to the United States, in a small vineyard of Cynthiana vines, a portion of which had been treated with the Bordeaux mixture for the Mildew that the treated portion was practically free from the White Rot, while on the contrary in the part untreated one-fifth of the erop was destroyed by this disease.

Oïdium or Powdery Mildew.-This disease is supposed to be of American origin and occurs in this country very abundantly in all vine districts, including California, and on wild species in the forests. It was, however, first observed in England by Tucker in 1845, and was described by Berkley as Uncinula spiralis in 1857. It has made its way into all the vine countries of the world, and if left unchecked frequently causes great losses. In this country the popular name "Powdery Mildew" has been generally adopted. It was proposed by me in 1885* to distinguish it popularly from the other common mildew of the vine (Peronospora viticola) for which the name "Downy Mildew," proposed at the same time, has come into general

use.

Varieties derived from the European Vitis vinifera are especially subject to this disease, much more so than the more robust American sorts, and in consequence the European vineyards, and in this country the vineyards of California where European grapes are grown, are the chief sufferers. This fungus attacks the leaves, appearing chiefly on the upper surface and also the young shoots and fruit. The remedy generally employed in France, as well as elsewhere, is sulphur, which is usually applied as a powder by means of a bellows. The yearly applications of sulphur to French vines have brought this disease practically under control, and it has been found that the sulphur exerts a beneficial action on the growth of the vines. The hope that the copper salts, used so successfully against the Downy Mildew, would prove available against the Oïdium or Powdery Mildew has not been realized in the course of a large number of experiments. It is thought that the sulphur may be mixed with the powdered copper sulphates and the two applied together with bellows, thus reducing the expense of the treatment. This, however, is only recommended for the first application in the spring, it being advisable to make the later applications separately. The sulphur, then, with the exception noted, is generally applied in powder without intermixture with other substance, and is the sole practical remedy for the Powdery Mildew. The sulphur does not act as a preventive, but is a direct remedy. It is, however, held to be advisable to apply it before the disease has gained a foothold. It is impossible to lay down absolute periods at which the application should be made, since the time will vary with different years or climatic situations. In general it is the custom to make the first

*Proc. Am. Pom. Soc., 1885, p. 49, and Rural New Yorker, Jan. 30, 1886.

application when the young shoots have reached a length of about 10 centimeters. A second sulphuring is given the vines at the moment of blooming, and this application is considered the most important and necessary of all. This period is especially favorable for the development of the fungus, and it is very desirable that the spores be kept from the flowers and ovaries, and in northern France. this is commonly the first application made. These two applications, if made regularly year after year, will generally be sufficient, but it will be frequently necessary to make additional applications between the setting of the fruit and its maturity-a period during which the disease is particularly liable to appear in force if the favoring conditions of cold and moisture occur.

Viala and Ferrouillat, in the work cited above, give the following periods for applying the sulphur:

(1) When the young branches are about 10 centimeters long. (2) Always and particularly at the moment of blooming.

(3) Give a third treatment a few days before the fruit reaches full size.

(4) Make as many applications between the above as shall be necessary.

Anthracnose.-The Anthracnose (Sphaceloma ampelinum) is one of the oldest known diseases of the vine in Europe and appears to be indigenous there. In America it was first discovered in 1881 by Burrill, but has since been found to be quite widespread in vineyards from New Jersey to California and also occurs in our forests on wild vines in such manner as to indicate that it has long been present on this continent, if, indeed, it is not a native species.

Its ravages are much less severe both in Europe and America than those of the diseases already noted, but in warm and moist districts it is not infrequently abundant and destructive. It attacks all the organs of the vine during the growing seasons and occurs in three forms, viz, maculate, punctate, and deforming. The maculate form is the more common, the others being comparatively rare. The same methods of treatment are applicable to all. Many remedies have been recommended and tried, most of them unsuccessfully. Repeated sulphur treatment, or the use of lime and compositions of lime and sulphur or plaster and powdered sulphate of iron have given but partial results, but always beneficial. Concentrated sulphate of iron or dilute acids applied as a preventive wash in the spring before the starting of the foliage are usually successful. Sulphur produces the best results at the beginning of vegetation and should reinforce preventive treatment if the slightest signs of the evil appear or if the attack of Oïdium the year before was severe. According to some writers sulphur is most efficacious after a light rainfall or heavy dew, but this view is contested by others, who hold that the most satisfactory results are achieved with this material H. Ex. 410-VOL V-23

after the disappearance of the rain or dew, since then the spores develop more rapidly and split the shell in which they generate, thus giving scope for the best action of curative substances.

Lime in the proportion of one-half is commonly applied with the sulphur, and if the disease gains ground the lime is used alone. The value of the copper salts against this disease has not been established. The removal of excessive moisture by drainage is always of value.

Pourridié. This term is applied to an alteration in the roots of the vine, caused by the attacks of several species of fungi, which also occur on the roots of other plants. Attacked vines succumb in from fifteen months to three years, and in very humid soils the losses from this source are frequently very great. It is not uncommon in our Southwestern States and I often met with it in my early studies of Phylloxera work with which it is often confounded. It has also recently been noted in Texas and California.

