surface as possible. This will give them a somewhat freer growth 

 after grafting, they will make deep roots anyhow on such a soil 

 on account of the later growth of the vines. With Lenoir and 

 all hybrids closely related to species which do* not grow well from 

 cuttings, short cuttings for propagation are the best for all close 

 or compact soils. This is not only for reasons following from the 

 above, but also for the reason, that a cold wet soil, packing tightly 

 around the stem of such vines, puts this in an unhealthy con- 

 dition. This seems to be the cause also of the dry rot which we 

 see sometimes on rooted Lenoir. 



ADAPTATION 



The growth habit, form of root system and size of roots are 

 principally the ruling factors in the vine's adaption, and from what 

 has been said it may easily be deduced that the first named is the 

 most important in this respect, as it influences the other two very 

 much. The only difference for instance between a Berlandieri 

 and a Cinerea, I think, is in their slightly different growth habits. 

 But while one occurs on high ridges, the other flourishes only on 

 the low and wet soils. Nevertheless, I don't think, ;that the 

 different adaptation to soil and climate of these two species, as 

 adaption is generally understood, alone is responsible for their 

 occurrence under conditions so remote. I believe. I shall be 

 able to prove in the next chapter that another agency has some- 

 thing to do with this. 



With adaptation we generally mean the ability of 

 the vine to conform to the requirements of soil and 

 climate. But in its wider sense it would mean also immunity 

 from parasitic organisms, especially if these can not be success- 

 fully combated by any other means. How important adaptation 

 is, we can see by almost all plants occurring wild. As climatic 

 and soil conditions change sometimes within small areas, so dif- 

 ferent species and still more different varieties appear. Conditions 

 of soil and climate are much more severe for plants occurring wild 

 than for cultivated ones, which naturally makes the former hardier, 

 as nature selects the hardiest, but man selects for his own special 

 benefit and successfully overcomes the lack of hardiness in culti- 

 vated plants a good many times by other means, as substituting 

 hardy roots in place of their own. 



Viniferas, at least a good many varieties, probably have the 

 best adaptation for California in regard to vigorous growth. But 



