) and other general works upon fruits. Special treatises upon the grape are numerous; the most important to the American cultivator are "American Grape Grower's Guide," by William Chorlton, and "Grape Culture and Wine Making," by A. Haraszthy, both mainly devoted to the foreign grape; "The Grapo Culturist," by A. S. Fuller; " Grapes and Wine," by George Hussmann ; and " Culture of the Grape," by W. C. Strong. GRAPE SHOT, formerly small shot put into a canvas bag, which was corded into cylindrical form to fit the piece of ordnance from which