10 



have yet been ruined, unless we count as 

 such the vineyards of Frontignan, in the 

 Midi, where sweet muscat wines were pro- 

 duced, famous as virts de liqueurs. 



I know a great deal more about this ques- 

 tion than when I first began to study it. I 

 . have in fact "gone the rounds" of all the 

 various theories and experiments. Much that 

 I wrote at first I should now modify; but, in 

 the main, the essential principle, which I at 

 first pointed out, remains intact the ques- 

 tion of vitality of the vine. 



The finest vineyards have escaped so far, 

 not by reason of especial precautions, but by 

 reason of some natural immunity, or special 

 condition, which has not yet been explained. 

 The plague surrounds the Medoc, Graves and 

 Vins Blancs, except on the west and south, 

 where no vines grow. It has been for several 

 years in spots in these districts, but does not 

 seem to spread seriously. It is not a ques- 

 tion of the variety of vines, because the same 

 varieties have succumbed in other parts. The 

 fact remains that where the vine first demon- 

 strated success, it continues to hold the 

 ground. The pest has jumped over the fine 

 Burgundy district into Switzerland and Ger- 

 many. It is working only slowly into Bur- 

 gundy vineyards. 



, It is impossible to draw satisfactory con- 

 clusions from even the official reports of the 

 various committees in different parts of 

 France, each of which is especially the friend 

 of some single remedy. All remedies fail in 

 general, and all succeed in particular. Such 

 is the general conclusion I reach after read- 

 ing scores of pamphlets. 



There are two prominent classes of opin- 

 ions. Those eng'aged in solving the problem, 

 such as scientists and men specially engaged 

 or connected by official relations with agri- 

 cultural societies and committees, believe in 

 and advocate this, that, or the other remedy. 

 The practical vine-growers, wine merchants 

 and people generally, unite in one common 

 refrain, "Iln 'y a rien afaire," ("There is 

 nothing to do.") Scores of successful 

 remedies, well attested, are announced; but 

 few, except the experimenters, practice any 

 of them. 



This confusion is chiefly due to the want 

 of harmony between those who conduct the 

 experiments. The offer of a great prize by 

 the Government and the cupidity of many 

 who have nostrums to sell, have begotten a 

 spirit of rivalry and contention ; some con- 

 tend for the prize more for the honor of dis- 

 covery, still more to maintain hastily-formed 

 opinions uttered early in the strife, and 

 many more to advertise methods in which 

 they have a speculative interest. This may 

 account in part for the apathy of the people, 



for when all the doctors disagree how can 

 they believe in medicine? 



The first cause of apathy on the part of 

 vine-growers is, probably, because all pro- 

 posed remedies contemplate either great ex- 

 penses or radical changes in their vineyards. 



The remedies may all be grouped under 

 two heads : First, those which are directed 

 simply against the phylloxera ; second, those 

 which come to the support of, or regenera- 

 tion of the vine. 



Practically, it may be said that all insecti- 

 cides fail in checking the plague. Only 

 those succeed in part and in exceptional 

 places which are accompanied by either rich 

 manures or improved cultivation. 



The best attested successes are where the 

 soil is treated with compounds of potash and 

 nitrogenious manures; but these fail where 

 the plague is worst, and appears irresistible. 

 They succeed, however, often enough to 

 demonstrate that the presence of potash and 

 nitrogen assist the vine to resist the disease. 

 Good results have been obtained by the use 

 of simple carbonate of potash, wood ashes, 

 and sulfo-carbonate of potash. The most 

 remarkable result was obtained near Keole 

 in this Department by the use of simple 

 chiffon, the fine debris from a hat factory, 

 cuttings and trimmings of wool an animal 

 and nitrogenous manure. 



Let it be remembered that vines extract 

 potash from the soil, which is not returned, 

 and that vinyards are seldom well manured, 

 and are generally in poor soils. For a long 

 time there existed a law in France, prohibit- 

 ing the manuring of vineyards. Lands suit- 

 able for vines have been cultivated, without 

 resting, for centuries; so also have lands un- 

 suited to such culture. The natural con- 

 sequence is exhaustion of soils. What that 

 exhaustion is, cannot be easily determined, 

 because underneath all speculations of 

 chemistry, there is the vital principle, which 

 cannot be renewed at will, and which no 

 themical study of manures can account for. 



Every ordinary rule of nature has been 

 violated in the culture of the vine. It is 

 known to all agriculturists that, not only a 

 rotation of crops is necessary to preserve 

 vegetable fertility and health, but also it is 

 desirable to change the seed from one dis- 

 trict to another. This has not been done 

 with the vine. 



Again, there is the evil f over-crowding. 

 What is true of human kind, is true of 

 vegetation. Over-crowded communities of 

 vines, as well as of men, may breed con- 

 tagious diseases, by the violation of some 

 hidden law of nature, which seems to have 

 for its end the preservation of equilibrium on 

 the face of the earth. 



