]o May, 1909.] Cataiiina. 323 



White Varieties. 



... ^-■ 1 1 . Gravity — Aeiditv per i,ooc — 



\ anety. \ .eld pe. arre. 3^^,^^. ^^ Tartaric Acid. 



... 6.12 



6.73 



- ... 5.«i 



— .. 7-04- 



719 



— ... 6.88 



The new programme of work was not, at the time of my visit, finally 

 drawn up. 



XuRSERv Work at Villafranca. 



From the commencement of reconstitution in Cataluiia, the propaga- 

 tion of resistant stocks was entirely left to private enterprise. Energetic 

 Catalans were not slow to seize the opportunity, and at the present time 

 the largest vine nurseries in Spain for the propagation of resistant stocks 

 are to be found in Cataluha. Amongst the most important are those 

 of Don Jaime Sabate at Villafranca, and Don Francisco Casellas near 

 Barcelona. The former was the only one I was able to visit. Don 

 Nicola de los Salmones, at Pamplona, had given me a letter of intro- 

 duction to Don Jaime Sabate. He advised me strongh to see this im- 

 portant establishment, the largest in Spain. 



Though the bulk of the vineyards of Cataluiia have long since been 

 reconstituted, by field grafting as a rule, there is still a certain amount 

 of plantation going on, chiefly replacing of unsuitable stocks, and much 

 of this is being done by means of nursery raised bench grafts. The 

 Catalan nurseries supply vines to the whole of Spain, especially to those 

 regions more recently invaded and now being activelv reconstituted, many 

 nf which are too cold for field grafting to be really satisfactory. Dis- 

 tricts which do not. like Valencia, benefit by the Goi\-ernment supply, 

 •obtain their grafted vines from the large nurserymen of Cataluiia. 

 The warm, almost Australian climate of the region, insures vigorous 

 growth and the production of healthy, well grown voung plants. 



The magnitude of operations in Seiior Sabate 's establishment is 

 shown by the following figures as to the output for the 1907-8 season : — • 

 Grafted Rootlings ... ... ... 3,022,318 



Barbados (ungrafted rootlings) ... ... i,soo,ooo 



Graftable Cuttings ... ... ... 3,565,000 



8,087,318 

 In addition to these 6,715.000 small cuttings, suitable for striking in 

 a nurserv, were for sale. 



Sefior Sabate explained to me that he has good soil, a good climate 

 and good workmen — these enable him to obtain a high proportion of per- 

 fect unions. His books show percentages of from 75 to 80 per cent, 

 with easv stocks, such as 1202. 420A. 3309 &:c. ; rather less with 

 A.R.G.i. ; and about 50 per cent, with 157-11. The business seems 

 to be a profitable one, for he informs me that he has cleared over a 

 million pesetas (^40,000 at par) since he commenced operations, less 

 than ten vears ago. 



The supplies on hand and prices quoted throw .some litrht on the 

 popularity of different stocks and scions in the district. Though this 

 mav not be the best possible criterion of real value it is ne\ertheless in- 

 teresting. So far as stocks are concerned their popularitv appears to be 

 in the following order, viz.. A.R.G.i. : 1202 ; 4TB ; A.R.G.9 ; Rupe.stris 

 du Lot. 3309. The last two are rather diminishing in favour owing 



