RESISTANT VINES; THEIR SELECTION, ADAPTATION, ETC. 17 



vines, or such as did not seem to thrive as well as others on their special 

 soil. It was not a case with them of refusing to " send their money out 

 of the country 11 in order to procure for propagating purposes the very 

 best to be had, as is unfortunately the case with many here in California. 

 They did want the best to be had, knowing full well that it was false 

 economy to get inferior stocks when better could be procured, even at a 

 higher price. The patronage of "home products" is perfectly right 

 when the products are as good as can be had elsewhere, but when applied 

 to inferior nursery stock, it is going rather too far. 



Selection is the great lesson that has been learned in the planting of 

 resistant vines. Now in order to select the best to be had, one may have 

 to go beyond his own vineyard into other vineyards, even if they be 

 situated on the other side of the world. If he cannot go personally, he 

 can at least rely on some one in whom he has confidence, who can; and 

 when once he has a few vigorous vines he can soon propagate enough 

 for himself and his neighbors. 



In selecting varieties it was found that the geographical analogies 

 between the native habitat of the vine and that of the place where it 

 was to grow had little to do with the problem. What was needed was 

 a variety that was very vigorous and large-wooded, and that was easily 

 suited to new soils and conditions. It is to be remarked that among 

 the many species and their varieties, some are very hard to transplant 

 into other conditions, while others adapt themselves very readily to new condi- 

 tions. Concerning species it has been found that the Riparia and 

 Rupestris, as groups, adapt themselves more readily to changed condi- 

 tions than any of the other American species known. 



It is perfectly true, however, that the varieties of each of these species 

 differ greatly the one from the other in this respect. There are some 

 Riparia varieties which it seems almost impossible to grow successfully, 

 except under most exceptional conditions. There are otjier Riparia 

 varieties that do remarkably well in the same soils in which other 

 varieties of the same species refuse absolutely to grow. Yet in both 

 cases they are "true Riparias." The expression "true Riparias" is 

 used advisedly, for one of the commonest questions the Department is 

 asked is, "Where can I get a ' true Riparia"?" The point to be made is 

 that there are hundreds of " true Riparias " that are worthless. What has 

 been said in this connection of the Riparia holds good in the case of the 

 Varieties of the Vitis Rupestris. 



After some years of experiment it was found that the Vitis Riparia 

 was the best all-around group for the majority of European soils. This 

 is shown from the fact that to-day, out of the 2,500,000,000 of vines 

 grafted on resistant stocks in the Old World, probably 1,700,000,000 are 

 grafted on Riparias. The remainder are almost all Rupestris stocks, 

 with some of the best hybrids that the Americans had previously secured. 



While the Riparia is beyond a" doubt the best species for the average 

 European vineyard land, it by no means follows that the same is true 

 in California. In Europe there are abundant summer rains, except in 

 the hottest parts. With the thorough cultivation given to the soil, the 

 Riparias thrive remarkably well, for there is always sufficient moisture 

 in the soil to keep up the growth of the vine. In California, on the 

 other hand, there is little or no summer rain and in almost all of our 

 vineyards the soil dries out to a considerable depth. As the Riparia, as 

 a group, is naturally shallow-rooted, the state of affairs in California be- 

 2 RV 



