70 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



giving an account of a visit paid by M. A. Lalande, the 

 deputy for the Gironde, in company with M. M. Ed. Law- 

 ton and T. and P. Skawinski, to the districts of the Herault 

 and the Gard, for the purpose of studying the means em- 

 ployed in those departments with a view to the destruction of 

 the phylloxera, or where necessary reconstituting the vineyards 

 already destroyed. This journey, which extended over six 

 days, was undertaken more especially in the interests of the 

 vine-growers of the great and important district of the Medoc, 

 the centre of the richest vine districts of France. 



Up to the present time the ravages of the phylloxera, al- 

 though considerable, have not by any means been so serious 

 in the Medoc as in some of the other wine-producing districts 

 of France. In t)ie department of the Gard, for instance, it 

 is stated that out of 255,000 acres of vines, 250,000 have 

 been destroyed ; while in the Herault, which produced at 

 one time 330,000,000 gallons of wine, and the average an- 

 nual production of which was 220,000,000 gallons, the quan- 

 tity for 1 88 1 fell to 77,000,000 gallons only. From these 

 figures it will be readily seen that the field for inquiry offered 

 by these two departments was an extensive one, and the in- 

 formation to be obtained should be of extreme value as a 

 guide to other districts, and all the more so, as energetic 

 measures have been already adopted by the vine-growers of 

 the south, with a view, if not to save, at least to renew the 

 vines which constitute for them the chief wealth of their 

 districts. 



Before proceeding further, we may say that the informa- 

 tion and evidence obtained by M. Lalande and his fellow- 

 travellers throws a somewhat new light upon the question of 

 the phylloxera, and seems to show that, serious as the damage 

 caused by this insect has been, and still continues to be, the 

 case is not altogether a hopeless one. Of various remedies, 

 some thousands in number, suggested for combatting the 



