The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-06 00:00:00

THE MALADY IN THE VINES.

M. Granier de Cassagnac kas addressed a letter to the
Constitutionnel on the subject of the oidium, or the malady
in the vines. He states that, after a long and patient inves-
tigation, he has come to therconclusion that the oidium is
not caused by a sort of mushroom, or by an elyptogamic
plant, the seeds of which are carried by the wind, growing
on the fruit ; nor by the forced cultivation of the vine,
injured by the application of manure ; nor by a
sort of mouldiness arising from the rotting of grass seeds
conveyed by the wind and adhering to the plant ; nor by
any of the circumstances supposed by savans, and he
details several facts which have come under his own ob•
nervation, tending► to prove the commonly-received
theories entirely unfounded. He, however, admits that
he has not been able to discover what the oidium is
caused by : but he expresses the opinion that the fall-
mg-off in the production of wine is net so much
Owing to that malady as to a temporary but general
sterility of the vines. He says :—"The oidium has only
a secondary part in the existing temporary diminution
in the production of wine. Vines are passing through a
period of general sterility, and the oidium is only a par-
tial and violent form of it. Thus, wine is scarce every-
where, partly no doubt because the eidium has destroyed
a portion of the grapes ; but it is scarce principally be-
cause during the last two years grapes are produced in
very small quantities by the vines. If in 1854 all the
grapes destroyed by the oidium had been preserved, the
crop would not the less have presented a deficit of from
50 to 60 per cent. on an average of good years. As a
proof of this, I state that I have seen, like everybody
else, in the canton of Plaisance and the canton of Marcia;
vineyards of red grapes, entirely preserved from the oidium;
and at Ladevese, in one of my own vineyards, I have
totally preserved my red grapes by means of sulphur. The
fruit of these vines, which has arrived at maturity,
is admired by all who have seen it, but the crop,
though relatively very fine, especially as regards its value
in money, is not the less sixty per cent, below that of a
good ordinary year. Moreover, the whits grapes, slightly
attacked by the oidium, except in the parts affected by
the frost, are generally in a very satisfactory situation.
In the part of the country in which I reside, no
one ever remembers to have seen white grapes finer,
more gold-coloured, more sugary, and more exquisite
than those of this year ; Fontainebleau and Thomery
have not trained vines mere charming than were fifteen
days ago those of our vines in the open fields ; and in
the opinion of all owners of vineyards the wines of 1854
will exceed those of 1848 in strength and quality. But
in definitive these admirable white grapes, full of juice
though they be, have not, on an average, yielded one-
half of the last crop, and yet that was scarcely one-half of
the preceding one. It is then a general sterility of the vine,
and not the oidium, which causes the falling off in the
production of wine. We may, it is true, save by means
of sulphur the newly-formed grapes, but the grapes are
small in quantity. All the efforts of producers ought
then to be employed to make the vines produce grapes
as they did two years ago."

CAMBRIDGE, Nov. 4.—ln the Senate House, this
morning, Edward Guest, LL.D., Master:of Gonville and
Caius College, was elected Vice-Chancellor for the aca-
demical year 1854-5.
HEALTH OF THE BRITISH FORCES IN THE CRIMEA.
—Letters have been received this week from Dr. Hall,
the principal medical officer in the Crimea, stating that
the sick and wounded at Scatari are going on most satis-
factorily ; that every man is provided with all that is
necessary for his comfort aid accommodation ; and that,
although 2,103 beds are occupied, there are 1,100 more
in readiness to receive any wounded that may arrive
from the Crimea.—Medical Times and Gazette.

FIRE IN ST. AIARTIN'S-LANE.—This morning a fire,
likely to have not only destroyed the premises of Mr. J.
E. Richard, the wholesale stationer and mill-board
manufacturer, of St. Martin's-court, but also the eur-
roundiag closely-inhabited neighbourhood of Cecil-court,
into which the warehouses extend, broke out about 11
o'clock. It originated in the front ground cellar, in
which an extensive stock of paper was housed, to which
department, through the exertions of the servants, and
the Chandos-street engines, under Mr. Staples, the dam-
age was, however, confined. At half-past 12 all danger
had passed. The general stock was in course of removal
to more extensive premises in St. Martin's-lane, and,
from gas being used in the cellar, it must be surmised
that it came in contact with some of the stacks of paper.
SINGULAR CHARGE OF RECEIVING ILLEGAL TOLL.—
'At the Longton Police-court, on Wednesday, Jacob
Allen was summoned for that he, being the collector of
the tolls at the Foley gate, on the Newcastle and Blythe
Marsh turnpike road, on the 20th of October, demanded
and received 9d. as toll in respect of a handcart belong-
ing to Mr. John Britton, of Longport, and which was
not authorised to be taken by the act under which the
road was formed. Mr. Turton appeared in support of
the complaint, and Mr. J. A. Stevenson for the defend-
ent. It appeared that °lithe day in question a boy earned
John Arkinstall, employed by Mr. Britten, was taking in
a handcart a quantity of bread to Fenton ; he overtook
one of the Anderton Company's waggons, and with one
hand took hold of a chain hanging at the back of the
waggon, with the other hand keeping hold of the handcart,
and was thus pulled along. On arriving at the Foley gate,
the defendant stopped him and demanded 9d. as toll,
under a clause in the Turnpike Act, authorising toll
to he charged in respect of carriages attached to other
carriages drawn by horses, whether the carriage so at-
tached would be otherwise liable to toll or not. The
clause alluded to expresses that the carriage so attached
!oust he fastened to the preceding carriage, and the
magistrates expressed an opinion that the handcart in
question was not fastened or contemplated by the act.
it being necessary, to support the charge, to prove that
the road was a turnpike road, Mr. Turton called Mr.
Garnhamn, the inspector of police, for that purpose ;
but Mr. Stevenson argued that the only proper evidence
would be the production of the act under which the
road was formed, and the case was adjourned for a
week, in order that the act nii ht be produced. Mr.
Stevenson asked fur costs, which were refused, Mr.
Rose remarking that
.the defendant deserved no en.
couragement, in the course he had adopted.—Staloed-
shire Advertiser.