The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-09-08

~ 6Noh thc HhoWine.
The APPLE CRop. The committee OIL
Orchards reported the returns obtained
by the assessors in the State in 1867
which are regarded as valuable approx
imations to correctness. Whole NUN
Der of acres in orchard, $4,000; pro
duct of fruit, II, 100000 bushels. In
1868. 342, 900 acres product of apples
ii 100000. The total value of ali
fruits in Ohio in 1858 was estimated al
over seven million dollars. Yet this is
believed to be a great diminution from
former years-the average crop at the
present time being only "a bushels per
acre. not as much as some single trees
formerly yielded. The deterioration in
quality is supposed to be even greater
than in qantity.
The causes Of this deterioration are
get down as follow: l. Severe winters.
2. Severe drouths. 8. Poor soil, no
drainage, and poor culture or no cul.
ture. 4. Starvation from overcropping
the soil with no manuring. 5. Bad
pruning. 6. Borers, with insect enc
mics generally. The Cooling moth, or
apple worm, is most formidable, de-
stroying the good quality of the fruit.
Most owners make no effort against
them-but we observe a few local re.
ports state that hogs running in the
orchard make great difference"
Sheep are also recommended. The
carculio deforms much Of the fruit
Caterpillars and canker worms do their
share Of damage; and eternal vigi-
lance" is recommended as the best
remedy. Aphides and bark lice
are common in the southern
part of the State, in river val
leys. The county reports generally
speak with much emphasis and with
great unanimity on the subject of the
harm done by insects. We see the
following statement in the report from
Mahoning county, which careless or
chardists would do well to observe:
"The curculio and Cooling moth are
very injurious to fruit here | have
two orchards of sixty trees each; in one
let my stock hogs run from spring till
the early apples ripen, and never take
crop ofany kind from the soil. This
nerer fails in giving a full and fair crop
Of apples The other is kept in grass,
which is moved annually, and no stock
allowed to run, as this cannot be well
done. The result is the orchard is not
DOrh anything for fruit. and very little
for hay"
SCAB ON THE APPLE.-Dr. Hull's
opinion is quoted with approval, that
the scab fungus on the fruit is first
caused by the puncture Of the aphis in
its young and tender state-furnishing
Judgment to the spores of the fungus.
The use Of manures, and of lime, ashes,
plaster, &c, is pronounced beneficial to
orchards by three-fourths Of the an
swers to distributed circular-manure
being Of greater advantage to the poorer
lands of the State. Lime and ashes
were commended by several who had
rich soils.
SULPHUR FOR GRAPE MILDEw.-An
article, contributed by w. J. Flagg,
gives full details of his successful ex-
periments in preventing mildew in vine
yards by busting with sulphur. The
reason why this remedy has not proved
successful with others, he states, is a
want of early application and its fire.
quent repetition afterwards. The sui
phur must be first blown upon the vines
at the first moment Of the appearance
of the mildew, or even before its APP
pearance. Two or three days may be
too late. 1t must be repeated every
twenty days. 1t will fail if washed
off by rain before it's effect
is produced. 1t must not be
mistaken for black rot which sui
phur will not cure. Mr.. Flagg set out
fifteen acres Of Catawba vineyard, which
bore fruit in 1861, and for three years
they did well. In 1864 the rot took a
tenth part of the crop. The next year
its increase woke him up. After expend-
ing $l700 on his vineyards, he gathered
only enough to make barrel OF wine
He was then absent three years in Eu-
rope. On returning, he found his crop
ruined by mildew. He began early in
the season and with poor tools to apply
sulphur, and got through five acres in
seven days. The operation was re-
peated several times, the last on the
9Th of August. 1t was successful; the
disease was driven off, and two-thirds of
the fruit saved. The vineyard was
then drained, top-dressed, pruned and
cultivated well. BY means Of a
bellows and seive the vineyard was
sulphured seven times, with seven
barrels of sulphur, costing $40, or S3l
per acre. He thinks that by carefully
watching the approach of the disease,
three sulphurings would answer, and
expense saved. The second year the
bellows offered in market for blowing
sulphur, which were pronounced inge-
NOUS "contrivances to keep sulphur
away from the vines" were thrown
aside, and he procured timed wire
gauze and made several bellows on the
Vergnes plan, having no valve, the air
being drawn in through the same hole
by which it went out, keeping the sieve
always free from distractions. With
these, the labor, which was almost I'M
bearable and very slow the first season,
was done with great ease and facility.
The results of his experiments, and the
means by which hereached them, are
commended to the attention Of vineyard
lists who have suffered by the mildew.