80 



attention to the absurdity of the British practice of dividing the same 

 duties among a number of distinct establishments. Thus the privy council 

 has charge of science and art, the education of children, and the diseases 

 of animals. Again, the copyhold, tithe and enclosure commission is 

 state authority on drainage and cottages, as well as the national land- 

 surveyor, vainer, and actuary. The statistical department of the Board 

 of Trade is required to prepare, in addition to the report upon imports 

 and exjiorts, an account of the agricultural condition of the country 

 from year to year. The local-government board, the local-act depart- 

 ment and poor-law board, with a number of other departments, are more 

 or less connected with the agricultural interest ; while, upon the board 

 of customs, agriculturists are dependent for the enumeration of agricul- 

 tural imports and exports, and the nation looks to it for the collection 

 of the revenue generally. The writer in " i«[ature" finds much to commend 

 in the fact that all these numerous departments are concentrated in the 

 one establishment in the United States. When it comes to the dissemi- 

 nation of information upon these various subjects, the reviewer consid- 

 ers Great Britain still further behindhand, as no special care is taken 

 towards this object. The Eoyal Agricultural Society of England does 

 as much as any private establishment conveniently can ; but is unable, 

 of course, to act on a very large scale. The article winds up by stating 

 that the United States Department of Agriculture presents features which 

 may be jirofitably copied by the British executive government and 

 others, and which are equally instructive both to British agriculturists 

 and men of science. 



Ee:medt for the ravages of the grape-vijvE scourge. — The 

 alarm created in France by the increasing ravages of the grape-vine 

 louse. Phylloxera vastatrix, continues unabated, and grave fears are 

 entertained and expressed in regard to the future of the wine-producing 

 interests. IsTumerous remedies have been proposed ; few if any of them, 

 however, of much apparent value. Among those most relied upon have 

 been, first, the collection and destruction by fire of the vine-leaves bear- 

 ing the special galls of the Fhylloxera; second, tearing up the diseased 

 plants by the roots ; third, the employment of various poisonous sub- 

 stances, among which those most in favor are carbolic acid, certain 

 essential oils, and bisulphide of calcium ; fourth, the reconstruction of 

 the vineyard by grafting the vine with the American Yitis labrnsca. 



There is one difficulty in regard to the first remedy. The galls, which 

 are abundant in America and about Bordeaux, do not exist in the vine- 

 yards of the south of France. There the insect is born, lives, mul- 

 tiplies, and dies, exclusively upon the roots of the vine. The second 

 method is also of little account, since a vine may be seriously affected 

 without showing any external symptoms ; these manifesting themselves 

 simultaneously over the entire vineyard, and involving the destruction 

 of the whole. The use of poisonous substances, also, has given few 

 results of any value, especially as it is only the superficial rootlets that 

 can be reached, while the more deeply seated cannot be influenced. 

 The fourth method, of grafting on the American grape, is one the suc- 

 cess of which is problematical, and although, so far, there seems to be 

 a greater power of resistance in this species than in others, there is 

 no telling how soon this variety may cease to possess comparative im- 

 munity. 



In view of all these circumstances M. Faucon has recommended 

 very urgently the propriety of so planting the vineyards as to permit 

 theiu to be inundated during the winter season, just as is done in the 



