1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



213 



ones, which were creeping about in the grass, 

 came from dilTcrent directions, hurrying into the 

 mouth of the mother one after another. 



The opportunities for really witnessing this 

 mode of concealing their young is probably rare ; 

 and it may be that only some kinds of snakes 

 have that propensity. I have in my thirty years 

 travels througli tlie Australian Continent en- 

 countered these dangerous creatures so often, 

 that I for safety's sake always tried to get out 

 of the way on the least chance of seeing them ; 

 hence, I cannot speak of my own experience on 

 the subject, and I am now sorry that I omitted 

 to ask the natives about this. 



THE CRAPE PHYLLOXERA. 



BY C. V. IJILEV, BEFOKE THE MISSOURI STATE 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Tlic fact tliat abcut two hundred and eighty 

 tons of California grapes were received and sold 

 in the markets of Philadelphia during the past 

 season, is sufficient to show that the grape in- 

 terest in this country is increasing in importance, 

 and to lead to the hope that the discouragement 

 which the Missouri grape growers must feel after 

 four consecutive unfavorable seasons must needs 

 soon give way before brighter prospects, that it 

 seems to me are necessarily in store for him. 

 One thing is sure, namely, that the interest 

 manifested abroad in our American grape vines 

 does not flag. These vines are constantly dis- 

 cussed in the foreign horticultural journals, 

 while one periodical entitled La Vigne Arneri- 

 caine (the American Vine), is entirely devoted 

 to them. It is a source of no little satisfaction 

 to me that the varieties which I first recom- 

 mended seven years ago are, in the main, those 

 still sought for and used by the French sufferers 

 from phylloxera, as stock on which to graft their 

 viniferas. It is further interesting to observe 

 that the grounds that Itook in regard to grafting 

 above ground, in my Seventh Report, pp. 108 

 to IIG, are justified by the experience had during 

 the last few years in France. Such grafting is 

 found to be quite practicable, notwithstanding 

 the want of faith shown in it by our earlier am- 

 pelographers. I sincerely hope that this ques- 

 tion of grafting the vine above ground as a 

 means of evading the injuries of phylloxera or 

 of improving such varieties as do not succeed 

 upon their own roots will be discussed by your 

 society, so as to bring out whalever experience 

 on the subject the Missouri grape growers have 

 had of late. The fears which I expressed 



in my Seventh Report as to the danger of the 

 introduction and spread of the phylloxera in 

 California, have also been more than justified, 

 since many vineyards have already been seri- 

 ously injured or totally destroyed by the insect. 

 I am glad to be able to confirm in this connec- 

 tion the truth of the statement of Mr. P. J. 

 Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., namely, that this 

 insect does not occur in that locality. "While 

 spending a few days with him last September I 

 was able to verify its non-occurrence there ; and 

 here let me remark that however much contempt 

 a Missourian may have for the Scuppernong, 

 no one can witness the prolificacy, or experience 

 the delicacy and sweetness of such varieties as 

 Tender-pulp and Thomas, as they grow in that 

 region, without having a due appreciation of 

 their value for the Southern States. 



Regarding the range of phylloxera, it ha.d 

 often been asserted that around Washington the 

 root insect was not to be found, yet I have found 

 it extremely abundant both in the vineyards of 

 the District and of those just across the line in 

 Virginia, some of the latter suffering to such an 

 extent that the crop was a failure, though the 

 owners were unsuspicious of the cause. 



After reviewing in my Eighth Report all that 

 was then known of the habits and natural his- 

 tory of the grape phylloxera, I drew certain 

 pi-actical conclusions to the effect that complete 

 knowledge of its habits, instead of simplifying 

 its destruction, showed that it was almost if not 

 quite hopeless to expect its destruction by any 

 possible or practical means, and rendered pre- 

 ventive measures all the more urgent. I ex- 

 pressed my doubt as to the value of decortica- 

 tion of the vines and the burning of the bark in 

 Winter, or any means which aimed at the kill- 

 ing of the Winter eggs upon the branches and 

 canes of the vines. Diligent search had failed 

 to reveal these Winter eggs in anything like the 

 quantity one might expect, and the fact remained 

 that the insect could go on propagating under 

 ground for at least four years without the neces- 

 sary intervention of the impregnated egg. Fur- 

 ther researches made since confirm me in the 

 belief that the normal mode of hibernation of 

 the species is as a young larva upon the roots. 

 From the results of the deliberations of the In- 

 ternational Phylloxera Congress, held last Sum- 

 mer at Lausanne, France, it was conclusively 

 proved that decortication, as I had anticipated, 

 was of little or no avail. 



Before leaving the question of phylloxera, let 



