Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-03-10
THE VINE.
viticuiturists Discuss Grape Vine Graft
ing and Pruning.

4
viticuiturists Discuss Grape Vine Graft
ing and Pruning.
! The sampling of exhibits by the members
of the Viticultural Convention was resumed
at San Francisco on Thursday morning and
was faithfully kept up until half an hour
| past noon. At that time lbs samples of
wines and brandies had been tasted, leav-
| 226 samples yet to be examined
In the afternoon, Leonard Coates, of
Napa, read paper on the BEST and cheap
est methods of obtaining a grated vine
| yard on resistant stocks" Mr.. Coates d.
vided his subject into three branches:
! Why we graft what we graft, and how we
graft.
| Mr.. Coates said that, though grating had
been practiced for thousands of years, there
had been very little progress made in the
art. He referred to Lucullus' famous tree
which, according to Pliny, bore apples,
dates, pears, almonds, plums, figs, grapes
and olives. Mr.. Coates said that this must
have been deception, as without a close
relationship of structure between the fruits,
no union could take place.
Grating, the speaker said IN the case of
the grape was done to produce harder
vine, to lengthen its life and render it bet
ter able to withstand the attacks of insects.
1t is now an accepted fact" said Mr..
! Coates, that there are certain species
OF American grapevines which are
more or less under certain conditions capa-
BILE of resisting effectually the attacks of
disease, of which the most dreaded is the
pest phylloxera."
THE BEST RESISTANT STOCKS.
Mr.. Coates declared that he considered
the best stocks to withstand the phylloxera
were the Vtis Ripdrid. with some of its
| rinfin Nd NJ
Coates said that the following were the
resistant vines grown IN California; Fais
| Riparia, Wits RupeStris, Wits California
Vitis Arizonicd and Wits AStivaIis with sew
eral of their varities. To the VisiS RupeStris
Mr.. Coates said, there were three objections
its aptitude to suckering. difficulty in
roofing the cuttings and the pronounced
antipathy to receiving the graft.
Wits California is not really resistant
vine, though in few instances it has been
found to be hardy.
PitiS AStiUaliS requires a very rich soil
or it will not thrive 1t is very difficult
TO root in the ordinary way. and the plants
in consequence are worth from $40 to 500
| thousand-more than the grower can
| Stford to pay.
| VitiS A,iz0nicd is not adapted TO variety
OF soil, and consequently cannot become
general.
VitiS Riparia is only Objectionable be.
cause of its small wood, and where that OBJ
lection is insuperable, as when it is desired
! to graft large wooded variety like the
| Flame Tokay, Mr.. Coates recommended
the Taylor or Lenoir varieties, which are
vigorous growers on dry hillsides as well as
on bottom land, but they do not thrive
! where the subsoil is clay or hardpan.
DISEASED ROOTS.
Tho rOOtO Of I;f;a
| diseased soon after coming in contact with
cold clay or bedrock, and the plant is weak
ened and becomes an easy prey to phyl-
loxera. The Riparia thrives in Just such
| soil as well as in the richer valley lands.
Mr.. Coates narrated his experience with
| the Rlparia, great deal of which he
brought from Missouri years ago. His ex-
perience induced Mr.. Coates to saw: PLANT
| the Riparia in rich valley lands or in shall
low soil with clay subsoil or hardpan. using
the Lenoir variety for light soils or hill
vineyards of free nature. In very thin,
poor soils or in pure adobe don't try to
raise vineyard at all. There are millions
of acres of good grape land yet unculti-
waited in California; why waste ones sub
stance on soils that will hardly produce
weeds. or On land whose first cost is more
than doubled by the great expense of cult
waiting and draining?"
Mr.. Coates said there was only one
method of grating fit to apply to grape
vines. That is the " English cleft, or whip
| tongue draft, applied either to stocks the
size of a lead pencil or to those that are
| two or three inches in diameter The only
difference is that in the case of the larger
stocks they are cut off with a saw instead
of knife, and are then pared down to
more nearly the size of the cion.
SPLITTING THE STOCK
Mr.. Coates talked strongly against the
practice of splitting the stock and inserting
wedge graft. He estimated that
gang of ten men could graft on 700 vines
day, OF which so per cent would live
This made the cost about three cents per
vine. He also gave minute description
of the process of grating that with him
had produced the best results.
Cuttings should never be exposed for
more than day." said Mr. Coates, land
not that long in q north wind. When
stripped they should be packed to keep
moist"
Mr.. Coates disposed of an objection to |
grating several inches below the stlrfaceoy
stating that if grated near the surface, a |
north wind following the grating would
kill three-Quarers Of them. ~a
Grating should commence as early in
March as the weather will permit. The
best success is usually obtained late in
March or early in April. =
A general technical discussion followed
this paper. Many disagreed with Mr..
Coates ideas on grating, among them Prof.
lessor Hllgard, of Berkeley
DISEASES AND REMEDIES
J. IL. Wheeler came next with an ex-
hanstve paper on Some Pests and Dis
eases of the Vine, with Remedies"
The phylloxera of course, took up large |
part of the address. He said i; was the |
darkest cloud on the vine-growers' horizon.
He gave no remedy for it.
The army-worm was the first pest that
the speaker took up. He said that for
long time the only successful way of con.
tending with it was to put enough men in
the vineyard to kill the worms on the vines |
Mr.. Wheeler, however, had been expert |
menting and had discovered that spraying
the vines with q solution of Paris green
one pound to 160 gallons of water-would
destroy the worms.
From personal experience, the speaker
knew that the wash produced no deleteri-
Gus effect on the vines and did not render
the fruit dangerous.
The cut-worm could be treated the same
way as the army-worm.
The grasshopper required different
treatment. A mixture of forty pounds
bran to fifteen pounds middlings, Two gal
Ions of cheap syrup and twenty pounds of
arsenic diluted in water should be scat
tered over the vineyard. The hoppers grad
ually eat the mixture and die The cost
does not exceed so cents an acre.
The steel-blue flea beetle is got rid of BY
placing dish-shaped screen at the roots of
the vines and shaking the beetles down.
The false chinch bug can be destroyed by
similar means. The Paris-green solution
can be employed TO advantage with these
bugs.
The vine hopper or thrip sucks the sap
from the vines, and consequently cannot
be reached with the spray. No other than
mechanical means have been discovered to
get rid of this industrious pest.
CONDENSED MUST AND PRUNING.
Professor Hilgard made few remarks
about the use of condensed must in wine
making.
Clarence j. Wetmore read technical