VINE MILDEW. 127 



This ingenious and economical process, especially applicable 

 to vines cultivated in the stove or on trellises has also been 

 attended with success in dwarfed plants. Leclerc mentions the 

 example of a proprietor in Medoc who has employed Gontier's 

 plan on a large scale ; but it is Payen that informs us of its 

 complete success, and that Count Ducbatel has found it equally 

 beneficial in another vinej'ard of from 45 to 50 ares (1,224 — 

 1,235 acres). 



Sulphuret of Calcium. — The employment of sulphuret of cal- 

 cium by means of a syringe is due to Grison, a gardener at 

 Versailles. M. Turrel tried it at Toulon on a vineyard of ten 

 hectares (24,711 acres). It at first removed the evil as if by 

 enchantment, but it would have been necessary to repeat the 

 operation several times to ensure complete success because new 

 spores of Oidium from neighbouring vineyards which had not 

 been disinfected are apt to cause its reappearance. 



Sulphuret of Potassium. — In a late session of the Imperial 

 Society of Agi-iculture, M. Becquerel reported a method which he 

 has found to answer well, which consists in washing the diseased 

 bunches with a solution of sulphuret of potassium to which a 

 small quantity of acid had been added in order to precipitate the 

 sulphur, that is to say, with a magisterium of sulphur. He has 

 by this simple method caused the sulphur to adhere to the fruit 

 and to act efficaciously against the parasite. 



Use of Diseased Grapes. — Are diseased grapes when used 

 deleterious ? Every observation tends to show their perfect harm- 

 lessness ; and, besides, it is clear that not even a child would be 

 tempted to eat the grapes infected to such a degree with the 

 fungus as to remain as sour as veijuice. But is the wine made 

 from diseased grapes harmless ? The following is the answer to 

 this question by the report of the commission of the Linneau 

 Society of Bordeaux : — " The commission does not hesitate to 

 affirm that the alarm too generally dispersed, and favoured by 

 speculators, is without foundation, and that the injurious qualities 

 of the grapes when they are made into wine do not give rise to 

 very serious maladies." All that I have been able to collect on 

 this subject is confirmatory of this declaration. 



Prognostics. — The future prospects of the disease are beyond 

 doubt an impenetrable mystery; for we have in the Oidium a 

 formidable enemy, all whose habits are not at present perfectly 

 known, and whose capabilities of dissemination are immense. 

 Will it then be transitory, or is it likely for a long period to 



