The morning call., 1893-10-16
EXPERIENCE OF THE FRENCH.
The Famous Viticulturist Speaks
of What He Has Seen While
i'm California.

| trlct, where he Will spend three or lour
days ins pecting the vineyards and wineries
in the vicinity of Los Angeles. whence he
will go to Texas.
Since he was last interviewed for IHE
| CALL, MIR. Cos has visited Napa and
Sonoma valleys, and thus made COM
plete tour OF the vineyards in the neigh
borhood of San Francisco. To be sure be
did not visit every vineyard, but he saw at
least one representative of every class.
and so extensive Is his knowledge Of vines
that very short time suffices for him to
make complete estimate of anything In
that line.
Some Of the best wine-celars in the
State, and indeed in the world, are in
Napa Valley, and MIR. Cos was enthusias-
tic in his admiration Of the manner OF
handling our wines. As he has said be-
fore. the systematiZng of everything is q
constant source OF surprise to him.
Leaving Berkeley on Friday morning ac-
companied by Mr.. Hayne the Commits
sioner went to Napa, spending the day in
the vineyards aud cellars in the valley
tasting wines and gathering samples and
pictures everywhere he went. Mr.. Cos in
tends to submit all the samples OF wines
which he took away with him to an Impair
tiai jury OF French experts, whose verdict
! will be an unquestloned one, and which, II
favorable. will be magnificent indorse-
ment of the California product.
Crossing over from Napa they came
| down through Sonoma on Saturday, where
Mr.. Cos still spoke very favoraDly of
what he saw. De Turks wine-celler at
| Santa Rosa was thoroughly Investigated,
| and the Commissioner made himself per-
| fectly familiar with the process In use
| there as we'll as in every winery he visited.
A visit was also paid to Bowen's vineyard
and several others of more or less note.
| Mr.. Cos arrived in this city again late
Saturday night and left il for the last time
yesterday morning. He spent the day in
Livermore at the Cresta Blanca vineyard
of c. A. Wetmore and took the train for
the south last night.
In summing up the results of his trip
through this part of the State. and in
giving his impre ssiOns of the wine industry
as he found ii. Mr.. Cos gives the growers
OF the State some points which are not to
be lightly considered, when it is remem-
bered that he is one of the leading viii
cultursts of the day and wine expert
whose Judgment is universally received.
~ our soil and your climate are well
adapted to the growing of the finest grapes
in the world" said he. THE progress you
have made in the comparatively few years
tina. have psed since you made begin
ming in the industry are simply wonderful,
and, as have said before to you, the scale
on which you do things and the method
that prevails sll through your work is a
complete surprise TO ME.
But there are many things connected
with the science Of wine- making which
yon have yet to learn. France. with her
hundreds of years of experience, has but
little to fear from you for some years so
far as the manufacture of grand vim is
concerned.
But there is one thing that surprises
me very much, and that is that your vine-
yardists have not profted By our expert
ence in the matter of grating your vines
on resistent stocks. All Europe learned
that lesson, when the phylloxera. which
was also imported from America. attacked
their vineyards. and the vines Of France,
Italy, Austria and Spain died from the
effects of its attacks, and your vines,
which are all imported stock, are beginning
to go the same way.
1.-THE phylioxera is microscopic insect
which attacks the roots of the vine, and
wherever it bores into the wood, Sort of
csncerous growth Is started. which event
ualy kills the vine. 1t was brought fr0m
here originally, when our people were
experimenting with various stocks. and it
went through the vineyards of the conti-
nent like scourge. It made verltabe
wine famine for a few years, and every
vineyard had to be started anew.
ITO find remedy was a prob
lem which was long in solving
until we found that there were some
Of your varieties OF wild grape that
were not subject to attacks of phylloxera.
Then came the difficulty in finding stock
that vas suitable to the soil, and one
which was good in itself. Of probably G
varieties of the wild grape, possibly only
iew-a very few-are valuable for the pur
pose of grating. and we are still workiu
ON this. and that is part OF my mission
tn the T Tnitp0 States.
"After it was found that the American
stock was not subject to the attacks of the
pest, came all the Eice distinctions that
had to be found 0ut-the adoption of the
stock 20 the soil, to the variety that was
to be grated upon it and thousand things
that had TO be learned by the failures that
preceded them.
"And we are still searching. / am now
on my way to Texas. and / am in hurry
to get there before the leaves drop from
the vines. so that l can study them care
fully, and then shall take samples home
with me with which to experiment and
see if any better results can be obtained
than we have already attained.
And you must pass through the same
experience. You have imported the Euro
pean stock and you must set out new vne-
yards, American roots, and graft your
varieties on these, and the sooner you do
it the sooner you will be getting on a basis
to compete with Us in France.
$50 far as the results Of my trips are con-
cerned, Tor the immediate future they will
be rather scientific than commercial. !
came particularly to study resistent stocks,
that is roots that are free from the attacks
of phyloxera, but / am king back SAM
pies of all your wines to be subjected to
scientific tests. and, when these are made.
il may result in a reduction of duties on
American wines If they are found d to be
suitable for naturalization, so they can be
sold as French wines.
Il must ba in Paris with my report by
November 26. and the commercial features
of the case will hen lie in the hands of the
Minister OF Agriculture, from whom any
favorable negotiations must come.
Say for me that my treatment by your
people has been most hOspitable, and they
have aided me in every possible way"
Rainey Goes East.
Samuel Raney, the political partner of