THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA IN CALIFORNIA. 6 



Later, in the early part of the eighteenth century, a long line of 

 missions was established throughout the peninsula of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, the Mission of Loreto being the first, in 1697. These missions 

 all grew grapes. The vines were furnished to them originally by 

 the colonies of Mexico. As missions were founded, products and 

 plants were furnished to the new one by the older established ones, 

 and grapes are almost always mentioned as being cultivated by the 

 Padres. 



The Mission of San Diego was the first to be founded in upper 

 California, and the vines planted there were brought from the mis- 

 sions of Lower California. As no other variety but the Mission 

 grape is known to have been cultivated by the different missions 

 Avhich were founded in after years, it is to be presumed that it was 

 introduced into this State with the founding of the Mission of San 

 Diego, 1769. 



The Mission is a long-lived, vigorous, and thrifty vine, as is 

 attested by two remarkable specimens. The one planted in 1775, and 

 still living, is on the property of the San Gabriel Mission in Los 

 Angeles County, is trained on an arbor, covers 9,000 square feet, and 

 its trunk just below the surface of the soil has a circumference of 

 9 feet. The other, planted in 1842 near Carpenteria, died in 1915, 

 presumably of the "Anaheim disease." It measured at its base 8-J 

 feet in circumference; at a height of 64 feet it divided into three 

 branches, one of which measured 3| feet in circumference. As an 

 arbor it covered one-fourth acre, and in 1895 yielded its maximum 

 crop of 10 tons, its average crop being estimated at 5 tons. 6 



The Mission grape in early days was planted by the Padres around 

 the missions and was used both as a table grape and especially for 

 making wine. Gen. Vallejo (7) is authority for the statement that 

 the Mission grapes grown at the Sonoma Mission, were of a better 

 quality than those grown at the other missions in California, and 

 that a recognized superior quality of wine was made from them. 



It was probably because of this reputation that the first commercial 

 vineyards of wine grapes were established in the vicinity of the town 

 of Sonoma. In this district the grape phylloxera was first discov- 

 ered, and the dying of the vines, which for some time had puzzled the 

 viticulturists, was finally determined to be the result of this insect's 

 attack. An importation of vines from Europe of unparallelled im- 

 portance up to that time for California, and one which may ade- 

 quately be termed a " pioneer importation," occurred at about this 

 time and very shortly prior to the discovery in France of the 

 phylloxera, thereby furnishing grounds for the subsequent report, 

 more or less widely spread throughout the State and which persists 



6 Details of its history can be obtained from the secretary of the Carpenteria Chamber 

 of Commerce. 



