WINE-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 103 



tion, grafting on any other stock could be recommended only 

 as a matter of precaution against the phylloxera. But in the 

 case of varieties of weak growth, it may readily happen that 

 a genuine gain of time is secured by grafting on a vigorous 

 grower like the Calif orhica or the kinds mentioned above by 

 Professor Husmann. 



Proportion of Successes to Failures of Grafts, Moreover, 

 it is altogether exceptional to find so large a percentage of 

 success in grafting as reported by Mr. Packard, above. ' A 

 loss of ten per cent, of the grafts made must ordinarily, I 

 think, be considered a very favorable result; it will more fre- 

 quently amount to between twelve and twenty per cent, 

 varying not only according to the skill of the grafters, but 

 very largely depending upon the condition of the grafts used, 

 and upon the weather following the operation; also, to a not 

 inconsiderable degree, upon the nature of the soil. The in- 

 fluence of the latter becomes apparent from the fact that vine 

 grafting must be done, either several inches below the surface 

 of the ground, or, if done at or near the surface, the soil 

 must afterwards be piled up around the graft for protection 

 against drying out. In the case of an adobe soil, in which 

 the water may remain near the surface for several days after a 

 rain, the intrusion of muddy water into the cleft or cut, and 

 a consequent weakness of the junction and even risk of fail- 

 ure to unite, may take place. Hence, as such soils when in 

 good tilth retain moisture very strongly, I incline to think 

 that in them the grafting is best done within one or two 

 inches of the surface, the piling up of the earth around the 

 graft being relied on to prevent drying. With the same view, 

 my personal experience inclines me to favor late * rather 

 than very early grafting, because then the free flow of sap 

 from the stock keeps the graft in good heart. 



*"Late" as regards the stage of development of the leaves, hut not 

 necessarily late in the season. 



