NEW ABOUT THE PHYLLOXERA.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3879, 4 June 1881, Page 4

NEW ABOUT THE PHYLLOXERA.

A ms)dioat dootor of San Francisco ItoV^l^tDros the theory tbat the 1 ' preteinoe bfTßyHbiera Tn"the grape" Vine if Jta mo** to the oooditidn of the soil 4NBtd the unnaturßl treatment r oi the vine suppled,can S) ... ¥sxmill»W tlisil the lftwa which Hki imtjtymttmt aod growth of parasiUs aMiilNßMawß«iD< the vegetable as. in the ■mimmi^iiatfdom, and that the ravagfcs of ttr"^h» TteH Ma only be effectually eJgfis^O**^ principle employed by the fwe &Sftrbf "parasitic disease ra*ibß%, aia flloß^rates his view by a .#W?,liW«*v. " L «W one knowg, ase<ptbeheadsof children, and spreads With extraordinary rapidity in schools, irhere it ;is often most difficult to eradi. e»te. He ffaya:-r MJn. the successful treatment of this disorder there are two tMtential indication^ Ist, to alter the soil I _ liV'Mi to render it less suitable to the growth of the parasite j and secondly, to destroy the parasite itself. No intelligent itaS^R JSS^i »»^;content with lopaf remedies, or indeed apcord .them the first place in his prfticjple of treatment. He would hare already observed that.the disease atUcks the scrofulous and weakly, and that, no matter, how general the disease in a school may be, there will alwaya ffwnm a few, healthy children, who xesist iriTe«tioo-*poii whose beads, in fact, the parasite abeolutely refuses to locate. He .would findrthbt nearly all attacked Would be; 4i4(!!y nourished, or iii* .a /sickly conditioni caused, bj isMlte^tioß to- the law* of healthHe would teekf, t^e^ore, tby fresh air,. ,_a _ fiber'aT diet,' 'by" tonics and anict attention to hygiene, to bring about ateh^-'a "general improvement in the pnysYQar^ condition m the' children as «Hoiifd destroy the fiindamental condition of parasitic jtrowthjand^ropajiaiioo. 1 He claim» attention to, the .fact that the hop whentwitd in the woods is a much hardier plant than the pampered hop of the cultiytetl Lpatch,o and - qdotesx; from a 1 recent ireportof the Yiticultural Association of CpUfotnii remarks concerning the immuritj of wild grape vines' from phylloxera. He-seriously asks: Whether any one ttfacquaiuted with the subject would fecV>gnise v .aWj .relation between the cultiiated pl4tft T and its wild progenitor P IT^e , says: — "The original plant |[W>wi ', free , and udtrammelled ; it spreads from one support to another it knows neither the knife or care of tha c,ulti»ator^ajd;iyet if?- thrives and is fietltnyr -fioolr, r6n the* other hand, at the I maimed^ ifedl stunted outcome of our fcighewvaitiTationi^ -Pruned to deatb that ifraay be forced into unnatural bearing, curtailed in all' its proportions above ground', md' allowed' full -swing beneath i |ie kt urface, where it is pampered by rich and|4rtificial food, its blood-vessels are plethoric with'unheallby sap, and the natural balance between the root and leaf Aetttagpd}^xJfy Jt any wonder that it ahouJd become the uoyieldiog victim of those parasi^ie due^ses. which are always mil to A take fdvantaife Wiaakness, aqd, indeed, of all departures from a state el beaUhwhere.ter they exist P If Iraai right* we mnst return to the ringWorn indication; we must seek, first' «nd Jbreiaost, to alter the soil upon-which'the pfaynoxerf grows, se as to reuder it 1 less ■mtable to'th'e entertainment and growth &f the-paraaite; and this will alone" he e'fiected by restoring the Vine to its natural i^ate of health;" In Bonneetion with theie, opinions it is noteworthy \tliat tlie/report of the Viticultural Commi|S«ion Vhibh re-^ «en|)y met in California strongly advocatea the,,introduction of the wild vines pf junerjbia: to the vineyards there. The chairman of the Commission says :->-" fid §&,< it is known, by experiments inFraace andtthe United States, that most, if not all' 'of oar American. wild vines, are endowed irith constitutions which enable^ .them to resist the parasite. It is my opinion that li dw^l be found yet that the wild vines of <4*ifr from which the European vines (are.been taken centuries ago, are also to be relied upon. I believe that the weak* aeas of the European vines now cultivated in this country and Europe, is due to the , exhaustion of the vitality of the plant and theweakness engendered by hybr|diaatiQn ' during along period of propagatibn, dating before the Christian era; 'during which time propagation has been operated by mean of cuttings and^hybrids. 'Vhe law of natuvey .which; points? out \be f seed as the,true and normal means of propagation, hajrjbeen ignored. I believe if we go tiaoY to cuMiags or seeds of the original Ana^ie^ rarieties of the Vitis Tinifera Meninthe larage state, we\ should be sjbli 16 regenerate our .'vineyard* with kealtay stocks." ,It is, at least, rery important to aseerUiu whether, the theery advanced by the doctor is true or fidtc....--- - : . .