FIRST PART. 



ORIGINAL ARTICLES 



The Selection and Hybridisation of American Vines in Italy 



by 

 Dr. G. Patane: 



Ministry of Agriculture, Italy. 



Historical. 



The replanting with resistant vines or reconstitution of the vine- 

 yards destroyed by phylloxera, was begun in Italy more than thirty years 

 ago. For this purpose seeds of American and French vines were im- 

 ported, and from these plants were obtained, of which only the strongest 

 and those which retained intact the characteristics of their species were 

 preserved. At the same time the work of hybridisation between these 

 plants and the native vines was started, but, since it was necessary to 

 submit the plants produced to long trials, they were not introduced at once 

 into general cultivation. However, definite conclusions as regards many of 

 these hybrids produced in Italy and especially in Sicily cannot yet be giv- 

 en, for their cultural value has not yet been tested in a sufficient number 

 of localities or in sufficiently diverse conditions. On the contrary, for 

 other hybrids experimental trials are already numerous and it is possible 

 to state that they possess valuable qualities as regards resistance to phyl- 

 loxera and to drought, adaptability to different soil conditions, and 

 affinity for the native vines. 



At the beginning of the work of reconstitution all the facts of this 

 important problem were not known. The vine-growers were accustomed 

 to see the European vine prosper in almost all soils and the most diverse 

 conditions, and believed that the American vines would do so ; they forgot 

 that the innumerable varieties of the former belonged to one species {Vitis 

 vinijera), while the latter group was composed of various species adapted, 

 throughout centuries, to live only in special conditions. As a result fail- 



