290 OBSERVATIONS ON THE VINE MILDEW. 



with rather large holes, water in which flowers of sulphur are 

 held in suspension,* This simple, inexpensive mean, by common 

 consent, has been most successful. The employment of sulphur 

 in tliis form had already been recommended by Mr. Kyle, an 

 English agriculturist, who had discovered its properties. These 

 advantages cannot be called in question, and I have no thought 

 of doing so ; I have myself witnessed them, but I have witnessed 

 those also which I have myself obtained in the month of July by 

 syringing with water in which was dissolved a small quantity of 

 common salt, or sulphate of iron. My own treatment has only 

 served to wash off the fungus as fast as it appeared. When the 

 disease was over eveiywhere, I have compared the results ob- 

 tained in plants which had been experimented upon with tliose 

 which I had left to their unhappy lot. I then saw no difference, 

 tlie bunches were completely dry, or only retained a small 

 number of berries. Amongst these some were small, cracked, 

 and deformed ; others appeared not to have been afl^'ected. 



The experiments which I made were commenced too late ; 

 they would have been inore successful at the commencement of 

 the malady, as I have assured myself from late bunches wliich 

 did not blossom till the end of July. In these the berries pre- 

 sented no trace of disease. I have made but one experiment 

 with sulphur, and my vhie, at the time of maturity, did not 

 appear to me in better condition than the others. 



I conclude from my researches that tlie malady which raged 

 amongst vines in 1850, and principally in the Chasselas in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, and in many other parts of France, is 

 not epidemic but endemic ; that it is due to a primitive, special, 

 unknown corruption of the young branches, leaves, stalks, and 

 berries ; and that Oidiiim Tuckeri, instead of being the cause, is 

 only one of its consequences. 



That if we wish to prevent, not the ravages, but the deve- 

 lopment of this fungus, we must not allow ourselves to be 

 taken by surprise, as we did through the summer of last year, but 

 commence from the beginning at the moment of flowering, on 

 the first symptoms of the disease, and not when it is generally 

 dispersed, for then it has produced its effects, and it is difficult to 

 appreciate the advantage of the means which have been em- 

 ployed. 



That if, as I believe, the disease does not come from without, 

 but that it is inherent, and belongs to the tissues and juices of 

 the vine, we must seek the cause and means of counteraction in 



* As the sulphur is not soluble in water, care must be taken that the 

 powdered mineral is held in suspension. This remark is necessary, as some 

 authorities have recommended the water to be drawn off clear. — M. J. B, 



