THE GRAPE VINE. 1 29 



the plum. The whole were covered with some soil, 

 and a large bell-glass placed over them, and left for 

 fourteen days : at the end of that time they were all 

 examined minutely through the microscope, but not 

 one insect had gone on to the roots of these fruits. 

 On to a piece of vine-root that was put along with 

 them in a clean state they did go. These experiments 

 go to prove that Phylloxera does not care so much 

 for any of these fruits as it does for the vine. On 

 pieces of vine-roots laid upon the same board — not 

 covered with soil, but merely covered with a bell- 

 glass — the insect was found quite shrivelled up and 

 dead. Tobacco-smoke, however strong, does not seem 

 to affect it ; for I placed the insect in a glass vessel 

 and filled it as full of tobacco-smoke as it could be, 

 but it remained alive. 



There can be no doubt that there are scores of 

 decoctions that will kiU this insect — such as salt, 

 hellebore, &c. : but the difficulty to overcome lies in 

 the depth of soil to be so acted on; for if a few insects 

 are left, the enemy remains in possession of the field, 

 and there can be no certainty of stamping it out in 

 this way. I ]t)elieve that to submerge the whole 

 border and vines in clean water would destroy the 

 insect ; but what of the eggs or larvae ? Mr Dunn, of 

 D.alkeith Gardens, when at Powerscourt, in Irela/nd, 

 got rid of it in some vineries there by lifting and 

 washing the roots of the vines, and merely picking 

 all the roots out of the soU, and mixing dry soot and 

 caustic lime with the old soil, and replanting the 

 vines. But that process leaves some risks in the way 

 of stamping it out ; and I know of a place in England 

 where even more radical means failed. Therefore it 

 must be admitted that the most certain way of 



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