Pourridié seems to result from excessive humidity of the subsoil, due frequently to underlying banks of calcareous rocks, which catch and hold the water. This is further shown by the fact that it develops in moist localities and in impermeable, argillaceous, marly soils. Originally it was supposed to be caused exclusively by the same fungus which brings about, under like conditions, the degeneration and death of many coniferous plants, the Agaricus melleus L., of which the mycelium was known under the name of Rhizomorpha fragilis Roth, but Mr. Hartig has indisputably traced Pourridié. in the majority of cases, to a different source, the Dematophora necatrix, essentially different from the former parasite, but seemingly analogous from the point of view of the mycelium. There are many other forms of fungus which produce the same results, but which act in more or less diverse ways. The chief manifestations of this evil are stunting of the branches and the growth of numerous shoots at and just above the level of the ground. At first the leaves keep their color, but are much below the normal size and deeply incised and sometimes much cut up. The shoots are short. partly dried up, and are covered with yellow, flossy filaments.

With reference to curative or preventive treatment little of a posi tive nature can be said. No remedy will save affected vines. Chemical and other substances recommended as preventives are very costly. Attempts have been made to eradicate this disease by laying bare the roots of infested vines and sprinkling them with sulphur flour. but this course terminated in the death of the plants. However, when the locality becomes dry or parched the woolly mycelium also dries up and disappears, and upon this occurrence the vine-grower must build his hope for even temporary relief. To assist the drying of the soil draining is very advantageous. But in the case of slight

attacks the pulling up of the vines and the abandonment of that part of the vineyard for a few years gives much better results and aids in checking the spread of the disease.

FUNGICIDE APPARATUS.

As will appear from the foregoing brief review of the more important fungus diseases of the vine in France the remedies are applied either as powders, as sulphur, lime, etc., or as liquids more or less thick and pasty, as with the Bordeaux mixture, or perfectly liquid, a in the case of the Eau celeste, and the sulphates of iron and copper. For the application of the first, powder-blowers of almost infinite variety are employed, and for the liquids an equally large number of pumps, syringes, etc., are used, many of which were referred to in Chapter V, on field trials of machinery, but may be more fully described here.

Instruments for the Application of Powders.-The simplest devices of this class are the common powder dusters or vessels in the bottoms of which holes are made through which the powder is shaken onto the plants. Much superior to these primitive dusters are the bel

FIG. 141.-Granal-Malbec bellows. (From Viala et Ferrouillat.)

lows powder-blowers, both in rapidity of work and regularity of the application. The simple instruments in which the bellows itself is the receptacle for the powder can only be used in the application of sulphur. With other substances, copper sulphates, and lime, the leather soon becomes rotten, and even with the use of sulphur the leather is constantly injured by the action of the sulphuric acid which is always developed, and especially in the presence of moisture. One of the best of the simple bellows and one very generally employed in southern France is the Granal-Malbec bellows, invented by M. Granal, and perfected and manufactured by M. Malbec (Béziers, Hérault, France).

This instrument is shown at Fig. 141, with the leather removed to show the construction. The powder is introduced through a funnel on the upper surface of the bellows, at the rear of which is the air valve; the blast pipe is provided with two perforated screens to regulate the distribution of the powder, and is made in three parts to facilitate the cleaning of the screens. The central support shown between the upper and lower surface of the bellows is to gauge the

amount of sulphur employed. In filling the bellows the upper face is brought down against this support and the remaining space is then filled with sulphur, thus leaving ample room for the working of the bellows.

This bellows distributes sulphur in an excellent manner if care is taken to keep it in a horizontal position to prevent the massing of the powder at the base of the blast pipe. Price, 3 francs.

For the application of the sulphates of copper it is necessary to keep the powder in a receptacle apart from the bellows for reasons already given; and the use of bellows of this class is becoming more general, not only for the substance named, but for lime, sulphur, and all the powders employed in treating the vine.

FIG. 142.-Malbec-Gilloux bellows. (From Viala et Ferrouillat.)

The Malbec-Gilloux bellows (Fig. 142) consists of an ordinary bellows to which is fastened a powder reservoir having a capacity of about one pound. A valve connects the reservoir with the bellows and prevents the powder being drawn into the latter during inflation. From the opening of this valve extends a tube, which passes

FIG. 143.-Malbec bellows. (From Viala et Ferrouillat.)

through the reservoir and connects with the blast pipe; within the reservoir this tube is partly of wire screen, so that when the bellows is worked the air draws the powder through the screen portion of the tube and thence to the blast pipe.

The Malbec bellows (Fig. 143) is similarly constructed; the reservoir is, however, divided into two compartments by a horizontal screen. The powder occupies the superior portion, and sifts through the screen into the lower part during the operation of the bellows. The blast pipe traverses the box vertically and leaves it at the upper part to guard against the waste of the powder if the bellows be pointed downward. The blast pipe in the case of the two bellows last described is either straight or curved, and in the latter style is