346
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

dressed a despatch to Mr. Consul Crawfurd, at Oporto, I not been called until the last two years to the exist-
ence of a new enemy of the vine in the shape of
Phylloxera vastatrix.

desiring him to make all the inquiries necessary in
his neighbourhood, and furnish me with such informa-
tion as he could collect on the subject. I have
received his report, and have the honor to enclose it
herewith. Your Lordship will observe, on reading it,
that Mr. Crawfurd seems of opinion that the fears,
amounting almost to a panic in some districts, which
have arisen concerning the ravages of this insect, are
very much exaggerated, and he attributes this very
much to the recent publication of a pamphlet on this
subject by Senhor Oliveira. I am inclined to agree
in this opinion to some extent, for I have procured
and read the pamphlet, on the inaccuracies of which
Mr. Crawfurd comments in very severe terms. I am
not sure, however, that Mr. Crawfurd does not under-
rate, as much as Senhor Oliveira may overrate, the
damages caused or to be apprehended from this mis-
chievous insect; for, though Mr. Crawfurd may cor-
rectly designate the pamphlet as "a hasty and ill-
judged compilation from French authorities," it does
not thence follow that the authorities from whom
he compiled are unworthy of credit. So far
from this being the case, I am inclined to
believe, from the positions which several of them
filled in the Bordelais and in the valley of
the Rhone, that they were men selected on account
of their practical or scientific knowledge to report on
the subject. With this reservation, I agree with Mr.
Crawfurd in considering both the tone and the state-
ments of the pamphlet very exaggerated; and, more-
over, as I now see that many of the articles in the
local newspaper from which, as I informed your
Lordship, I drew the chief materials of my Despatch,
were based upon the contents of this pamphlet, I
trust that the grounds on which Mr. Crawfurd
expects that the Portuguese vineyards will enjoy an
immunity, total or partial, from the scourge, may
prove correct. In reference to the case specially
mentioned in the 9th page of Mr. Crawfurd's report,
it is a curious circumstance that I have, within the
last few weeks, had one precisely similar in my garden
in Lisbon. An old, strong, healthy, and hitherto
very fruitful vine, began suddenly to wear a very
sickly appearance, the leaves began to wither, and to
assume first a yellow and then a reddish appearance.
My gardener had never seen this or any other vine
in my garden attacked in a similar manner (although
we are obliged to sulphur all our vines several times
yearly to preserve them against Oidium); so, thinking
that I had received my first visit from the Phylloxera,
I desired the gardener to uncover and carefully ex-
amine the roots, but they appeared perfectly sound
and healthy, and the disease which has destroyed this
year's crop of fruit and leaves remains a mystery. I
have surrounded the roots with a bed of soot, over-
laid with earth; but whether the vine will recover or
die remains to be proved.

I have, &c.,
CH. A. MURRAY.

Enclosure 1 in No. 3.

Consul Crawfurd to Sir C. Murray.

Oporto, 30th June, 1872.

SIR,-I have the honor to enclose herewith, with
reference to your Despatch of the 12th instant, a re-
port upon the recently discovered vine disease pro-
ducing insect-Phylloxera vastatrix.

I have, &c.,
OSWALD CRAWFURD.

Enclosure 2 in No 3.

Report by Consul Crawfurd upon Phylloxera
vastatrix.

THE attention of the Portuguese vine-growers has

The discovery in France of this supposed importa-
tion from America was not made till the year 1855,
since which time its natural history and the effect of
its ravages upon the vine plant have been indus-
triously investigated by French entomologists and
œnologues; and in the opinion of some persons the
extent of these ravages has been not a little over-
stated.

There is little doubt, however, that, after making
due allowance for the exaggeration common to those
who make a long study of special subjects, the injury
done by this insect to vineyards, in certain districts of
France, and under certain circumstances of vine culti-
vation, has been considerable.

Phylloxera vastatrix is a small insect of the sub-order
of Homoptera. The adult female only has, as yet,
been discovered; it is found in the apterous and also
in the winged state. The eggs would appear to be
generally deposited in galls, formed by the insect on
the leaf of the vine, and the newly-hatched grub finds
its way to the roots of the plant, upon which it feeds.
The first symptoms of the vine being attacked is
the reddish yellow colour of the leaf. No means of
checking the progress of the insect has yet proved
effectual.

Senhor Oliveira, junior, has quite recently published
a pamphlet upon the subject, which, though a hasty
and ill-judged compilation from French authorities,
may perhaps have the effect of arousing observation
on the part of the vine-growers. This work, however,
is full of unpardonable exaggeration, tending only
either to encourage undue alarm, or, as is more pro-
bable, to excite utter unbelief in the writer's asser-
tions: e.g., the author begins by stating that a plague
has fallen upon the vine industry of the country one
hundred times more destructive than the old vine
disease—the Oidium tuckeri.

The food of Phylloxera vastatrix being the roots of
the plant, it is obvious that it is only where the young
and more tender roots of the vine are near the surface
of the ground that they can be destructively fed upon
by so small and delicate an insect.

This is proved by the experience of French
observers.

In vineyards where the soil is of little depth, in
those where the drainage is deficient, and particularly
in those French vineyards where, quantity rather
than quality of wine being sought for, cultivation by
the plough and frequent manuring are employed, the
presence of the insect has been found to be more or
less accompanied by damage to the vine; for in all
these cases the fine root-fibres are near the surface
and within reach of the insect. The same, of course,
applies to newly planted vines, which are especially
liable to destruction.

On the other hand, Phylloxera vastatrix is never
observed to attack vines allowed to creep over
pollarded trees, or over trellis work; and vines so
trained form, probably, nineteen-twentieths of all
that are grown in North Portugal--the vines in such
cases being usually well-established plants of many
years' growth, with deep-reaching roots. Again, in
the district in which port wine is produced, although
the shape of the vines is bush-like, as in France, the
roots descend to a great depth in the schistose soil,
-a depth, as I have myself had occasion to observe,
sometimes exceeding fifteen feet.

The same holds good, though to a less degree, with
regard to the vines of the Bairrada district, and else-
where in the province of Beira, where they are grown
in bush shape; and it may be observed generally of
this consular district that the wine cannot be profit-