Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1881-01-06
Crane. Rot and IIiIdew.

Grape-rOt and mildeW are two OF the
worst enemies with which the grape
grower has to contend; and yet both of
these are more or less under his CON
troll. They are caused by the growth
of very minute plants, called fungus
In infested districts the seeds of the
fungus are everywhere floating in the
air. Now, when every part of the
plant is in healthy, growing condition
it has the power of resisting the germi-
nation of these seeds; but when any
part of it becomes debilitated, the pow
er of resistance in this particular part of
the plant is lost, AS soon as the fungus
seeds germinate they have the tendency
to farther the destruction of that part
of the plant which they infest, so that
when they once gain fOothold the
plant has not the power to dislodge
them. Let us briefly notice the causes
which tend to produce this debility in
the plant and then see if there is no
way of cOunteracting them. In the
first place it has been ascertained that
when the temperature Of any part of the
plant sinks below fifty Fahrenheit, plant
growth in this part of it ceases, thus al
lowing the fungus seeds to effect alodg-
ment and germinate. The fungus will
grow under a much lower temperature
than this; in fact, it seems to thrive
better under a low than under high
temperature. One of the principal
causes Of this sinking of the tempera-
ture is the evaporation of the rain water
and dew which fall upon the plant 1t
is we'll known that when water falls
upon any object it withdraws from that
object sufficient amount Of heat to
evaporate it. Now, when the water is
allowed to evaporate slowly the temper
sature will not sink so rapidly as when
the evaporation progresses more rapid
ly, as when a current of dry air passes
over it. Hence, the vineyard should be
sheltered from the wind as much as
possible, and when it is not so sheltered,
a hedge of evergreens should be planted
along the side or sides of it from which
the wind usually blows; and if the vine
yard is very extensive additional hedges
should be planted through it parallel
with the first one. When the vines are
trained upon wooden trellises wide
boards should be nailed hatwise on top
of the trellis; this in a measure will
prevent the rain and dew from falling
upon the vines. and thus secure a great
er uniformity of temperature.
This lowering of the temperature is
more often the cause of mildew than of
the rot; the latter is usually caused by
q lack of the necessary mineral elements
in the soil While the plant is perfect
ing its seeds it requires a considerable
amount of these elements; but when it
is deprived of these, plant growth in
the fruit ceases, thus permitting the
fungus seeds TO terminate without the
power Of resisting them. AS rule,
when these elements are lacking in the
soil they are contained in the subsoil,
and are brought within reach of the
plant by the water which rises from the
subsoil into the soil. But it frequently
happens that after these elements have
been brought within the reach of the
plant that heavy rain will again wash
them back into the subsoil where for the
time being they are out of reach of the
plant. To prevent this, surface-d drain
age should be resorted to. A drain of
sufficient size should be dug between
each of the rows, and the earth from
these drains should be thrown up to the
roots of the vines, so that the surface of
the ground will slope from the vines to
the drains. These drains should be cut
orosswise with the slope of the land;
that is, when the land slopes to the south
the drains should be cut east and west.
It is not necessary to run the water out
of the vineyard, but only to collect it
in the drains from whence it can enter
the subsoil without doing any injury to
the plants. On this account the drains
may be filled up at intervals of every
rod or two.
The element usually lacking in the
soil is the phosphate of lime; hence, in
using fertilizers those only should be
used which contain this element in large
quantities, such as bone-dust or ground
bones and guano. 1t has been ascer-
tanned by analysis that bone-dust con-
tains about fifty per cent. of the phos-
phate of lime, Guano is very variable
in the quantity Of this phosphate which
it contains, some specimens containing
as high as seventy per cent, while 9TH
ers contain only about thirty-fve per
cent. Guano is to be preferred to bone
dust, as it is more soluble in water.
About 25O pounds is the usual quantity
to be applied to an acre of and.-Cor. |
GeynG31toaOa Telegraph.