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Fortunately for us phylloxera is not a new pest, but one which 

 has been studied during the past 30 years in the leading wine- 

 producing countries of Europe by the most eminent, scientific, and 

 practical men of the day, with the result that the best methods of 

 combating this formidable insect have long since passed out of 

 the, domain of experiment and entered that of practical, every* 

 day viticulture. 



Foremost among these methods stands the cultivation of phyl- 

 loxera-resistant American vines, in place of the. old varieties of 

 Europe, at least as far as the root-system of the vine is concerned. 

 The immense superiority of this method over all others is now so 

 well known as to render it unnecessary for me to insist upon it. 

 If proof be required, the example of France may be referred to. 

 In 1890 France possessed over a million acres reconstituted in 

 this manner and the number is continually increasing, whereas 

 there is a decrease in the acreage treated by other means. 



That the true solution of the phylloxera question lies in th^ 

 employment of resistant vines can now be asserted with certainty. 



Just as the northern spy and other blight-proof apple stocks 

 have enabled orchardists to surmount the woolly aphis difGiculty, 

 so also does our complete safety from phylloxera lie in resistant 

 American vines. 



American vines are utilized in two ways, as direct prodncersi 

 and as stocks upon which ,to graft the best European varieties. 

 In the first case the whole vine is American, in the second the 

 i;oot-system of the American is alone made use of. Direct pro-^ 

 ducers were at first held ii) great favour and extensively planted, 

 chiefly on account of their enabling the operation of grafting to 

 be dispensed with. The experience of French vine-growers has, 

 however, led to a complete change of opinion on the subject, with 

 the result that the great majority of new plantations are now 

 made with grafted vines. 



Direct producers have many defects. They ^re less prolific, 

 than the old vines of Europe. The wine they yield is not equal 

 to that of the best European sorts, and in the great majority of 

 cases their most important quality — that of resistance to phyl- 

 loxera — is not all that could be desired. The last defect is duQ 

 to the fact that nearly all direct producers are hybrids, between 

 some resistant American and a vinif era variety ; from the latter 

 they inherit in a greater or lesser degree the want of resistance ta, 

 the attacks of the insect characteristic of all European vines.. 



This hybridization by the non-resistant vinifera is necessary in 

 order to permit of a drinkable wine being produced, since the fruit 

 of most pure American vines has a characteristic disagreeably 

 i^avour which renders it unfit for wine-making purposes., It also 

 largely increases the yield, which, in pure American vines, is 

 usually insignificant^ Incomplete resistance is the greatest faul*. 



