Excerpt from The Resistant Vine Question for California: And the California Vine or Anaheim Disease

The ability of a vine to. Make use of moisture in the soil is governed by the scope of its. Sensitiveness to coldness and warmth. A vine can take advantage of favorable moisture conditions only, if the soil at the same time has the proper degree of temperature, as prescribed by its sqope 'of sensitivesess. By this we must realize what an influence the latter has on the direction the roots take especially with vines having a variable root system. But it also influences vines in this respect to some extent, which have a fixed deep or shallow root system. A Champini and considering only the scope of sensitiveness of its root, also the Lenoir-would fail in a cold soil, where a Rupestris St. George with its freer root would succeed. But the Lenoir has an advantage over the other two hybrids on such a soil in having a more variable and more expansive root system and also a peculiar combination which it appears can not be reproduced again= in grafting on it. The first-named two might also fail in a coarse gravelly soil'even if this is warm, because their root action is too sluggish to absorb the quickly disappearing and settling moisture as well as a Rupestris St. George. Its peculiar scope of sensitiveness to tem perature conditions causes the' Lenoir to make both deep and horizontal main roots on the colder soils and on warm gravelly ones mostly horizontal main roots and deep laterals, almost the opposite to what Viniferas have on such soils. The form of root system of the latter for these two different kinds of soils, horizontal main roots for cold soils and deeper main roots for gravelly ones, is productive of the largest growth, but is not the 11ard1est. The ungrafted Lenoir has a better root system in this respect for clays and the Rupestris St. George for gravelly soils. In order that a vine with only vertical main roots should succeed well on a clay', it must be an exceedingly free grower. Although the laterals develop somewhat more, they never Spread very far. Even the Rupestris St. George's'iroot' growth is not free enough to go down deeply'in a stiff clay and not because its roots could not force their'way down early in the spring while the ground is softened by spring moisture. Of course later in the season it would require quite a stiff and active root to penetrate through clay, while this is becoming drier.

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