Inclement Weather^ Diseases, Etc. 305 



The quantity of flower of sulphur to be employed to 

 the acre is, on an average, twenty-seven pounds for the 

 first application, and fifty-four pounds for each of the 

 other two — in all, one hundred and thirty-five pounds, 

 which, at two and a quarter cents a pound, make three 

 dollars. 



To distribute the sulphur, requires twelve women's^ 

 working days, at twenty-two cents, or, altogether, 

 $5.64 per acre. 



Of course the cost of this operation varies according 

 to the price of sulphur and manual labor, and also de- 

 pends upon what kind of weather follows the applica- 

 tion — a rain-storm compelling the work to be begun 

 anew. Lastly, that cost will depend upon the mode of 

 pruning the vines — the creeping vines of Languedoc 

 requiring more time, and calling for more sulphur than 

 those of Medoc. 



Hurtful Insects. — The Vine-Beetle [Fig. 128]. — 

 This little beetle, known to vine-growers under the 

 name of "devil," "scribbler," etc., has its elytra of a 

 brownish-red, and the remainder of its body black ; it 

 is to be found on vines from the 

 month of July. This insect, in 

 gnawing the leaves, makes on them 

 those linear impressions that have 

 been compared to written charac- 

 ters [Fig. 127]. When it is present 

 in large numbers, it also attacks 

 the grapes, and dries them up. It 

 is when in the larval stage that [Fig. 128. J 



this beetle is especially injurious. Vine-Beetle. 



It presents itself in the shape of a little elongated worm, 

 z6 



