lo Oct., 191 1-] T7//fc' Diseases in France. 673 



ripening period which is not desirable. It also has the efffct of injuring 

 the cure later on, owing to the destruction of the oxydizing enzymes ivf the 

 leaf cell. The bad effect will also be felt during fermentation. 



Diseases are more frequent and of greater extent in very wet seasons 

 or if too much water is applied artificially. At the same time, water, if 

 judiciously administered as described, will have very beneficial effects in 

 making the growth continuous and be a great safeguard against drought in 

 dry districts. It should be an ideal system for tobacco-growing, as the 

 water supply could be so regulated as to prevent the bad results that follow 

 a too wet season, when the rainfall in the later stages of the growth of the 

 crop is liable to be injurious. 



If irrigation is practised, it must be always be borne in mind that culti- 

 vation is necessary afterwards, as .soon as the land is fit to break the 

 surface. It prevents coldness caused by evaporation, and also the loss of 

 soil moisture through the same cau.se. 



{To be continued.) 



VINE DISEASES IX FRAXCE. 



{Continued from fai:;e 6~,2.) 

 F. de Cast ell a. Ciovernnient Viticulturist. 



Diseases of Doubtful Parasitism. 



The \-ine diseases we ha\e so far considered are due to well defined 

 fungi, the anatomy and life history of which have been so fully studied 

 tliat methods of treatment are now thoroughly established on a sound and 

 logical basis. The same cannot be said concerning several other disea.ses 

 which still give rise to much discussion among scientists. The convenient, 

 if often abused, term of Bacteriosis has been freely used to explain their 

 causation, apparently with reason in some ca.ses. though it is probable that 

 in others the disease is constitutional, and therefore not amenable to direct 

 treatment. These disea.ses are usually confined to individual vines, for 

 which reason their effects are far less disastrous than the wholesale in- 

 vasions of well defined parasitic fungi. Nevertheless, in certain cases, 

 the number of vines affected has been sufficient to suggest parasitic origin, 

 and to at least give cause for serious alarm to the owners of vim^yards in 

 which they have been obser\ed. 



In view of their probable occurrence in Victoria, it is well to enumerate 

 and briefly describe the most frequent manifestations which, though 

 varying a gCK^d deal and often lacking in definiteness, have been given 

 names, each of which is usually understood to stand for a more or less 

 obscure disease. 



Vine Apoplexv, or Folletage as it is more commonly known in 

 France, is the most alarming of th<- grouj). The \ ine attacked suddenly 

 fade.s, the leaves wilt and iM-come flabby, usually in the course of a few 

 hours. Xe.\t day, the leaves are crisp and dry, if the weather be warm, 

 and the vine comi>letely dead. The symptoms are exactly as though the 

 main stem of the vine had been severed just below the surface of the 

 ^Tound. Sometimes, a porti<^)n only of the vine is affcxrted, an arm or 

 <;ven (jne half of the vine flying suddenly, the other portion continuing 

 lo live. Death of the wliele vine is, howeNcr, more coiiunon. !•' vfinatelv. 



