so 



an order for Baron von Mueller to get him £10 worth of seed, and 

 his order was still in the Department, his object being to let any, 

 of his neighbours who asked him have them gratis. He did not 

 approve of the bonus by the Government having forced the industry 

 unnaturally ; it rested with themselves to put it on a proper foot- 

 ing by the estabhshment of a viticulture school or college. It 

 was right for them to put it on the best footing, giving intelligent 

 labour and raising the seeds so that he could send to-morrow for 

 10,000 cuttings grafted on American stock, but they did not ask 

 that from the State for nothing. 



Signor BeagAto thought that some of the statements mad& 

 at the Conference about the phylloxera were misleading. Mr. 

 Castella's paper was very valuable, and, in his (Mr. Bragato's) 

 opinion, could not have been better. It was no use sending to' 

 Europe for seeds — they had to send for cuttings, but the seeds 

 would deteriorate in character. They might get the' Eiparia or 

 other varieties by seeds, but he was positive, because he had tried 

 it, they would find that out of 2,000 seeds they would have one 

 variety for each seed; that was proved at the present time in 

 America. In the State Forest, Texas, there was only one variety 

 of vine seed. If they sent for a selection there by seeds it should 

 be very unsatisfactory. He was not himself experienced in 

 American vines, and he thought there was nobody in Australia 

 who had had experience in them. TJiey might get a selection of 

 seeds from America, but who could guarantee that they would re- 

 sist phylloxera — no one would guarantee that in France after 30 

 years' experience. He would impress on them that if they intended 

 to reconstruct their vineyards with resistant stocks they should 

 import the cuttings. There was no danger in that because they 

 had the means to disinfect them with well known chemicals, and 

 it was quite safe to import them, provided they were disinfected^ 

 He did not think it just to forbid the Bendigo district to sell 

 cuttings or trees. It was possible to import the phylloxera on 

 potatoes or on flowers; in Europe it generally came with the 

 potato, so you would also have to forbid them selling potatoes and 

 other vegetables, and that would be very disastrous to many gar- 

 deners In that district. Everything could be disinfected at a 

 small place at the station. He did not think it would be wise to- 

 compel people not to put fruit in the same cases twice. Hot air 

 (240°) through the inside of a box, with a disinfectant, would kill 

 all the eggs of the phylloxera. He thought the G-overnment 

 should not have one nursery, but four or five in the different 

 soils. As Mr. Castella had said, one vine would do in one kind 

 of soil and one in another. The Eiparia would do in one soil, 

 but if you put it in a lime soil it would not do. Some districts 

 had calcareous soil, and they could supply a vine suited to that ,- 

 others had loamy soil, and there were suitable vines for that, 



