THE PHYLLOXERA : HOW TO DESTROY IT. 113 



Many remedial measures have been, as stated, from time to time 

 suggested for the destruction of this terrible scourge, but as yet with- 

 out any practical result. M. Dumas, the Secretary of the French 

 Academy of Sciences, suggested and tried several chemical mixtures, 

 some of which proved excellent manures, and were also injurious to the 

 louse ; but, although the insect may be killed or destroyed by it, there 

 is the further and greater difficulty of applying it to the Vines under 

 cultivation. Water is the only vehicle by which anything can reach 

 the roots of the plant ; and, so far, water where it can be applied in 

 quantity and for a long time so as to suffocate the insect, has proved 

 efficacious in destroying this pest. It has been noted that in nearly 

 every instance the insect has only existed in warm and, probably, dry 

 inside borders. In moist or outside borders, where abundance of 

 water has been supplied, little or no Phylloxera has existed in this 

 country. Mr. Dunn, of Dalkeith, when gardener at Powerscourt, near 

 Dublin, was the first of our horticulturists to succeed in eradicating 

 the pest, and he did so by " stamping it out," that is, by taking up 

 all the Vines from the Vinery, removing the earth, thoroughly 

 cleansing every portion, and then restocking with fresh Vines and 

 fresh earth. The following method was adopted at Chiswick. The 

 house being closely shut up, sulphur was burnt until every plant was 

 killed by the burning fumes, then the plants were burned, and every 

 bit of soil, also the drainage, carted away, and the whole of the frame- 

 work of the house repainted, this proved absolutely successful, and 

 has been followed by others with equal success. Bi-sulphide of 

 carbon has been tried successfully, but this is found to be too expen- 

 sive for general cultivation. In many of the French Vineyards 

 grafting on various kinds of American Vines has been tried largely 

 and with success ; the insect feeds on the roots of the American 

 Vines, which being more robust, do not suffer so severely by its 

 attacks as the European Vines. 



Of other Insect Pests, happily not very familiar in this country, but 

 which have been known to do great damage in many Vineyards on the 

 Continent, we may notice the following : 



The Vine Beetle (Lethrus cephalotes}. This somewhat resembles 

 the common dung beetle. It is, according to Kollar, very common in 

 the southern parts of Hungary. It issues from the earth in spring, 

 when the Vine has begun to shoot, creeps upon the branches, bites off 

 the leaf and flower-buds, and carries them back to the opening through 

 which it left the earth. The only way to protect the Vine from this 

 enemy is to catch each one individually and kill it, and this can 

 easily be done, as it carries on its work by daylight. 



The Vine Weevil, fig. 50 (Cucurlio vitis), otherwise Otiorhynchus 

 sulcatus, otherwise Otiorhynchus vastator-, and its smaller and less 

 common congener, Otiorhynchus picipes. The former is of a dull 

 black colour, hard, round-bodied, granulated, wingless, having six 



OF THB 



IVERSITY 



