816 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



those of the Cbarentea (in the center, southeast, south, southwest) by observations 

 made in the experimental fields and in the vineyards. 



The wild species (Riparia). After having been much used for the reconstruction of 

 vineyards then almost abandoned after numerous cases of chlorosis, the Riparia is 

 once more in favor, and properly so, for it is one of the best known graft-bearers. 



In the first place, it strongly resists phyloxera, a quality deficient in many Ameri- 

 can vines cultivated for the same purpose. It bears quite well grafts of most French 

 vines (except Balzac and Mourv6de, and a few others which it nourishes badly), both 

 in Provence and Languedoc, as well as in the Chareutes. Its stalk does not swell 

 much where the land in which it is planted does not suit it, but this is perhaps of 

 minor importance. 



Grafts have been seen on the Riparia double the size of the subject, and the same 

 were not in appearance less vigorous. Can these dimensions have any bearing on the 

 duration of the root ? It can not yet be asserted, but it certainly is much to be feared. 

 The exaggerated swelling of the graft, or, rather, of the graft bearer, have been at- 

 tributed to the effects of annular incision. 



In fact, it is known that in plants which have undergone this operation the part 

 above the cut swells much, while the lower part remains thin. The consequence is 

 a general feebleness which if not excessive favors the fructification, but which may 

 also hasten the decay of the plant. This is often the case with grafts on the Riparia. 

 French varieties grafted thereon are more fertile than when alone ; they fear less the 

 blight and their fruit ripens more rapidly. But in reality, notwithstanding these 

 analogies, there is nothing in common between the circular incision and the graft, 

 except during the first and second years that follow the grafting. 



Until the solder is complete, the graft can be assimilated to a partial incision or 

 cut of any kind; but as soon as the solder is perfect, and the tissues of the graft are 

 n communication with those of the subject, there is nothing that resembles the in- 

 cision. 



In a branch or stem in which an incision is made, as soon as the ends are reunited 

 and soldered, the circulation of the sap is re-established as before the cut, and the 

 lower part swells like the upper part j the tree or branch ceases to be more fertile. 

 In grafts on the Riparia, well soldered, nothing like this occurs. 



Although there is no apparent obstruction to the circulation of the sap, yet the 

 grafted part continues to grow immeasurably, while the subject rests feeble. The 

 explanation of this phenomenon, I believe, is of the physiological order. There is 

 perfect harmony between all the organs of the same vegetable ; each one contributes 

 to the growth of the others in the best conditions. Grafting seems to me to break 

 this harmony. The matter elaborated by the new stein is no longer that which suits 

 the subject; placed henceforth in less favorable conditions of growth it is less de- 

 veloped ; it suffers and remains feeble ; the master, not absorbed by the subject, ac- 

 cumulates in the grafted part and produces an abnormal swelling. 



The disorders, then, which follow the grafting are not in consequence of the graft 

 itself. They arise, in my opinion, from the internal and external differences, ^r the 

 vital differences which exist between the graft and the subject. 



A vine grafted on itself (whether Riparia or any other species) ought not to pro- 

 duce any anomaly like this. As soon as the solder is complete it should grow as if 

 never grafted. It is easy to give proofs. Besides those found in arboriculture, and 

 which are so well known that it is unnecessary here to cite them, I will observe that 

 our old French vines, grafted with neighboring varieties, have never shown anything 

 like that offered by the Riparia. They grow as before ; their vegetation is the same. 



There is the most perfect analogy between the functions and mode of living of the 

 grafted part and the subject. The latter preserves the same conditions of vegetation 

 that it had before the grafting. The more, therefore, two grafted vines offer analogy 

 in their functions, the less the subject will suffer from the grafted part. It is this 

 analogy which establishes the identity (in the case of a vine grafted upon itself), 



