126 AMERICAN VINES. 



place in February; if not, it should be done at the end 

 of March or April. When the young plants are 2 or 

 2.Y-2 inches high they are hoed, to destroy weeds. The only care 

 subsequently consists in maintaining the surface ot the soil 

 loose, and in giving during summer frequent but not abun- 

 dant waterings. The young seedlings should be carefully 

 protected from cryptogamic diseases by means of Bordeaux 

 mixture and sulphur, as they are very sensitive when 

 young. 



The seedlings may acquire a relatively large development 

 during the first year; they should be transplanted the fol- 

 lowing year, and planted at normal distances of 3 feet 

 or, at least 2ft. 6in. apart. t We then begin to observe and 

 select. 



Selection, in view of obtaining graft-bearers, should be 

 made with the objects of resistance to phylloxera, vigour, 

 adaptation, affinity to ^grafting, faculty of rooting from 

 cuttings; and for direct-producers selections should bear on 

 resistance to phylloxera, adaptation, fructification, produc- 

 tivity, taste, quality of fruit, precocity, and resistance to 

 cryptogamic diseases. 



Rooting of cuttings, affinity to grafting, vigour, resistance 

 to cryptogamic diseases may be judged quickly and easily. 

 Adaptation, as shown in the first part of this work, must 

 be judged in the case of graft-bearers after they have been 

 grafted, and this cannot be determined before the graft is 

 three or four years old. The determination of the produc- 

 tivity takes longer, many seedlings only begin to bear fruit 

 after 3, 4, 5, or 6 years ; but we may proceed more rapidly 

 by grafting the shoots of young seedlings on vigorous stock, 

 the grafting hastening the fructification. One may also, 

 by selecting with care the most fructiferous shoots of hy- 

 brids with well constituted grapes, increase the produc- 

 tivity. It is also generally known that grafting on old 

 stock is the most practical means of rapidly multiplying 

 varieties which offer the sought qualities. 



But, in any case, one of the most important studies is 

 that of the relative resistance of hybrids to phylloxera, 

 the main quality of any newly-created vine. Seven or eight 

 years of close and attentive observation are required to 

 judge perfectly the value of resistance of a cepage. Several 

 methods have been proposed in order to arrive at this result 

 rapidly. The most reliable method consists in planting 

 the seedlings in soil naturally phylloxerated, or phylloxe- 



