OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 59 



day is fast coming when the growing of superior varieties, which have 

 for the most part failed, will alone be remunerative ; and I believe that 

 nothing will so tend to enable us to successfully grow them as a thor- 

 ough knowledge of Phylloxera, which is in reality the principal cause 

 of their failure.(22) Take as an instance the case of the Catawba. It is 

 in growing demand in the Mississippi Valley, as, so far, the best white 

 wine grape, and the only one extensively used in the manufacture of 

 sparkling wines. Yet it is, in this part of the country, one of the most 

 susceptible to the Phylloxera disease, and its successful growth be- 

 comes more and more uncertain. If, by a thorough understanding of 

 the disease, and by the system of grafting which I have suggested, 

 this vine can be successfully grown in the Mississippi Valley, it is safe 

 to say that the value of our vineyards will be doubled ; as the Con- 

 cord, which is now the main reliance, and which makes but an inferior 

 wine, has already so glutted our markets as scarcely to pay the grower. 



Why the Insect is more injurious in Europe than here. — Without 

 going into particulars, several good reasons may be given to explain 

 the fact that Phylloxera is more devastating in the vineyards of France 

 than in our own. There exists a certain harmony between the indi- 

 genous fauna and flora of a country ; and our native vines are such as, 

 from their inherent peculiarities, have best withstood the attacks of 

 the insect. The European vine, on the contrary, succumbs more read- 

 ily, not only because of its more tender and delicate nature, but be- 

 cause it has not been accustomed to the disease — there being, doubt- 

 less, a parallel between this case and the well-known fact that diseases 

 and parasites which are comparatively harmless among peoples long 

 accustomed to them, become virulent and often fatal when first intro- 

 duced among hitherto uncontaminated peoples. Then the particular 

 natural enemies of the insect which belong to its own class, and which 

 in this country help to keep it within due bounds, are lacking in 

 Europe ; and it will require some time before the closely allied Euro- 

 pean predaceous species will prey upon and check it there to the same 

 extent. The Phylloxera will, also, all other things being equal, have 

 an advantage in those countries where the mildness and shortness 

 of the winter allow an increase in the annual number of its genera- 

 tions. Finall^^, the differences in soil and in modes of culture have no 

 insignificant bearing on the question in hand. Though Phylloxera, 

 in both types, is found on our wild vines, it is very doubtful if such 

 wild vines in a state of nature are ever killed by it. With their far- 

 reaching arms embracing shrub and tree, their climbing habit un- 

 checked by the pruner's knife, these vines have a corresponding length 

 and depth of root, which render them less susceptible to injury from 



