ANNUAL WINTER MEETING AT AVARRENSBURG. 197 



dread disease. Happilj'' this hope seems now to have been realized, and 

 in view of the importance of the discovery* of remedies, which seems 

 at the same time simple and efficacious, I propose to give you a brief 

 translation or extract of several articles treating on the question, 

 which have appeared in the November number of the ''^ Messager 

 Agricole^'' published at Montpelier, France. 



One of the articles is a communication by Prof. Millardet of Bor- 

 deaux, entitled " On the Treatment of Rot and Mildew," {Extrait 

 des Comptes rendus <'>■ V Acadeinie des Sciences^ jSFo. cZm, o Octohre^ 

 1885), in which he says : '' On the first of May last, I made a commu- 

 nication to the society cf agriculture of the Oironde, concerning a 

 treatment of the mildew by means of a comj^ound of lime and of sul- 

 phate of copper, (blue vitrei ). The knowledge of this mixture, the de- 

 termination of the proportions of the composing substances, the in- 

 struction as to the most favorable moment of their apj)]ication, are the 

 results of two years of study and experiment made with the help of 

 Mr. Ernest David, manager for Mr. NathanielJohnston, the proprietor 

 of the Chateaux Dauzac and Beau Caillou in the Medoc. In conse- 

 qnence of this communication several proprietors in the Medoc were 

 led to apply on a large scale the treatment which I had recommended. 

 Mr. Johnston alone, who entered upon it with a will, had the treat- 

 ment applied to fifty thousand vines on his two establishments. It is 

 the result of these exi)eriences which I take the liberty to submit to 

 the academy. 



" To day, on the third of October, the treated vines present a nor- 

 mal vegetation ; the foliage is healthy and of a beautiful green ; the 

 grapes are black and perfectly matured. 



''The non-treated vines, on the contrary, present the most misera- 

 ble aspect ; the most of the leaves have dropped ; the few which remain 

 sffe half dried up ; the grapes, which are still red, can serve for nothing 

 else than to make a ''piquette." The contrast is most striking."* 



After some remarks on the varieties treated, etc., Prof. Millardet 

 gives the mode of treatment as follows: " In 100 litres (26^ gallons) 

 of water dissolve 8 kilo, (about 17^ lbs.) of sulphate of copper; also 

 make with 30 litres (about 8 gallons) of water and 15 kilo (33 lbs.) of 

 fresh (unslacked) lime a thick lime milk or lime wash, and mix it with 

 the solution of sulphate of copper. It will form a bluish pickle. The 

 operator, stirring it up, pours some of this in a can or bucket which he 



*Prof. Millardet has accompanied his communication by photographs of a 

 treated and a non-treated vine, which indeed present an astonishing contrast, as 

 also the analysis which he gives of the most of the grapes, showing the difference 

 in the percentage of sugar. 



