13 



is not entirely theoretical. It was, at first, 

 certain accidental growths of seedlings in in- 

 fected places that attracted attention to their 

 superior constitutions. Since then, notwith- 

 standing the opposition of quacks in phyl- 

 loxera medicines, the real scientists have 

 been making progress by beginning with 

 natural reproduction. 



There have been, I now learu, several 

 experimental vineyards of seedlings com- 

 menced. 



To begin with, I will explain some of the 

 fundamental principles. A cane, cut from a 

 vine, is well known to be hollow within. 

 When planted, to reproduce its kind, or, 

 rather, to continue its kind, it throws down 

 no central tap root. This, alone, is a source 

 of weakness, without considering the exhaus- 

 tion of vitality by such methods. I have 

 with me two samples of seedlings one a 

 year old; another two years old. Each has 

 a strong tap root, heavier, longer and thicker 

 than the wood made above ground. Such a 

 root, even if the phylloxera is not to be con- 

 sidered as a consequence of exhausted vines, 

 cannot easily be attacked by the insect. 

 Hence, seedlings may be the best stock to 

 replenish a vineyard, without recourse to 

 cuttings, just as fine fruit trees are grafted 

 on seedlings. 



Experience is doubtful on the subject of 

 reproduction of varieties by seeds. It is, 

 no doubt, true that there are varieties which 

 can seldom be reproduced. The Delaware 

 grape is an instance of this. But this may 

 be true in a greater or less degree with dif- 

 ferent varieties, in proportion as such varie- 

 ties are more or less true to their parent plants 



Seedlings, also, do not grow with equal 

 vigor; some are more delicate than others. 

 This is true of all reproduction. The child 

 is generally, but not always, destined to out- 

 live the parent, and the hybrids of races are 

 generally weak. A friend writes me that 

 " that seedling theory won't hold," because 

 the Catawba and Isabella yield to the disease, 

 and yet are new varieties, and, consequently, 

 young. In answer to this, first, those varie- 

 ties are said to be hybrids of 

 European witfc American vines, and, 

 perhaps, weak on that account; 

 second, it is not to be expected that all im- 

 proved varieties shall be vigorous, healthy 

 plants; third, there are instances in the 

 vicinity of Bordeaux where these varieties 

 succeeded in the midst of infected districts, 

 but no wine merchant has them for sale; 

 fourth, perhaps, after all, the superiority of 

 a seedling consists in the original plant, and 

 not in the after-reproductions by cuttings, 

 such as all the recent plantations of Catawbas 

 and Isabellas are. 





But exceptions do not make, they only 

 prove rules. 



The Viticultural Union of the Eutre-deux- 

 mers in this Department is experimenting 

 with all the proposed remedies. 

 The annual report gives the results of 

 insecticides, potash, and all kinds of manure, 

 cuttings and also seedlings. There are, side 

 by side, cuttings of the wild vines of France, 

 as well as of the vines of America, and seed- 

 lings of all varieties. The results of seed- 

 lings and wild vines, and the failures 

 generally of methods to protect old vines, 

 have led the Union to decide positively in 

 favor of seedlings, and to declare that the 

 phylloxera, as an epidemic, is the result of 

 several causes combined, chief among which 

 are exhaustion of soil, overproduction, and 

 exhaustion of the vine. 



First, there Is the experiment analagous to 

 that of the American vine. Cuttings were 

 made from wild vines growing in this district. 

 Such vines were considered unfruitful and 

 useless. The young plants succeed, resist 

 the phylloxera equally with the American 

 vines, and this year, -the third of their growth, 

 have yielded abundantly not wild grapes, but 

 fine bunches, similar to the product of the 

 vines in the Medoc. 



Two conclusions are drawn from this fact: 

 First, that the wild vines, being seedlings, 

 partake of the same vital vigor as the Ameri- 

 can vines, which are seedlings, or cuttings 

 made in recent years from seedlings. The 

 College at Montpellier has not extended its 

 operations seriously outside the range of the 

 stocks of vine speculators. There is no 

 sample of the wild vine of California (vitis 

 Calif ornica) in the collection there, notwith- 

 standing it is the vine of a country whose 

 climate agrees with the constitution of the 

 European varieties. The Union of the Entre- 

 deux-mers is desirous of procuring cuttings 

 from the California vine, seeds, etc., which I 

 have promised to forward. 



The second conclusion is that good fruit 

 may be obtained from wild vines, when cul- 

 tivated, sometimes, at least. The American 

 vine-growers have demonstrated the possi- 

 bility of improving; the product of wild vines. 

 The wild vines of this region are, perhaps, 

 only accidental seedlings of the cultivated 

 vines. If this be true, the result demon- 

 strates the possibility of reproduction by 

 seed. For this reason, I have arranged to 

 procure seeds of the principal varieties grown 

 here. After all, it may be that these Medoc 

 vines are native grapes. Their history goes 

 back to the days of the Romans, and they 

 bear local names in the patois of the country. 

 They have been reproduced by cuttings so 

 long that longevity is certain, and it is a rule 

 to select seeds of vines from plants, the vari- 



