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.