tops of the young shoots should be pinched off, in order that the sap may be assimilated into buds; and in October, or soon after harvesting the grapes, cut back the shoots of the same year and leave but four eyes to each; as, by leaving too many, the vine becomes exhausted, and yields but little. fruit, and is soon destroyed by premature decay. The shoots should be cut off in an oblique direction, opposite to, and about an inch and a half above, the fourth eye from the old wood, in such a manner as will shed the rain and allow the buds to suffer no injury from the wet. In the course of the month of May, the vines should be examined, and all the shoots from the old wood rubbed off; and if an eye of the last year's growth should be found to produce twin shoots, the weakest of the two must be removed, in order that the remaining one may the better thrive. In the course of the season, the superfluous leaves and twigs must often be thinned out; and about the first of September, as in the preceding years, pinch off the tops of the shoots, in order that the sap may assimilate in the buds that are to be reserved for the next year. If the vines appear to be too exuberant, they may be pruned at the roots, without injury, at any season of the year. The most convenient period, however, for performing this operation, where the climate is mild, is in November, when the roots should be exposed to the light and air, by drawing away the earth, and letting them remain till spring; but where the winters are severe, and subject to continued ice and frost, early in December they should be re-covered with earth, mixed with well-rotted manure, leaf-mould, husks and seeds of grapes, or the clippings and leaves of vines. If they remain exposed during winter, early in March the earth should be restored, and mixed with the manure or other substances, as named above. This mode was called "ablaqueatio," by the Romans, and is still practised with advantage in some parts of Italy and Spain. Although spring and summer pruning of the vine may advantageously be adopted in all countries of the globe, yet in places exposed to the sun, with mild winters, pruning in autumn is thought to be the best, the most natural, at which time, trees and shrubs, by a divine and eternal law, drop both their fruit and leaves. "Snag pruning" is thought to be preferable by some, because, in "close pruning," the wounds spread, and prevent the protrusion of buds near the affected parts; but if these parts be covered at the time of pruning, with a preparation of fine earth or white-lead, mixed with linseed oil, they will immediately heal. Mr. Loudon, in treating of the vine, mentions three modes of pruning it in hot-houses, viz. :-the fruit-tree method, in which the plant is spread out in the manner of a fan, and trained like a common fruit-tree; the long or young-wood method, in which all the wood above a year old is cut out down to the stool or stock; and the spurring-in method, in which the fruit is produced from young wood grown annually from the seeds of the main shoot, or shoots of old wood. The two last methods he regards as the best. It is customary with many to cultivate flowers, or vegetables of various kinds between or near their vines, without reflecting that they are doing them great injury by abstracting their proper nourishment from the soil; a practice not only strictly guarded against by the most intelligent vine-dressers of the present day, but condemned by all ancient writers on the subject; and Moses, in exhorting the people of Israel, very forcibly elucidated his discourse by commanding them not to defile their vineyards with the fruit of divers seeds: "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds; lest the fruit of thy seed thus plainly showing that the wisdom and prudence of this important law was well understood even at that early day. Insects, Casualties, &c. The Vitis labrusca, like most of its congeners, is subject to the attack of various tribes of insects or their larvæ, and requires the vigilant attention of the cultivator during all the warmer months of the year. Among the Coleoptera we recognize the Pelidnota punctata, Anomala varians, Melolontha subspinosa, and the Haltica chalybea. The former is a large beetle, sometimes found in great abundance in the months of July and August, and is described by Dr. Harris, as being of an oval shape, about an inch long, having dull, brownish-yellow wing-covers, with three distinct black dots on each; the thorax darker, and slightly bronzed, with a black dot on each side; and the legs and body beneath of a deep bronze-green. These beetles fly by day, and devour the leaves of the vine, which constitute their only food. They may be destroyed in considerable numbers, by snatching them from the vines and crushing them under the foot. Their larvæ live in decayed wood, and like those of beetles in general, consist of grubs. The Anomala varians, which is said to resemble, in its habits, the vine-chafer of Europe, is found in June and July, feeding upon the leaves of the vine, as well as upon those of several species of rhus. Both the males and the females are of a broad oval shape, and of varied colours, measuring from four to five lines in length, the former being the least in size. The head and thorax of the male are greenish-black, margined with dull-ochre or tile-red, and thickly punctured; the wing-covers are clay-yellow, irregularly furrowed, and punctured in the furrows; the legs are pale-red, brown, or black; and sometimes the whole insect is entirely black. The thorax of the female is clay-yellow, or tile-red, sometimes with two oblique blackish spots on the top, and at others nearly black; the wing-covers resemble those of the male; the legs are clay-yellow, or light-red. The Melolontha subspinosa, or common rose-bug, is also a diurnal insect, and appeared for some time to be confined to its favourite food, the blossoms of the rose; but within thirty years, according to Dr. Harris, this species has prodigiously increased in number, has attacked at random various kinds of plants, in swarms, and has become notorious for its extensive and deplorable ravages. The