REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



409 



vino began to turn yellow, the Phylloxera was noticed upon the roxds, and Mr. Os- 

 born, his gardener, and yourself concluded t hat the insect was the cause of tho un- 

 healthy condition of the vines. 



Assuming such to be the case, you wish to know whether it was possible that the 

 insect got into the grapery with the material used for the border, or whether it could 

 have entered in some other wayf 



On the supposition that the insect had been introduced on the vines you sold, you 

 were held responsible by Mr. Osboru for their failure. This was the condition of tho 

 case w lien, on the 20th of September, you visited the Department and conferred wit h 

 me in reference to the matter. I told you then that, from all the facts, I felt assured 

 that yon had arrived at a wrong conclusion in attributing the diseased condition of 

 the vines to Phylloxera, but that I would postpone making you an official report un- 

 til I had made a personal examination of the case. My conclusions are now quite 

 definite, so that I feel warranted in reporting with assurance, from the examination 

 made of the vine sent early in July, as well as of those received later, both from the, 

 Cherry Hill Nurseries and from Mr. Osborn's grapery, that the vines were healthy and 

 exceptionally free from Phylloxera when they came from the nursery, and that even 

 up to the time of their being uprooted and destroyed the Phylloxera work had at no 

 time been sufficient to do them material harm. A root received October 2, and that 

 had already been thrown away, showed no rotting, and so few traces of Phylloxera 

 that I considered it exceptionally free. It should here be borne in mind that this in- 

 sect occurs very generally over the country east of the Rocky Mountains ; that no 

 vineyard, unless in an exceptional situation, is free from it. Ordinarily, however, on 

 the majority of our indigenous American vines, its presence results in little or no 

 harm. Even in graperies it may almost invariably be found, but rarely in sufficient 

 numbers to seriously injure tlio plants. Moreover, in its very worst manifestations, 

 and upon those foreign vines most susceptible to its attacks, the vine does not suc- 

 cumb until the third year after the introduction of the insect. The disease in its 

 acute form is well marked by a peculiar yellowing of the leaves, diminished growth, 

 and absence of tendrils, while the root-system is generally entirely rotten. The pres- 

 ence of the insect in more or less abundance on the fibrous roots is no evidence of in- 

 jury, but rather an evidence to the contrary, for so long as there are fibrous roots in 

 abundance for it to attack, the injurious stage of the disease, namely, the rotting or 

 decay of the larger roots, cannot be initiated. 



From all these facts, and others that might be mentioned, I do not hesitate to say 

 that Mr. Osborn's vines were not injured by tho Phylloxera, and I feel that the dig- 

 ging of them up and casting them aside was the result of false and unjustified fears 

 and imperfect knowledge of the insect. As to whether the insect was introduced from 

 the nursery, or got into the grapery from surrounding vineyards, or was introduced 

 in the sod, the probability as between the first and second suppositions is that it was 

 introduced with the plants ; for while the evidence shows that the plants were re- 

 markably healthy, yet, as I have already stated, the insect is everywhere found in 

 those parts of the country from which the vines came. A few of the insects may very 

 probably have been on some of the vines, as they are almost sure to bo on such as 

 are two years old. That they were in the new-made soil is extremely improbable, as 

 the insect is confined to the grape-vine, and could only have been thus introduced 

 from soil taken from a vineyard. 



This is as far as I feel justified in rendering a report from the standpoint of the en- 

 tomologist. What the real cause of the trouble was I must leave to others, but upon 

 consultation with Mr. William Saunders, the horticulturist of the Department, I find 

 that it is no uncommon thing for vines planted as these were, in very rich, deep 

 borders, to wilt and show evidence of disease in the manner in which the vines in 

 question did, especially where they are kept too, moist; so that the probability is that 

 they languished from tho character of the soil and of the treatment, This view is 

 supported by a sample of the soil that I brought to Washington for examination, and 

 also by the fact that I saw other potted vines in Mr. Osborn's grapery that had shown 

 similar symptoms, but had not been thrown away, and were still living and promising 

 well. 



Finally, in the event of the Phylloxera becoming numerous enough to cause any 

 injury, it would certainly be unwise to dig the vines up prematurely where the judi- 

 cious use of kerosene emulsion or bisulphide of carbon would readily destroy the in- 

 sects, and could be so easily employed under such circumstances as those surrounding 

 Mr. Osborn's vines. 



I have the honor to remain, yours, respectfully, 



C. V. RILEY. 



Mr. Fred. W. Kelsey, 



208 Broadway, New York City. 



