Abstract
SOME time ago we published in our columns a short account of the results of the investigations of various scientific men in France into the nature of the Phylloxera —that terrible scourge which is committing such widespread ravages among the French vineyards. Latterly we have received some reports communicated to the French Academy of Sciences dealing with the attempts which have been made during the last three or four years to arrest the mischief done by the insect, and ultimately ic destroy it altogether, by means of some potent drug. It is obvious that the remedy to be employed must possess two qualities at starting, viz., it must destroy the insect and it must not damage to any great extent the vine. But, further, it is not sufficient that when put in close contact with the roots of a plant—as in a pot—it should prove fatal to the insect, it is necessary, if the remedy is to be of real practical value, that it should reach and destroy the Phylloxera on all the parts attacked by it in vines which are planted out in the open air. This is a real difficulty to overcome, as the remedy, be it in the form of solution or of vapour, cannot easily permeate the soil, sometimes clayey, sometimes sandy, on which the vine is growing, so as to reach and act upon the smaller root branches whose nutrition the Phylloxera diverts into itself.
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The Phylloxera and Insecticides . Nature 15, 200 (1877). https://doi.org/10.1038/015200a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015200a0