grape-vine in particular, has annually suffered by its depredations, as well as most of our fruit-trees, garden and field vegetables, and even the trees of the forest. "The unexpected arrival of these insects in swarms," says Harris, "at their first coming, and their sudden disappearance, at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come forth from the ground during the second week in June, or about the time of the blossoming of the damask rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end of this period, the males become exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil; they are nearly globular, whitish, and about one thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young larvæ begin to feed on such tender roots as are within their reach." ***** "They attain their full size in the autumn, being then nearly three-quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth of an inch in diameter." * ** "In October, they descend below the reach of the frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they approach towards the surface, and each one forms for itself a little cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to compress the earth, and render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth. Within this cell the grub is transformed into a pupa, during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downwards in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the perfect beetle; but it is of a yellowishwhite colour, and its short, stump-like wings, its antennæ, and its legs are folded upon the breast, and its whole body is inclosed in a thin film, that wraps each part separately. During the month of June, this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws from it its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various changes, from the egg to the full development of the perfect beetle, are completed within the space of one year. Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the pupa state; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by the Author of Nature, to keep the insect tribes in check. When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the complete enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any of the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking them or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little water. They should be collected daily during the period of their visitation, and should be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding water." The Haltica chalybea or steel-blue flee-beetle, as it is sometimes called, also inhabits the vine and preys upon its buds and leaves, in almost every part of the union. An interesting account of its habits and ravages is given in the xxvith volume of Silliman's "American Journal of Science and Arts," by Mr. David Thomas, of Cayuga county, in New York. The brilliant insects of this species, were observed by him, in the spring of 1831, creeping on the vines, and destroying the buds, by eating out the central succulent parts. Some had burrowed even half their length into the buds. When disturbed, they jump, rather than fly, and remain where they fall for a time, without motion. In 1830 and 1831, he also found the vine-leaves infested by small, chesnut-coloured, smooth worms, which he fed in a tumbler, containing some moist earth, until they were fully grown, when they concealed themselves below the surface. In about two weeks after, some beetles were found in the tumbler, which led him to suppose that their larvæ undergo their transformation in the ground. These beetles, according to Dr. Harris, are exceedingly variable in their colour, being sometimes of a darkpurple, violet, Prussian blue, greenish-blue, and deep-green colour. The most common tint of the upper sides is a glossy, deep greenish-blue; the under sides of a dark-green; and the antennæ and feet are of a dull black. The body is oblong-oval, and the hinder part of the thorax is marked with a transverse furIt measures rather more than three-twentieths of an inch in length. In Massachusetts, these beetles begin to come out of their winter quarters towards row. the end of April, and continue to appear till the latter part of May. A second brood also make their appearance towards the end of July.* Among the Hemiptera, which prey upon the vine, is the Tettigonia vitis, or vine-hopper, of Harris, which was for a long time supposed to be the vine-fretter of Europe. In a perfect state, this insect measures one-tenth of an inch in length, is of a pale-yellow, with two small red lines on its head; the hinder part of the thorax, the scutel, the base of the wing-covers, and a band across their middle, are scarlet; the tips of the wing-covers are blackish, between which and the above-named band there are several small, red lines. The head is crescent-shaped above, and the eyelets are situated just below the ridge of the front.† These insects, according to Dr. Harris, inhabit both the foreign and native grapevines, under the surface of the leaves, among which they may be found during the greater part of the summer, where, also, they pass through all their transformations. They make their first appearance in June, when they are wingless, and of course in their larva state. They remain perfectly quiet for most of the time, with their beaks thrust into the succulent parts of the leaves, from which they derive their nourishment. If disturbed, however, they leap with great agility from one leaf to another, from which circumstance they are called vine-hoppers. As they increase in size, they frequently cast their skins, which may often be found, during summer, adhering to the leaves, and upon the ground beneath the vines. They generally reach their perfect state in the month of August, when they become still more active by the aid of their legs and wings, and are enabled to leap and fly from tree to tree. They do great injury to the vines by depriving their leaves of sap, which not only causes them to turn yellow and fall, even at mid-summer, but by this exhaustion, their most important functions are interrupted, the fruit becomes stunted and diseased, and if