It is perhaps not right to say that no choice is exercised in the selec- 

 tion of cuttings in California. There is inevitably some choice, though 

 principally unconscious and generally harmful. The man who is mak- 

 ing cuttings will, if he has no other standard, choose those canes which 

 he can work up with the greatest ease. These are the long, unbranched 

 canes from the most vigorous vines. Such canes are usually suckers or 

 water-sprouts, the least fruitful on the vine, and the most vigorous 

 vines are generally those which have produced the fewest grapes. Such 

 selection as. this cannot fail to be harmful, especially with the finer va- 

 rieties, which vary more than the common, and must finally result in 

 the deterioration of all varieties. 



The ordinary European method of simply marking the vines which 

 bear good crops the year the cuttings are taken is imperfect and can 

 do no more than keep the varieties from deteriorating. By more care- 

 ful selection, continued systematically for a series of years, it has been 

 proved possible to greatly increase the bearing qualities of certain va- 

 rieties. Other qualities besides that of more or less productiveness 

 could undoubtedly be influenced by the same means. In this way nu- 

 merous variations of the Pinot or Burgundy have arisen. These varia- 

 tions differ from the type in color, acidity, time of ripening, and even 

 in flavor. It would probably be possible to produce a loose bunched 

 Tokay, a close bunched Zabalkanski, or a large fruited Sultanina in the 

 same way. 



There is no quality, however, which varies so much with individual 

 vines as that of bearing, and there is no quality that is so quickly and 

 easily influenced by cutting selection. It is this quality, therefore, 

 which should receive most attention in choosing our cuttings. The 

 modification of other characteristics is the work of the plant breeder 

 and is too slow, difficult and uncertain for the practical grape grower. 

 It is, moreover, at least in the case of wine grapes, unnecessary, for we 

 can find almost any quality we want among the two or three thousand 

 known varieties of wine grapes, but unfortunately not always com- 

 bined with high productiveness. The most promising means of obtain- 

 ing the rara avis we desire is to commence with a variety possessing 

 the necessary flavor, color and chemical composition and by proper cut- 

 ting selection to bring up its productiveness to the desired degree. It 

 would be much easier to "grade up" the Cabernet until it bore crops 

 equal to those of the Carignane than to attempt to improve greatly the 

 flavor and color of Carignane by selection. 



Method of Selection, The first question to be settled is, of course, 

 what variety should be chosen. This will depend on whether it is in- 

 tended to raise table, raisin, or wine grapes, and if wine grapes, on the 

 kind of wine desired, sweet or dry, red or white, and also on a multi- 

 plicity of local and market conditions. The question of variety is too 

 lar^e and complicated for treatment here and has already been given 

 much attention in various publications of the Station. Only the ques- 

 tions regarding the means of obtaining cuttings capable of growing 

 into strong,' heavy bearing vines will be considered here. 



