578 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 20. 



desired on light or superficial soils. It seems 

 to us that this amounts to little more than 

 saj'ing that a vigorous vine cannot be grown 

 on a poor soil ; the fact being that the Amer- 

 ican vines for this particular purpose have 

 made their way against much opposition, and 

 remain to-day the best solution, all things con- 

 sidered, of the Phj'lloxera question. 



The commission finallj^ concluded that the 

 prize of 300,000 francs be still reserved, but 

 maintained. It seems to us that some dispo- 

 sition should be made of this prize, as the 

 commission must not expect to get any more 

 satisfactorjr means of dealing with the pest 

 than those alreadj'' proposed, that are based 

 on experience and sound scientific principles. 

 By this we mean that the treatment of any 

 such underground pest that has so varied a 

 life-history must necessarily involve a given 

 amount of time, monej-, and labor, regardless 

 of the particular substance or means employed ; 

 and to look for a ' remedy ' that shall involve 

 neither is to look for the impossible, — the 

 miraculous. Those who were the first to sug- 

 gest and prove the value of resistant American 

 vines, those who established the value of sub- 

 mersion and bisulphide of carbon, and those 

 who have helped toward a sound knowledge 

 of the insect's life-histor}', — all deserve rec- 

 ognition. 



The methods recommended bj' the commis- 

 sion for the year 1883, aside from the use of 

 the American vines, are the old ones of sub- 

 mersion, bisulphide of carbon, and sulphocar- 

 bouate of potassium. C. V. Riley. 



CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE. 



Unicerslty of California. College of agriculture. 

 Report of the professor in charge to the president, 

 being a part of the report of the regents of the uni- 

 oersitij. 1882. Sacramento, Slate, 1883. 179 p. 

 8°. 



This report includes the general report of 

 the professor in charge, E. W. Hilgard, to the 

 president, and four appendices, or special re- 

 ports : viz., report and discussion of work iu 

 the agricultural laborator}-, bj' E. W. Hilgard ; 

 report on instruction given, and culture experi- 

 ments, by Charles H. Dwindle ; report of W. 

 G. Klee, gardener in charge of the experimen- 

 tal gromids, on fruit and miscellaneous cultures ; 

 report of work done in the viticultural labora- 

 toiy, with record and discussion of results, by 

 F. W. Morse. 



In his general report. Professor Hilgard re- 

 iterates the opinion which he has advanced in 

 another publication {Atlantic monthly., April 



and Ma3', 1882), that, in view of the present 

 wide-spread indifference to agricultural educa- 

 tion, " the work of an experiment-station 

 ... is the kej- to the situation, so far as the 

 utility and public appreciation of the College of 

 agriculture is concerned." In accordance with 

 this view, work appropriate to an experiment- 

 station has been carried on, in addition to the 

 work of instruction, to as great an extent as 

 the time and means at command permitted ; 

 and the four appendices to the general report 

 contain the results of the investigations which 

 have been made. 



The work of the agricultural laboratory has 

 consisted chiefly of an examination of the more 

 important and widely distributed soils of the 

 state. These are classified geographically ; and 

 chemical and mechanical analj'ses of several 

 representative samples of each class have been 

 made, from the results of which veiy important 

 conclusions are drawn as to the present and 

 prospective value and the proper treatment of 

 these soils. Professor Hilgard is far from fall- 

 ing into the old erroneous belief that chemical 

 analysis can be depended upon to show the 

 immediate deficiencies of a soil ; but he holds 

 that it may furnish important information as ta 

 the amount and kind of reserve matters which 

 it contains, and afford a guide to a rational 

 method of cultivation ; and in his hands it 

 certainly seems to justify the claims made for 

 it. 



One of the most interesting portions of the 

 horticultural report in appendix III. is that 

 devoted to the vineyard, where are given the 

 results of experiments on grafting the European 

 grape (Vitis viuifera) upon a native Californian 

 species (Vitis californica) . The conclusion is 

 reached, that " it must be considered definitel_y 

 proved that the Vitis californica is well adapted 

 as a grafting stock for a large number of the 

 varieties of Vitis vinifera." The importance 

 of this fact, of coui'se, lies in the greater power 

 of resistance to Ph3'lloxera possessed hy the 

 American species. Experiments upon the lat- 

 ter point are now in progress with grafted 

 specimens. 



The account of the viticultural work includes 

 some observations on the occurrence and de- 

 velopment of Phylloxera, but is chiefl}' occu- 

 pied with the results of the experiments on 

 wine-making, which, though still incomplete, 

 and though necessarily executed on a small 

 scale, furnish much valuable information as to 

 the character of the wine to be obtained from 

 different varieties of grapes, and from grapes 

 grown in diflferent regions of the state. They 

 can hardly fail, if continued, to exert a most 