the evil be suffered to continue, the plant itself, in a few years, is rendered barren, and consequently of no value. In autumn, these insects quit the vines, shelter themselves beneath the fallen leaves or decayed tufts of grass, where they remain till the following spring, when they emerge from their winter retreats, and in due time deposite their eggs upon the leaves of the vine, and then die. The Vitis labrusca is also attacked by a species of bark-louse, of a globular form, nearly half the size of a pea, and of about the colour of the bark itself. It sometimes occurs in great numbers, which imbed themselves in the furrows of the bark, abstract large. quantities of its sap, and thereby impoverish the vine. The most efficacious means employed for the destruction of the vine-hopper or bark-lice, are fumigations of red-pepper seeds, tobacco, or other hot, acrid plants, which require frequent repetition, and much precaution to kill the insects and to prevent injury to the vines. Among the Lepidoptera, which feed upon the vine, there are several species of Sphinx, the Procris americana, and the Eudryas grata. As it would occupy too much space to enter at length into the characters and habits of all these insects, we must refer the reader to Dr. Harris' "Report," from which much valuable and practical information may be gained on this subject, that cannot be found in any other work. From the sphinges he has selected a group to which he has applied the name of Philampelus, signifying literally, "I love the vine," from the circumstance that their larvæ live upon the grape-vine. When young, they have a long and slender tail, recurved over the back like that of a dog, which, after one or two changes of the skin, disappears. Some of these caterpillars are of a pale-green, and others are brown, having the sides of their bodies ornamented by six cream-coloured spots, of a broad, oval shape. They have the power of withdrawing the head and the first three segments of the body *See Harris' Report, p. 104. † Encyclopædia Americana, viii., p. 43. within the fourth segment, which gives them a short and blunt appearance when at rest. As they attain a length of three inches or more, and are of a proportionable thickness, they devour great quantities of leaves, which is often evinced by the long, leafless branches of the grape-vine, as well as those of the Virginian creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia.) They arrive at full growth in the month of August, enter the earth, where they undergo their transformations, and appear in the perfect or moth state, in June and July, of the following year. The vine suffers still more severely from another species of sphinx caterpillar, smaller in size than the preceding, and, like them, solitary in their habits. According to Dr. Harris, they are not content with eating the leaves alone, in their progress from leaf to leaf down the stem, but stop at every cluster of fruit, and, either from stupidity or disappointment, nip off the stalks of the half-grown grapes, and allow them to fall, untasted, to the ground. These caterpillars are fleshy and naked, generally of a pale-green, but sometimes brown, with a row of orange-coloured spots on the top of the back, and six or seven oblique lines, of a brown or dark-green, on each side. The head and fore part of the body are somewhat retractile, but less so than those of the preceding species; and on the hinder extremity of the body there is a short horn or spine. When fully grown, they conceal themselves, early in autumn, under the fallen leaves, which they draw together by a few threads, form themselves a cocoon, or cover themselves with grains of earth and rubbish, by a similar process, where they transform, and finally appear in a winged state in the month of July of the succeeding year. The larva of the Procris americana are gregarious in their habits, and congregate side by side on the same leaf, and only disperse when they are about to form their cocoons. They are represented as being slightly hairy, of a greenish colour, with black bands; their cocoons of an oblong-oval, very tough, and fastened by one side to the leaves or stems of the plants on which they feed. The winged insects make their appearance, in Massachusetts, towards the end of July. They are of a bluish-black, with a saffron-coloured collar, and a notched tuft on the extreme end of their bodies. Their wings are very narrow, and expand about an inch. The larvæ of the Eudridas grata, when fully grown, are an inch and a half or more in length, of a blue colour, transversely banded with deep-orange across the middle of each ring, with the bands dotted with black. The head and feet are also of an orange, the top of the eleventh ring somewhat bulging, and the fore part of the body hunched up when the insect is at rest. They occur in the greatest abundance in the months of July and August, and none will be found on the vines after September. They devour all parts of the leaves of the grape-vines, as well as those of the Virginian creeper, even to the mid-rib and stalks. When at rest, they generally cling to the under sides of the leaves; although many may be found on the same plant, they do not associate with each other. When they quit the vines, they bury themselves in the ground, to a depth of three or four inches, and change to dark-brown chrysalides without cocoons. The moths, which sometimes appear towards the last of June, are small in size, expanding from an inch and a half to an inch and three-fourths, and outvie all its congeners in delicacy of colouring and beauty of design.* Among the Hymenoptera, we recognize but one species which attacks the grape-vine, the Selandria vitis, or saw-fly, of Harris. The perfect insect is described by him as being of a jet-black colour, except the upper side of the thorax, which is red, and the fore legs and the under side of the other legs, which are whitish or pale-yellow. The wings are semi-transparent, of a smoky colour, with dark-brown veins. The body of the female measures one-fourth of an inch in length, and that of the male somewhat less. These flies rise from *See Harris' Report, p. 310. |