What happened in the late 1800s

What happened in the late 1800s that caused grape growers to begin using a different rootstock?

In the late 19th century the Phylloxera epidemic destroyed most of the wine growing vineyards in Europe, especially in France. Phylloxera was introduced to Europe, in 1850s England, by keen Botanists collecting samples of American vines. Phylloxera originates from North America where their native grape species are mostly resistant. Unfortunately, the European wine grape Vitis Vinifera is very susceptible to the insect which first devastated vineyards in Britain before moving to mainland Europe, causing destruction to most of the grape growing regions. The first vines began to deteriorate mysteriously in the southern Rhône region of France in 1863 and spread rapidly across the continent. In France alone, total wine production fell from 84.5 million hectolitres in 1875 to only 23.4 million hectolitres in 1889. Estimates suggest that between 65% and 90% of all European vineyards were affected. It has since spread to most parts of the world, except for a few highly protected areas.

Grape growers in France tried, unsuccessfully, to bury a live toad under each vine as it was thought it would draw out the “poison”. Areas with soils composed primarily of sand or schist were less affected and the hot dry climates in Southern Europe slowed the spread, but the aphid eventually crossed the entire continent. The race was on to find a solution to the Phylloxera problem and one decisive solution quickly appeared: grafting cuttings onto resistant American rootstocks.