ijj 250 JFOKEIGN NOTICES. 



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" It has been observed that young plantations are less liable to disease than the old ones. The 

 covornment, justly alarmed at the serious consequences which this unexpected misfortune may 

 i)roduce, has taken measures to have the disease investigated, in order to discover means of 

 ancviatin<T the evil, or arresting its progrcs, and to relieve cultivatoi-s and proprietors. A com- 

 mission of men skilled in agricultural science has been sent to different places. 



"It is true, that for the last few days the disease has been checked, but nothing induces us to 

 admit that it has reached its period, or that we shall not have to deplore still greater ravages. 



"Tlie injury which the loss of the Corinth Gva\te crop may inflict on this country will be 

 immense, when we reflect that the whole of the crop is exported, and that it produces an annual 

 sum of from six to seven millions of francs." — Agricultural Echo, July 27, 1852. 



" The fear created by a temporary aff"ection which is called a disease of the vine, although in 

 our opinion exaggerated, renders it a duty to publish the difl'crent means which have been tried 

 to prevent or arrest it. We have already published the method communicated by M. IIeuze to 

 the Society of Agriculture in the Eclio of July 15th. We now give the following note of M. 

 Meza, apothecary and member of the Agricultural Society of Lyons, addressed to the Academy 

 of Si'ience: 



"Since the appearance of this disease in the vine, I have studied its cause, its nature, and its 

 progress. Numerous experiments have convinced me that it does not exist in the plant itself, but 

 is developed under certain atmospheric conditions. This is the general opinion of those who 

 have studied the disease from the beginning. I agree with them, that the white powder which 

 covei-s the fruit, the bunch, and the branch, is a fungus which fixes itself upon the plant as the 

 Vacarus de la gale attaches itself to animals, and ends by injuring it in a most grerious manner. 

 With this view I have used a sulphate of protoxide of iron (green vitriol), dissolved in water, in 

 the proportion of 250 grammes* of sulphate to 15 or 20 pounds of water, and I will publish the 

 results: 



"Lotions of ammonia used from the beginning of the Oidium have succeeded very well; but 

 the effects are not certain as those of the sulphate of iron. Carbonate of sulphur, dissolved in 

 water, appears to produce good results. Having begun this experiment only two or three days 

 ago, I cannot, as yet, speak of it with certainty. 



"The following method comes from Piedmont, and is entirely different from any heretofore 

 recommended. The facts are not disputed, and if this treatment has caused the disease to disap- 

 pear, it is all that can be asked ; but without repeated proofs we shall find it difficult to believe 

 in this Piedmontese remedy : 



"Since the appearance of the disease of the vine, says the correspondent of beyond the Alps, 

 M. JosEPHE Antoine Gcida, a very skillful agriculturist and administrator of the domain of Dul- 

 zago (Piedmont), belonging to the family of the Counts Borzorneo, has directed his attention to 

 this object. A constant study of the evil has led him to believe that the disease of the vine is 

 due to an obstruction of the sap (humeurs). Starting his system of cure from this view, he made 

 an incision at the foot of each vine, a short distance from the ground, of such a depth as not to 

 endanger the vitality of the plant. The effect surpassed his expectations, and, after eight days 

 of experiment^ he was able to decide upon the eflncacy of the treatment. If the disease had just 

 begun, or had made considerable progress, in either case, the effect of the sulphate of iron was 

 certain and evident in twenty-four hours. The black marks, covered with a white powder, dis- 

 appeared entirely ; the berry recovered its green color with the gloss, which is so strong an 

 evidence of health; the berries which bad burst healed over, and their growth proceeded, not- 

 withstanding the scar. If the disease continues, the watering may be repeated without risk. 

 This treatment is easy and cheap. Sulphate of iron costs about twenty-eight centimes per 

 kilogramme, •!• and one kilogramme is enough for four or five acres. The action is rapid — we 

 may almost say instantaneous. None of the puffed up published methods have this advantage 

 For the sake of our wine growing districts it is to be wished that tliis remedy should be 

 employed as soon as possible, for in many localities the disease is making frightful progress. (v^^ 



* One gramme is nearly fifteen and a half grains. t Kilogramme— Two pounds five drams and a half. 



