317 
doning it, and in no case have any of the injurious results which were 
feared from it at the outset been realized. For instance, the soil has 
not been appreciably changed in character by the loss of constituent 
elements, or at least not more than can be easily replaced by suitable 
fertilizers; nor has there been any packing or other physical changes 
injurious to vine growth. 
In the earlier method of submersion as practiced during the dormant 
winter period, the length of time during which it was necessary to keep 
vineyards under water ranged from forty to sixty days; a period which 
entailed various inconveniences in the matter of amount of water and 
expense. The aim in more recent years has been to reduce the length 
of the submergence to as few days as possible, and it is how established 
that if the application be made during the active period of the Phyl- 
loxera, the duration of submergence may be greatly lessened or re- 
duced to from eight to twenty days. It is also very important that the 
time for submersion should be so chosen that the growth of the plant 
will not be checked, and both these results are now accomplished by 
subjecting the vines to the treatment shortly after the gathering of the 
fruit. At this period the vines have already ceased active growth, but 
the Phylloxera is still in its full activity and development, and is much 
more readily influenced by submersion than during the dormant winter 
period. In general, the earlier the application the shorter the period 
required, as, for instance, during September, eight to fifteen days will 
suffice, or in the first half of October fifteen to twenty days, while if it 
be delayed until November the old period of forty to sixty days will be 
needed to insure satisfactory results. In connection with the short fall 
submergence it is found advisable, also, to practice summer irrigation. 
This operation, which should be the invariable complement of the short 
autumn submersion, is commonly performed during July, and the 
amount of water run over the vineyards is very abundant, amounting 
practically to a forty-eight-hour submersion. At this season submersion 
or irrigation for the length of time given is most useful to the vines, as 
it is a period when drought is more or less apt to be prevalent and the 
beneficial result to the vines themselves largely compensates for the 
expense of treatment. The surviving Phylloxera are also now in active 
development and most readily destroyed. Successful summer treat- 
ment necessitates the training of the vines well above the soil, the sur- 
face of which should be carefully leveled. 
The vineyards of France where this process is followed are, as a 
general rule, very productive, and the quality of the fruit and wine 
product is fully equal to that obtained under normal conditions. It 
may be that the future will witness the abandonment of this means of 
controlling the Phylloxera, by the gradual introduction into those dis- 
tricts of the use of resistant American stocks, but this is hardly likely 
in view of the substantial benefits derived from the treatment, in addi- 
tion to the very effectual control of the Phylloxera; and if, as stated at 
