The Raisin Industry: A practical treatise on the raisin grapes, their history, culture and curingEisen, Gustavus A.
History
The Raisin Industry: A practical treatise on the raisin grapes, their history, culture and curing
Eisen, Gustavus A.
Raisins; Viticulture -- California
_Remedies._--Pasturing the vineyards with sheep as soon as the grapes
are picked is very beneficial. The sheep destroy both hoppers and
leaves, and the following season always finds the hoppers greatly
diminished in numbers. The sheep do no injury to low-pruned vines, and
in Fresno many vineyardists pasture their vines regularly every year in
October and November, or as soon as the grapes are picked and the
vineyards are made accessible.
The gauze bell consists of a bell-shaped cover made of wire netting,
large enough to cover the vine. The inside of the bell is sprayed with
petroleum, and then turned over the vine. A shake is then given the
vine, when many leaf-hoppers will fly up and stick in the petroleum. It
will only pay to use this remedy on table grapes; for raisin grapes it
is too expensive.
RED SPIDER.
_Characteristics._--Red or yellow mites are quite frequently injurious
to grapevines. These mites are small, almost microscopical, and appear
in enormous quantities on both sides of the leaves, especially, however,
on their under side. They cover the leaves, and even the ground of the
vineyard, with a thick cobweb, in which they live and hatch. Dry air and
heat promote the wellbeing of the mites, and hasten the injury they do
to the vine leaves, which soon dry up and check the growth of the vines.
On the contrary, dew and moisture destroy the red mites in a short time,
and in places near the coast they are seldom very injurious.
_Remedies._--Sprays of various kinds, such as whale-oil soap, resin
sprays, etc., have been used. Frequent spraying with pure water will
destroy the mites, but they will multiply again if the climate is
favorable. The best success is had with a spray of a compound known as
the I X L compound, which is used in the proportion of five pounds of
the compound to thirty gallons of water. One good spray will destroy
both the mites and their eggs.
CATERPILLARS.
_Characteristics._--The caterpillars which trouble the raisin grapes are
confined to three or four kinds. The most common and also the most
destructive are the very large larvæ of the sphinx moth. The common
grapevine sphinx (_Philampelus achæmon_) is a large larva, incorrectly
called a worm, which is, when full grown, over three inches long. The
color varies from bluish green to brown, with several lighter stripes on
each side. The head is truncate, and the tail is furnished with a curved
horn. The _pupa_ hibernates in the soil below the vines, and is about
half the size of the full-grown caterpillar. The full-grown moth is
about two inches long by two and one-half inches between the
outstretched wings. The eggs are laid by the moths on the leaves of the
vines. Two broods of caterpillars appear yearly under favorable
conditions, or else only one brood, which generally appears in the end
of July. The caterpillars grow with great rapidity, and attain their
full size in a few weeks. The _pupæ_ hibernate in the soil and hatch the
following summer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account