146 



PROCEEDINGS OF SBCTIOIsr B. 



and supposed instantaneous action. So enormous is the present 

 demand that more brandy comes from Cognac than can be legiti- 

 mately accounted for. 



In the year 1876 a great disaster befell the trade in the wholesale 

 destruction of the vines of France by the Phylloxera vastatrix, but 

 still the world was supplied with Cognac ! 



Sir Charles Cameron and Professor Smith, President of the Royal 

 Institute of Public Health, give some very interesting statistics on 

 this aspect of the supply of French brandy. They say : — 



" It is both interesting and instructive in this connection to con- 

 sider certain figures which have been obtained from oiScial sources 

 relative to the extent of land under cultivation, and the amount of 

 wine produced in the Charente Inferior, from which it will be seen that 

 since 1876, when the vines were attacked by Phylloxera, the amount 

 of wine pi-oduced has been seriously diminished, whilst in parallel 

 columns will be seen the amount of brandy produced in those districts 

 and the amount of brandy shipped to England and other countries 

 and consumed in France. The difference between the quantity of 

 brandy produced and the amount sent to England speaks for itself, 

 and gives rise to the natural question, From which source was the 

 extra amount of brandy shipped obtained? 



Table showing the extent of land under cultivation, and the amount 

 of wine produced therefrom, together with the quantity of brandy 

 produced and the quantity exported, &c., in the districts of the 

 Charente and Charente Inferior : — 



This shows a decrease under cultivation of over 200,000 hectares ; 

 or, in other words, only about one-fifth of the land is now under culti- 

 vation, compared with the pre-phylloxera period, when only genuine 

 brandies were shipped. 



" In 1876 the vines were attacked by Phylloxera. 



"' 1893 was best vintage since Phylloxera. 



'■•'1875: Wine made 12,662,941: hectolitres = 278,584,768 gallons. 



" 1898 : Wine made 845,592 hectolitres = 18,603,024 gallons. 



"Deficiency 259,981,744 gallons." 



Of the varieties of genuine Cognac, such as the Grand Cham- 

 pagne, Petite Champagne, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois Ordinaires, 

 I have nothing to say, more than this — namely, that the world's con- 

 sumption is now so large that other varieties from Les Borderies, Le 



