Insects. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Phylloxera. 55 



LICHTENSTEIN ; and as a result of this discovery the 

 sandy borders of the Mediterranean coast (Aigues- 

 mortes), where formerly scarcely poor grass grew, are 

 now, in many places, changed into beautiful vineyards, 

 of great value. Sulpho-carbonate of potassa and coal- 

 tar are mentioned as capable of destroying the Phyl- 

 loxera, and Mr. Mares as President of the Ministerial 

 Commission, in his report on the various (140) modes 

 of treatment tried in 1872 to 1874, stated that manures 

 rich in potash and nitrogen, mixed with alkaline or 

 earthy sulphates, refuse of salt-works, soot, wood 

 ashes, ammonia, or fat-lime, have given the best re- 

 sult. Prof. Roessler also believed in fighting the insect 

 with manure and phosphates, ammonia and potash, 

 which treatment succeeds in porous soils ; and to ob- 

 tain this porosity he made use of dynamite, raising 

 the soil from a great depth without injuring the vines. 

 But the grape-growers seem not to believe in these 

 medicinal insecticides, or considered them impractical, 

 too costly, and their application too laborious. Many 

 preferred to resort to planting American vines, mostly 

 with a view to graft thereon their own varieties. And 

 now the American vine has penetrated into all the 

 vineyards of France notwithstanding its many oppo- 

 nents, both honestly and otherwise; nothwithstanding 

 the ill-favor of the Government, where subventions 

 had been reserved for the insecticides and the submer- 

 sion. And this result is not a passing one, but has 

 gained a stronghold by the exceptional and growing 

 vigorof the American vines themselves, undervarious 

 conditions of soil and in the midst of the most intense 

 ravages of the Phylloxera. The Medoc even opens 

 now its doors to the most meritorious grafting stocks, 

 the Riparia, Solonis, York Madeira, being now con- 

 vinced that their celebrated Medoc wines will not be 

 in the least changed by grafting their varieties on 

 American roots. It is the same in other famous wine 

 districts, and even in the regions of the great white 

 wines (Sauterne, Bommes, Barsac, &c.) which are as 

 yet but little attacked by the Phylloxera. It will be 

 the same in other countries, wherever the insect shall 

 make its appearance, in spite of all precautionary mea- 

 sures to protect them from infection. Already it has 

 been disc overed in Italy (first in 1879 in the Lombardy 

 and Porto Mauritzio, then in Sicily) , and is spreading 

 rapidly over all the Mediterranean countries, and over 

 Hungary. 



Riley and Planchon have established the fact that 

 the insect is indigenous to the North American conti- 

 nent east of the Rocky mountains, and there is little 

 doubt but that it was first imported into Europe on 

 American vines. Yet it must not be supposed that 

 our American vines are all necessarily infested with 

 Phylloxera, or that the insect has been introduced in 

 every locality where our vines have been planted. On 

 the contrary, there are localities where, from the iso- 

 lated position of the vineyards, or the nature of the 

 soil, it is difficult to find the insect, and, like many 

 other indigenous species, it is in some years very nu- 

 merous and injurious, in others, scarcely to be seen. 

 There is comparatively little danger of its being im- 

 ported from one country to another on cuttings. It 

 should be recollected also that vines imported in late 

 winter, or early spring, cannot possibly carry the in- 

 sect, even if infected, in any other than the egg or larva 



form, as no winged insects are then in existence, to 

 escape on the way, or upon opening the cases ; and all 

 danger of importing the insect would be avoided if the 

 plants or cuttings, upon being unpacked, were placed 

 in a bath of strong soapsuds. 



Prof. V. MAYET, of the National Agricultural School 

 at Montpellier, advises the following precaution: 

 (Vignes Am., Dec., 1882.) " 1. Never to keep the cut- 

 tings in the soil, in whatever else we may preserve 

 them for exportation ; clear fine sand would be prefer- 

 able. 2. To fumigate the cuttings on arrival with sul- 

 phur smoke, as the sulphuric acid infallibly kills all 

 insects, without injuring the buds or vegetation ; ten 

 minutes are fully sufficient for that. An old large box 

 may serve as a receptacle for the fumigation." In an- 

 swer to inquiries whether this would be sufficient also 

 to destroy the eggs of the Phylloxera, the Professor 

 emphatically declares (Vignes Am., May, 1883), that 

 " we need not trouble ourselves about the eggs none 

 of these have ever been found on canes of one year's 

 wood. And if ever any live insects were transported 

 with cuttings, less than a quarter of an hour's fumiga- 

 tion with sulphur would kill them on arrival." 



The greatness of the evil, however, seemed to justify 

 the adoption of extreme measures, and the importation 

 of both American vines and cuttings was strictly pro- 

 hibited by the governments of Europe (except as to cer- 

 tain already invaded districts of France). Thus they 

 excluded not the insect, but the best remedy. And 

 whilst it is now recognized and fully established that 

 Phylloxera-destroyed vineyards can be reconstituted 

 only by replanting with resisting American vines, be 

 it for direct production or for grafting on them other 

 preferred varieties, it is yet very difficult to get the 

 prohibitions and restrictions repealed. V. Babo, the 

 celebrated Director of the Oenol. Institute of Austria, 

 Klosternenburg, near Vienna, writes us (April, 1883) 

 that " notwithstanding the unanimous declaration of 

 the Commission in favor of American Grape-vines, the 

 Government refuses to listen ; we shall tarry until the 

 Louse will have spread as a great calamity. Sulpho- 

 carbonates are contiually used at Government's ex- 

 pense. The moment it shall have to be done at private 

 expense nobody will use it, as the annual cost is out 

 of proportion to the effect. In spite of my own most 

 careful and thorough treatment with sulpho-carbon- 

 ates my success is incomplete. Much as I was at first 

 in favor of sulpho-carbonates, I am now fully convin- 

 ced that our grape-culture cannot be carried on except 

 by using proper Phylloxera-resisting stocks." 



The Revue des Deux Mondes of June 1, 1883, contains 

 a very interesting article on the Phylloxera question 

 by the Duchess of Fitz- James, in which she says : 

 "While the Philloxera continues to extend her sinister 

 veil over beautiful France, the American Vine throws 

 over it here and there a ray of hope. Happy the soil 

 which, in receiving it, lays hold of its good fortune. It 

 is this ray before which the desert will vanish. Those 

 who are unconscious of it, try in vain to defend a past 

 which has escaped ; for the chemical remedies, even if 

 they were useful, are only exceptionally practical ; and 

 while thus many persevere in their ruin, pursuing a 

 chimera, the American Vine covers with her verdant 

 waves the last trace of our misfortunes." 



