290 PHYLLOXERA VASTATRIX, OR 
the vulgar names of " puceron " in France and " plant 
louse " or " vine fretter " in England ; but the Phyllo- 
xera, whose ravages are now causing so much damage 
and apprehension, appears to be not only particularly 
destructive, but also very difficult of extirpation. A 
printed paper, from which I gather some of the obser- 
vations which I am now offering to your Lordship, 
states (I know not whether correctly or not) that the 
French Government has offered, and hitherto without 
success, a reward of 20,000 fr. to any one who can dis- 
cover an effectual remedy for the ravages produced by 
this insect. According to the statement of the paper 
above referred to, the injury inflicted by this scourge 
on some of the vineyards in the Duro district has been 
terrible, and one vineyard is specified, the average pro- 
duce of which had been seventy pipes of wine, and 
which last year only produced one ; and a certain 
Senhor Avelino, who was sent into that district to 
examine and report upon its condition, estimates the 
total loss on last year's vintage there at 500 pipes. 
The Portuguese Government has named a commis- 
sion, under the presidency of the Director-General of 
Commerce and Industry, to examine into the progress 
of this dangerous evil, and to gather from all quarters 
(whether scientific or practical) suggestions for the best 
mode of extirpating it. One French vine-proprietor 
reports that he has tried with some success the ex- 
pedient of digging a hole round the stem of the vine, 
which he half fills with chimney soot and then covers 
over with earth. If this should ultimately prove an 
effectual antidote to the malady, it is much to be 
regretted that the vine-growers of France and Portugal 
.are not somewhat nearer to London, where it could be 
