CLC 



TRANSLATORS' PREFACE. 



In a retrospective survey of the early history of the recon- 

 stitution of French phylloxera-devastated vineyards on 

 American resistant stocks, no feature is more conspicuous 

 than the numerous disastrous failures recorded. These 

 failures arose from very varied causes, among others, almost 

 complete ignorance as to the classes of soil in which the 

 American vines grew naturally, want of practical informa- 

 tion with regard to their grafting affinity with European 

 vines, uncertainty in respect to the varieties and even species 

 planted, their doubtful resistance and occasional negative 

 immunity to strong attacks of phylloxera, and, finally, 

 adherence to the old methods of shallow preparatory culti- 

 vation in creating the new vineyards. 



It is well known that these first failures of some 30 years 

 ago in France, caused very heavy financial losses to viticul- 

 turists, but, their secondary effect amply compensated the 

 losses, for thorough studies were forced to be undertaken on 

 exact lines to ascertain the causes of the failures, and, the 

 true explanations being arrived at, vine-growers, wary of the 

 former object lesson and benefited by increased knowledge, 

 were able to triumph over every obstacle, and eventually 

 reconstitute their vineyards under extremely varied condi- 

 tions, with the fullest measure of permanence, and success. 



The primary object of the present compilation is to place 

 before those Victorian vine-growers, who have been so unfor- 

 tunate as to find their vineyards already destroyed, through 

 the irresistible progress of the phylloxera, detailed descrip- 

 tions of the practical working methods and implements now 



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