Grafting settles the phylloxera argument

The response to phylloxera divided into two camps. The sulfuristes pursued chemical treatment, principally carbon disulfide injected into the soil, which worked partially and was ruinously expensive. The américanistes argued for grafting onto resistant American roots.

The objection to grafting was not merely conservative. Many believed the American root would transmit a "foxy" character to the fruit, and enormous sums were offered in prizes for a chemical solution that would avoid it.

The grafting camp won because grafting worked and nothing else did. The taste objection proved unfounded: the scion determines the fruit.

Not all American species proved suitable. Some are poorly adapted to European soils, particularly high-lime soils, which is why rootstock breeding became a discipline in itself and why rootstock selection remains a site-specific decision.

The replanting was among the largest agricultural undertakings in European history, and it permanently changed which varieties grew where — many minor local varieties were simply not replanted.