8 



strong Heine-Claude, which ripens, at the 

 latest, in the first half of August, and which 

 never fails to produce. Its juice is very con- 

 sistent and sweet. ' 



"This fact is very remarkable. Brussels is 

 situated in a part of Belgium where they can 

 not cultivate the vine in the open field. * 

 The seedling has produced a variety, of which 

 the maturity is precocious and complete. 

 What might not one expect, after that, from 

 the same means in a happier climate? 



"The second fact is reported by Kozier, 

 Art. espece, of his Cours d' Agriculture: 



" 'A person near Lyons has planted seeds 

 of grapes (I do not know of what kind) ; he 

 has made of them a vineyard, and the wine 

 which it produces is not subject to the malady 

 which afflicted the preceding vines.' 



"Rozier says nothing more about it. How 

 was it that a fact so extraordinary, so fertile 

 in consequences, did not attract all the atten- 

 tion of the man who sought with the greatest 

 care all that could relate to the culture of the 

 vine? * * * 



"The author of the article vigne, in the 

 edition of the Dictionary of Rozier, printed 

 at Montardier in 1802, says: 



"One may also make use of the seeds; but 

 this latter method appears too slow. Bu- 

 hamel asserts that a vine raised from the 

 seed had not yet produced at his place any 

 fruit after twelve years of culture.' 



"However a fact mentioned in the same 

 article, proves that we cannot obtain any 

 conclusion from the sole experience of 

 Duhamel ; the non-fructification of the plant, 

 coming from the seed with him, might be ac- 

 counted for by the nature of the variety 

 which furnished the seed, by local circum- 

 stances, and especially by the mode of culture 

 to which the plant had been subjected. Here 

 is the passage: 



" 'A seed of this grape (the verjus) planted 

 several years ago in the garden of the Chev- 

 allier du Jansens, at Chaillot, near Paris, has 

 produced a variety the fruit of which comes 

 to a perfect maturity. Its shoots push out 

 with an extreme vigor, and cover already a 

 great part of the walls. The fruit of this 

 variety is excellent; it bears, no one knows 

 why, the name of the vigne aspirante.' 



"A variety which, in the climate of Paris, 

 yields grapes which never ripen, or which ac- 

 quire in the warmest years only a sweetish 

 flavor, has produced in the same climate, by 

 the seed, a variety the fruit of which attains 

 complete maturity and is excellent. And in 

 a long article on the vine, where such a fact 

 is cited, no induction is drawn ! This fact, 

 however, bears in itself the germ of an en- 

 tire revolution, which will break out sooner 

 or later in our vineyards." 



Further on I find a passage which com- 



pletely supersede the Montpellier gentleman 

 whom I referred to in a letter to the Alia, 

 as claiming the glory of inventing the idea 

 of grafting upon American vines. It is as 

 follows : 



"I do not exclude from these essays the 

 species which are still in a wild state. There 

 are several, especially in America, which 

 yield fruit sufficiently good, which, by culti- 

 vation, would yield better. These kinds, 

 multiplied by seeds, would produce, perhaps, 

 very interesting varieties, were it not only on 

 account of the property of resisting intem- 

 perate seasons, which the kinds to which 

 they would owe their origin support very 

 well under the most variable climate of our 

 hemisphere. These species would commu- 

 nicate, perhaps, by means of the graft, their 

 robust temperament to our vines. The 

 American vines are all dioiques; it is a ques- 

 tion whether they would support the graft of 

 our vines. It is an experiment very easy to 

 make, and merits being made." 



Here let me remark that the viticulturists 

 of the Eastern, Western and Southern States, 

 who, failing in cultivating the European 

 varieties after repeated efforts, have made 

 such wonderful progress with the wild vines, 

 ought to excite by their examples some spirit 

 of emulation among the people of California, 

 who have everything favorable to vine culture, 

 and yet are quite content to borrow varieties 

 from Europe, which never produce the same 

 wines in different places. In California we 

 have the advantage of the growth of the 

 superior European vines; we should now try 

 to acclimate them through seedlings, and 

 possibly to regenerate and improve them. 



The principal thing to remember in grow- 

 ing seedlings is that the nature of the plant 

 must be consulted with reference to pruning. 

 If it needs to have support, its growth will 

 indicate it. Some vines, in the wild state, 

 climb over tall trees ; others grow low to the 

 ground. 



In. 1867, before the phylloxera had at- 

 tracted public attention, in a work entitled 

 La Vigne, by Romualdo Dejernon, published 

 at Pau, near the Pyrenees (Auguste Lafon, 

 No. 3 Rue Henri IV.), there is an interesting 

 chapter on seedlings. In one paragraph he 

 suggests the increased vigor of the naturally 

 reproduced plant : 



' ' The plant, issue of the seed, is always 

 the best, has the most life, that which should 

 preserve for the longest time superior quali- 

 ties. The multiplication by seeds yields 

 subjects more robust, varieties less rebellious 

 to new climates to which one wishes to 

 habituate them." Again he says, as if in 

 prediction of the present question of phyllox- 

 era, " the seedlings are also excellent to re- 

 generate a race of vines exhausted by a long 



