The San Francisco call., 1896-07-23
ONWARD MARCH Of
THE PHYLLOXERA
Viticulturist Hayne Talks
of the Dreaded Vine
Disease.
MANY ACRES AFFECTED.
In Many Cases the Wrong
Species Have Been
Planted.
SPECIES AND VARIETY.
He Says There Are but Few Good
Kinds of Resistant Vines in
California.

|
Hayne of the College of Agriculture at the
State University has just returned from
an inspection of the vineyards in the
Upper Napa Valley, including Oakville,
| st. Helena, Howell Mountain, Pope VAL
ley, Calistoga, etc. The object of his trip,
he says. was twofold. First, ne wished
to determine if the so-called "Riparia dis.
ease" was the Anahe-m disease, and sec-
ond, to note the progress of the selected
resistant vines which the university i'm
ported for distribution last spring, sam
pies of which were sent to few typical
localities for trial before the general dis
tribution takes place in the spring of 1897.
Regarding the general condition of the
vineyards Mr.. Hayne said that it was bet
ter than he had expected, after having
heard of the effects of the frost The crop
will be, in most vineyards, less than was
expected before the frost came, but more
than was expected after the frost. There
has been some dropping of grapes in GER
| tain vineyards, but not enough to be taken
into general consideration. The second
crop will pc fine one in localities that are
| early enough to ripen it.
One the whole the damage to the first
crop will not be as serious as was frst
anticipated.
The phylloxera has made steady prog
ress and many acres that were expected
to yield good crop will cease to bear
this year. Many acres of replanted vines
that were counted on for good crops this
| year will prove disappointments. This,
MIR. Hayne says, is due in great measure
to the planting either of the wrong species
on given soil or to the planting OF poor
varieties of these species. 1t is the same
old story. Vine-growers started in wrong.
They made the same mistakes that were
made elsewhere twenty years ago. They
confounded species with variety, forgetting
that each species embraces hundreds of
varieties, most of which are worthless.
| Thus good varieties of the species Riparia
resist (when planted on proper soils) per-
fectly, but poor varieties of Riparia will
! surely perish sooner or later either from
phylloxera or some other cause.
There are very few good varieties of re-
sistant vines in California. Most OF the
propagation has been made from "iob
blots'' taken haphazard FROM the forests of
Nebraska, etc. Some of these varieties
proved good-most inferior or worthless
In most cases where failures or poor re-
suits have been obtained, it is due to these
cheap non-selected varieties, which, after
years of care and cultivation, fail at about
the time they are counted on for paying
crops. Those who were fortunate enough
to replant on well-selected varieties will
have fine crops The unfortunate ones
are very blue and many are repeating the
old question that has been answered over
and over again, 'Do resistants really re-
sist2" A good resistant will resist per-
fectly-and bad one will not.
1t was in order to enable the vine-growers
of California to profit by the twenty years
of experience and the many failures of
others that the university imported 20, 900
| cuttings of the best selected resistants from
abroad. These are now in nursery at
| Berkeley and will be ready for distribution
next season. Nearly every one laughed at
this idea of selected varieties, but Mr..
Hayne got them all the same and had
samples sent to few typical locations.
Now the doubling are asked to 60 to the
vineyard of H. w. Crabb, the veteran
scientific viticulturist of Napa, and see for
themselves what the size and vigor of the
Riparia gloinde montpelier, or Riparia
| grande elabre, really is, as compared with
the feeble, thin-wooded varieties of riparia
found in many of the vineyards of Cali
fornia.
At the winery of John SWEET of Martinez,
Contra Costa County. will be found these
two varieties of riparia, which are fully
twice as large and vigorous as any other
varieties of riparia grown in this State.
In view of the opposition and ridicule
first encountered Mr.. Hayne expressed
| himself as delighted with the results of
l
| for themselves" said he, land we will
hear no more about theories. Let them
look at the Riparia gloire and the Riparia
/ grand glabre and compare them with
| those riparias found on places that are
reported as being failures, and I will be
! satisfied"
Concerning the mysterious disease at
| tacking only the riparias," of which so
much has been written, Mr.. Hayne said
| that one good result of his trip was acer-
tanning that whatever the trouble was it
was of a surety not the Anaheim disease.
"Were it the Anaheim disease" said he
! AZ should feel very much discouraged, for
| no one knows what this is. 1t is con-
! tagious disease that since 1887 has swept
| out of existence over $4,000 acres of fine
vines south of Tehachapi, but the cause of
which is unknown. and so far has been
| found incurable.
From hasty examination it is impossible
| to say definitely what the trouble is at St.
Helena. 1t is probably due to complicx-
| ton of tropbles-mainly bad varieties and
| those in no way suited to the soil; but
| nothing definite can be said till fuller
| investigation has been made"
On the whole, the prospects were never
| brig hter for the winemaker. The quality
of California wine is so per cent better to-
| day than it was five years ago, and prices
are almost all one could desire.
Harker still Missing.
BERKELEY, CAL, July 22.-CharIes G.
Harker, the young San Francisco attor-
ney who suddenly and mysteriously dis
| appeared from his home in Berkeley on
| july 3, is still missing. An interview with
| his sister this morning at the family sum-
mer home on Bushnell place failed to dis
close any information as to the where
abouts of the well-todo young lawyer.
The police, private detectives and per-
sonal friends Of the family have kept q
constant vigil since the disappearance of
| Harker, but with no result II is not be-
| lieyed that he has become the victim of
foul play, but that he is simply wandering
about in fit of melancholia.
wi1kie-Rhorer Opera.
BERKELEY, CAL, July 22.-The peo-
pie of Berkeley will be given rare treat
| on next Friday evening by the Wilkie-
Rhorer Amateur Opera Company. which
| will present the comic, romantic opera,
.'The Bandit Prince" written by A. S.