University of California Agricultural Experiment Station. BULXETIN NO [In order to render the results of investigations 1 k e ' n S« and experiments conducted by the Agricultural De- partment of the University of California more quick- ly and more generally available than has heretofore been done through the annual or biennial reports, "it is proposed to embody hereafter, in the form of "Bulletins," to be issued as often as may seem de- sirable, report of results, as well as such other discus- sions, information or answers to questions as may be of general interest. It is intended to make these bulletins, as a rule, short enough for insertion in the daily or weekly papers of the State, and proof-slips of the same will be regularly mailed to papers apply- ing therefor. The substance ot these bulletins will ultimately be embodied in a more complete and con- nected form, in the annual reports of the College of Agriculture.] In answer to numerous inquries received re- garding the possible efficacy of various insecti- cide remedies against the phylloxera, and par- ticularly with reference to the one lately sug- gested in France by M. Cramoisy, the follow- ing summary of the main points is abstracted from a bulletin published by this department in 1880: It is not difficult to find a great variety of substances that will kill the insect without materially injuring the root of the vine. The difficulty lies in their economically practicable application . Any such remedial agent, in order to be effective, must, in the case of a bearing vineyard, reach not only the entire surface, but must penetrate the soil to a depth not less than three, and fre- quently as much as eight feet in open soils. It is quite useless to propose to ' 'bare the roots of the vine" for any insecticide application on the large scale. In a bearing vineyard the roots and rootlets form one matted mass all through the soil over the entire field, and it is at the remote ends that the insect forms its lar- gest and most flourishing colonies. To bare all these is practically impossible, and would in any case involve an amount of labor in- compatible with the profitable maintenance of the vineyard; especially if, in addition, the in- secticide is to be carefully applied to all, and soaked in with water, as is mostly suggested by the proposers of such impracticable schemes. There are obviously only two practicable modes of giving the insecticide agent the wide distribution called for. One is to apply it in solution in water; the other, to make it pene- trate the soil in a gaseous form. Water alone, if applied continuously for from thirty to forty days during winter, by flooding, accomplishes the object to the extent to which it seems feasible where the phylloxera has once obtained possession; that is, to so far decrease its numbers as to render it harmless for one or two seasons. Where flooding is impracticable, and a quantity of water sufficient to saturate so large a mass of soil has to be put on the ground by artificial means, and at the same time charged with a more or less expensive insecticide, the cost readily becomes such as to exceed the value of the vineyard. This is largely due to the fact that the soil is a powerful absorbent of almost all substances soluble in water, thereby rendering The same disinfecting property of soil that enables it to purify the foulest water fil- tered through it, without itself becoming of- fensive, also serves to render ineffectual a large proportion of any poison that may be introduced in watery solution. It is only after the soil has become saturated with it to a certain (very vari- able) extent, that a remaining portion can become effective. Hence, the amount needed of any insecticide, when used in the soil, is very much greater than that which would be required if water were to be applied to the insect directly. A solution of carbolic acid, or a tea of the "Persian insect powder," that would be instant death to an insect sprinkled with it, becomes inodorous and harmless when filtered through a few inches of soil; and the same is more or less true of all kinds of poisons. It is, there- fore, clear that only such as combine cheapness with a high degree of efficiency even in a very dilute form, can be thought of for any practical purposes. The same relations that exist between earth and substances dissolved in water apply more or less to gases. Some of these that might otherwise be available are so strongly absorbed by the soil as to render any effort tb send them to the depth required practically useless. This is true, for instance, of the gas from burning sulphur, the use of which against the phylloxera is continually re-invented by persons unac- quainted with the practical difficulties. Of all insecticide vapors that are promptly fatal to the insect, while com- paratively innoccuous to the vine, and at the same time but very slightly absorbed by the soil, that of carbon bisulphide stands foremost. Whether injected in substance or introduced in solution in the form of ' 'sulpho- carbonates," it is, beyond comparison, the most thoroughly effectual at the least expense. That it is difficult even through its agency to extir- pate the insect completely in certain soils only strengthens the argument against the possible efficiency of methods lacking similar advan- tages. That vineyards consisting of valuable vari- eties can be profitably maintained against the phylloxera by the aid of carbon bisulphide has been sufficiently proven. But to deliber- ately establish new vineyards of vines unpro- tected by grafting or resistant stock in infested localities where flooding is not available, and with the hope of holding the insect in abeyance by insecticides, is from a financial point of view almost inexcusable. For at least the same ex- pense will then have to be incurred annually, which, once incurred by grafting on resistant stock, would make the vineyard safe for ever after. Failure of Cuttings . Another complaint frequently brought to no- tice is the failure of cuttings to root, and the cause is inquired for. It is of course impossible to answer such questions withdut an exact knowledge of local conditions in each case, but a few of the more prominent causes may here be mentioned. The most frequent of all is them inactive toward animal life for the time , probably the planting of long cuttings by means of the crowbar instead of the spade. Except in the loosest soils, and with the greatest care, this mode of planting usually leaves the end of the cutting, if not bare, at least only in very loose contact with the earth; so that rooting, if accomplished at all, will have to take place from the upper joints, and a decaying stump remains below to infect the stock with fungus growths. It were far better to use shorter j cuttings and plant a smaller area, if need be. | thoroughly well with the spade, pressing the earth around the lower end of the cutting. There are, however, tome valley and tench soils, usually whitish and supposed to contain alkali, in which the rooting of cuttings seems to be exceptionally uncertain. The investigation of a number of such cases is now in progress at the agricultural laboratory, and further infor- mation concerning such cases and local ities is desirable. Also, in regard to the apparent in- fluence of oak trees, living or dead, upon the rooting of cuttings and the growth of vines. E. W. HlLGABD. Berkeley, January 17, 1884.