The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-07

lem." This is live subject all over the
State, and was listened to with the greatest
attention.
Mr.. Hayne prefaced his remarks by a
brief history of the phylloxera, showing
that it was native of the eastern part of
the United States, and had been carried to
Europe shortly before the Franco-Prussian
war; how it had cost France alone more
money than the war itself; how it had
spread to all the wine-growing countries
of the world, devastating the most fertile
regions and spreading ruin everywhere;
and how, finally, it had been introduced
into California, and had already destroyed
thousands of acres of the best vineyards of
the State. The apathy of the wine-growers
was dwelt upon, showing how they could
have given their vineyards twenty years
lease of life had they had the courage to
face the truth and deal with the pest with
the energy that the Swiss nation did.
After four years of personal observation
and study in Europe the gentleman an
nounced it as his opinion that every vine
of the Wits vinifera on its own roots was
doomed to ultimate destruction from this
pest.
"This," he said, "is no idea of my own,
but is the lesson that has been learned
from thirty years struggle with this in
sect in the Old World, where it has devas-
tated millions of acres. It has been found
possible to postpone the destruction of
vineyards, but no one expects to be able to
keep it down for all time. The day will
come-and is not far off-when every vine
in the world will be grown on resistant
American roots.
California was cut off from the eastern
part of this continent by mountains and
deserts that made it as an island, and the
phylloxera did not reach US till it had
crossed the ses and devastated millions of
acres abroad. When it reached us we did
not regard it as we should have done.
Finding that the winged form was rarer
here than elsewhere, we lived in fool 8
paradise, in spite of the timely warnings
of Professor Hilgard of the university.
Politicians instead of scientific men got
control of things and attempted to do
scientific work without scientific training.
The result is that to-day the phylloxera
has ravaged thousands of acres in Califor-
MIA and has gained foothold in almost
all grape growing regions of the State. So
firmly is it rooted that all that can be done
is to postpone the inevitable by heroic
treatment"
After enumerating certain regions in
which he had found it (though people said
that it had not yet made its appearance)
Professor Hayne gave the very compli-
Gated life history III few words, showing
how it first made its appearance on the
leaves in the form of harmless gall in
sect; then, passing to the roots, caused the
ruin of the entire root system by rotting
the wood tissue; then coming to the sur
face and assuming an entirely distinct
form (the winged) it was blown by the
winds to neighboring vineyards, where it
laid an egg that produced an insect differ
ing from the others in that it was the only
sexuated form, the insects never nourish-
ing themselves but perishlng as soon as
they had populated and laid the winter
egg, from which the original gall form
came. 1t is remarkable fact that though
it ass umed all these forms, and that each
inse ct laid from 400 to 500 eggs in the leaf,
diminishing till the final generation laid
but fifty, and then going down to the roots
each of this fifty laid from 400 to 500 and
each of these from 800 TO 400 and each of
these from 200 to 800, and so on down to a
few that came to the surface to take wings.
yet there was but one sexuated form, the