, 1879-03-07
THE FRENCH VINTAGE.
What tile Tl,ylt0xern Has Dunc-Some Or
tlclal stnttstlcs-tt Hint to 1sranAy.D Driulk-

What tic rhyltoxern Has Dunc-some Or
tlclal stnttstlcs-A Hint to Brandy. Drlnlk-
sra.
la Rochelfe coyresnnndtnce St,o FORK Tribune,
American connoisscurs In French WINS anu
byand[es will bc aurry to learn lat tile statistics
gathered md Just now published by the Ministry
OF Finance III reference to the vintoge Of 1879,
shows very considerable llH,tnt1siou in the
quantity Of last ycar's vnous product through
out Franco; and notably IN such dcpartncutsas
Ci,arcnse {Cognac} mil IIcrault, which have
heretofore bcen ,uoro particularly known
throughout The commercial world for the excel
lcslco OF The wines aIst liquors they produce. To
tho ravagcs, real a'ld prospective, Of the phyl-
loxern, aud tho consequent Substitution OF wheat
cnturc In many districts, may be attributed
this alarming dIm,nuton, which, III thu DEPART
1ncnt Of l1crault alone, has rcduccd the vintagc
from nn nyerage Of 14,UoO, QUO llcctoltrcs a,lll-
ally, between 1850 md 1916. to only 1900 600 In
1873. The licetolitre contains TWENTY-FIVE gnl-
Iona.
A glance at the figures showing the total vino
product for oil France in 1873, rs compared with
that Ut previous years, shows unm,staknbIy
how busy thu phylluxcra has been. The aver
aGa annlal production for ten years past has
been 90, ,3 hcctoli,res, yet Inst year 1t fell
to .55, decrease Of over s,00o, 600 hccto-
ltrcs. The urea planted III vines In 1874 was
5000, ,o0u acros. llguro never attaInel previous
to tl'at yCuT. Since lien thu phylauxrrn's cr-
Groaehncnts hare neccssitatcd thu CLEARING OF
375, ,0t0 ulore arrcs. The lttLp hug, It will be
seen. 'us kcpt THO French TURNER'S b,sy with
sssas w vel acte g. r Th as hsF ssi o o
tcn to twelve hcctolitres, hns now fnllcn to from
ok To- eight. In solnc departments. such as
vur,, Gard, and Bourhes.dl. .lt!'onc, il!c pro.
duc.[on Is only onc-tcuth OF what It
formerly .ffh{t nf1tlfnf1fn hnA how,
ever. bean partial md liscriminnt-
ing, in hts attentions Some districts, auen us
that arou;'l Cuguac,- for instance, tave hcun
ease Is entirely dillcrc,it although tho Two de-
| partments adIotn eacls ull,er. This department
lChareats. lntereurch With 't75, 70 ncFes ur,tcr
yus 9sH sS.'tyaton p5sss 1 !,S 4g5lo sc;otrss
Of only uhuut 10 per cunt. Iu other words, this
departueht, which III 1877 ranked SECOND OH tho
| list Of thoso In frango producing wine, now
ln 1877, With showing Of 0060,0 llcrtolttres,
now passes to thc second plnre. having only
42o0o oDo to show. Next in order con'u lAuse,
ui'1nde, , @ 1.,d Charcnte, eac!a producing upward
vienne. aaone-ct-l.o!ra, L0ire, lndrc.et-Ioire,
Mcurthe-ct-Alosclle, ucrs, ruy-de-Dnmc, Auto,
hhonc, and tiauto-Alarne, each producing over
one a9d = lcss than two mtll'on leetos.
| at CognaG the outlook, tn speak mildly. Ia
not promising. ln that department {Charrntc)
tho uyerA4o annual Yield between 16ttj aNl 1873
Waa 4.0uO01 hectolttres; III 1877 It fell to t1bS,
Al, alt last year, under circumstances uthrr
wise nl3st favorable, to 3,n54,174. Or atnut 80
per cent Of ttn former ayera10 grup. At aucll
showing a. this, our New York brauiy-tlrnkers,
WIN love to snatl, tilelr ilps oyer t'poncs" OF
| Fin Champagne at tlls Windsor or Brunswick,
may well stanl nghast: yI,, for various rcaso,,s,
| tic daHgcrts not Immediate. Tho phy1luxefa
| may run Its course and disappear as II can,r;
nlany entertain belief tAut 1t will. Even ii II
1uea not, sous successful 1nea,ls u resistlug lis
cncroacll1nrnts nlny be discovered, tho French
Government having appointed Commission
Tor that ohlect. And oven tflis failing. tbs stock
| HOW Oh l.anll ts lAEgc, and futuro crops, oven
though diminished, can to BuIne extent he kept
up by clcar!ns new la,,l, 50 tul lrallly-l1lnkCrs
| hced nut Oh yet stnlk III immediate terror vi
tlat nla!aly which EoncrallY ensues upon tile
| abrupt dlscontinualIco Of their fuyurito beyer-
ngo. Aud even In case France st,uull tall them,
There still remain itnly, producing 81 .bou 033,
Anstrla 2a..0iDQu Spai,l ,O00, QcguAuv,
U0,uo, Mnd Purtuga. 5,Qo0, wv hucto|itrus al.
| hually. Tho YEARLY vine product ot Eurupe.
franre Included. Is estimatcd ut lA0, 1ai ,6iG
| AcctOlitrcy.
:. III th!s connection It may be Rtllcd, that Now
York imports Ll.t'st OF tho bra,n!Y scut troln
| France to the United Statea Next tu pFdur
come Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Balti-
more, una Nuw Orleans, III the order liaMel.
During December last, Cognac sent fl3SAOOO
worth Ut brnuues tu New York alone.
1