THE VINE AND ITS FEUIT, 



83 



females cover their eggs with their inanimate shells 

 through the winter, the vines should be thoroughly 

 deansed when they are pruned, and should be 

 looked over every week for any of the young that 

 may have escaped to form new colonies. 



The Vine Louse {Phylloxera vastatrix) (Figs. 37 

 — 39). — Of aU the insects with which the grape- 

 grower has to contend this appeai-s to be the most 

 terrible. Within the last few years it has found its 

 way from the Continent, where it devastates whole 

 vineyards, into oxir own \-iueries, in which already 

 it has wrought wholesale destruction; and there 

 can be but little doubt that it is now insidiously 

 and silently working in many unsuspected places, 

 where it will remain until favourable conditions 

 and circumstances admit of its withering develop- 

 ment. While the French Government are ofBer- 

 jng rewards of tens of thousands of poimds for 

 remedies that will destroy the Phylloxera without 

 injuring the vines, and other Governments, iu the 

 plenitude of their wisdom, are making perplexing 

 laws, which are as useless as they are oppressive, for 

 preventing its introduction into their own countries, 

 the silent death-dealing pest is rapidly spreading 

 over every wine-growing district in Europe. We 

 leam from those who Tiave had the misfortune to 

 grapple with this insect in British hot-houses, that 

 it is capable of destroying a healthy vine within 

 a month; and no certain remedy for its destruc- 

 tion, save that of stamping out, has as yet been 

 discovered : that is, by taking out all the vines and 

 burning them, together with the soil in which they 

 grew, thoroughly cleansing, painting and Hme-wash- 

 ing the houses, salting or scalding the site of the 

 borders, and re-planting with fresh vines. 



The mature insect is described as being of a 

 yellowish-brewn colour, and so transparent that the 

 *dSS> which are also transparent, can be seen in its 

 mside. Its various forms are shown in the illustra- 

 tions, highly magnified, which appear on the next 

 page. The insect first attacks the points of the 

 roots, and works along to the base of the stem (Pig. 

 37, 4, c, d), stripping off the bark as it proceeds 

 on its way, and moving in such numbers that, 

 when examined under a microscope, the insects 

 present the appearance of miniature swarms of 

 bees, literally rolling over each other. Under- 

 ground they breed in myriads, preferring the dry 

 warm inside borders, where they axe most numerous, 

 while in cold wet borders they are less plentiful, if 

 not entirely absent, a proof that water and cold are 

 antagonistic to them. They do not rem"ain on the 

 roots after they have devoured the bark, neither are 

 they often seen about the house, except in the galls, 

 as shown on the leaf (Fig. 39), which they enter 



fi-om the top side. Fi-om experiments that have 

 been made it appears that submersion in water for 

 forty-eight houi-s kills them, or a weak solution of 

 carbolic acid causes instant death ; indeed, it seems 

 probable thiit these soft viscid creatures are easily 

 deprived of life when they are brought to light ; but 

 the great difficulty hes in getting at them, as 

 chemicals can only be conveyed through the agency 

 of water, and then arises the question, wfll one ap- 

 plication destroy the larva? as well as the living 

 insects ? Our knowledge of (sther insects justifies us 

 in thinking the attempt would end in failure. The 

 only consoling part of this sad story is the well- 

 proved fact that the Phylloxera will not live or 

 breed on the roots of any plant save the vine ; and 

 as vines in English hot-houses are confined to a very 

 small area as compared with Continental vineyards, 

 it is the duty of every grape-grower to dig up, burn, 

 and destroy every particle of wood, root, and soil, as 

 soon as the presence of this terrible scourge becomes 

 known to him. 



KEMASJLABLE rnfSS. 



As a conclusion to these articles, lovers of grape- 

 lore may be interested in a brief account of soiue of 

 the most remarkable vines which are now in exist- 

 ence in this country, and producing tons of grapes 

 of the finest quality annually. 



Amongst these, varieties of the Black Hamburgh, . 

 which may be considered as the national grape and 

 the gardener's friend, are the most numerous. The 

 vine at Hampton Court, although not the oldest, is 

 perhaps the best known to the general public, and 

 on that account is worthy of the first place in this 

 record. It was planted in 1769, and was raised from 

 a cutting taken from a large vine at Valentine 

 House, Essex. Its girth is now 42 inches, and it 

 fills a house 66 feet long and 30 feet wide. For the 

 past hundred years it has been an object of great 

 interest to grape-growers and the public, who 

 marvel at this fine specimen of extension training. 

 It is still in excellent health, and produces from 

 1,200 to 1,800 small bunches annually. In 1822 the 

 girth of the stem was 13 inches, and the produce in 

 one year amounted to 2,200 bunches of 1 lb. each. 

 WOliam Cobbett, in his description of it fifty years 

 ago, says : " There is a vine in the king's garden 

 which has for half a centuiy produced annually 

 nearly a ton of grapes." (Jeorge ill. must have 

 been a good judge of their quality, as he enjoyed the 

 fruit for fifty years. 



The vine at Cumberland Lodge, which is now 

 about seventy-five years old, is much larger than 

 the Hamburgh at Hampton Court. It was origio- 

 ally planted in a small pit, which it soon filled ; then, 

 a house was erected over it, and enlarged from timo 



