The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-15
NO MORE CHAMPAGNE.
The Alarm Over Phynoxera-win It
be STAMPED Outp
Frona the PnH MnN Gnzetfe.


IL one were to believe the sensational
statements Of sundry"Paris correspondents, /"
the champagne vineyards are on the eve of
being destroyed by Phyltorera Uastatrir,
and in another year or two there will lie no
more champagne. OF course, there will
always be plenty Of sparkling wine, for any
vine may be manipulated so a TO be reu-
dered etfervescent; but between genuine
champagne and the ordinary manufactured
rim BIOuSseU0 there exists even a greater
difference than between a water which
nature herself lmpreKnates with carbonic
acid gas and water whose sparkling pro-
perties are due entirely to artificial means.
True champagne oweshts effervescencs to its
own saccnarine, hence its superiority as a
beverage and its value as a tonic in cases of
neuralgia, nausea, and influenza. Must the
gourmet then indeed bid it farewell The
fol owing facts and figures derived from
reliable sources will throw some light on
the matter:
The champagne vineyards yield, on an
average, nearly l0,0)0.000 gallons Of wine
every year. Only portion of this is con-
verted into Utsl nl0iSSedT. the inferior
growths supplying ordinary table wine for
the lnhabita its of the district, except in
years of great scarcity, when they are
utilized by some of the Shippers At the
bottles Of the sparkling champagne in the
cellars OF the shipping houses, who, more
ever, hold q stock OF over 4,000,00G gallons
OF wine in cask. The annual sales, how
ever, average 20,00O.00O bottles, 50 that
the stocks in hand, large as they may
seem, only represent between four and five
years consumption. If, therefore, the
champagne vineya DIS were on the point of
being annthilated the wine might become
altogether unobtainable, either for love or
money, before the close OF the century.
But 1t Is by no means certain that the vine
yards are about to be destroyed. We have
been told times without number that there
would soon be no more cognac brandy, the
phylloxera having devastated the Charente
vinelands, and the stocks of the distillers
being nearly exhausted. Statements to this
effect, enanating from our consular agents,
have been printed in blue books, and
largely quoted by the newspaper press
But events have failed TO confirm these
assertions. None can deny the serious raw
ages OF the phylloxera in the Charente vine
yards, but the latter have been
largely replanted and are now steadily
recovering, for during the last few years
they have yielded at each vintage an
average OF 44,OO0,O00 gallons of wine, the
whole OF which has been converted into
brandy. There is, therefore, no likelihood
of the supply of cognac falling, though,
ofcourse, well-matured spirit is now more
expensive than it was in the old days. In a
like way the depredations of the phylloxera
have been stayed in tue Me1oc. Ols nesd
only turn to the official statistics issued by
the French government to see that the
Medoc vintages of 1877 1888, AMI 1889
were among the most plentiful on record.
The success which has attended the efforts
OF the Medoc and Charante vine growers
will probably wait upon the efforts now be-
ing made in the champagne country. The
champagne houses are extremely wealthy.
Ihey have not spent all their millions in
supporting Gen. Boulanger, and one may
expect that they Will render )nsiderable
pecuniary assistance to the proprietors OF
the soil. The vineyards are about 81, 0UC
acres in extent, and not more than 00(
acres are owned by the shipping tirms-al
the remaining vinelandS being IN the hands
of comparatively small growers. The task
of contending agaiast the plylloxera is AT
expensive one, but it is so evidently the in
terest of the shippers to support the growers
that whatever funds may prove necessary
will certainly be forthcoming. Indeed
| syndlcates and commissions are already al
work, and the entire department of Marine
| is being organized in vie v of Offering al
| energetic resistance to the scourge.
The real champagne vineyards it should
be noted, are confined to the department o.
the Mar e, and, so far, the phvlloxera ha:
not been found III any on, Of them. But il
has been detected at Treloup, in the Aisne
within 500 yards of the border of the Marine
and it is this which has caused the panic
There are numerous extensive nurseries a
Treloup, whence the growers of the Maine
have for many years been accustomed tc
obtain young vines to replace such plants il
their own Vineyards that We're either dead Oh
bearing
is thought highly probable that the
young vines purchased at Treloup
during the last twelve months may
have disseminated the phylloxert
through the vineyards of the river and the
mountain alike-possiblv even over the
slopes of Ay and Hautvillers, Bouzy and
Verz nay. aud dozen other localities
whence the best varieties of raw champagne
are derived. If such prove the case the
situation will be very serious; but at the
present season it is impossible to arrive al
any certainty on the point. The pbylIoxers
virtually disappears during the autumn aud
winter months, and one will not know until
next May whether it has really penetrated
the champagne vineyard or not. Mean
time, all precautionary measures will
doubtless be carried out, all the remedies
| indicated by the scientific re 'earch of
recent years will be brought into play.
and large fund will be subscribed If the
champagne growers and shippers are only
in earnest they may succeed in annihilating
the scourge even more promptly than their
confreres in the Medoc. For c5mpara-
lively small sum, no doubt, they might
purchase the contaminated vineyards at
Treloup and lay them waste, burning every
vine stock and impregnating the soil with
the most approved chemical prepar ations
This, Of course, would not remedy the harm
which may already have been done, but it
would, at least, tend to check further inva-
sion. At the present time one can only say
OF the situation that it is undoubtedly a
threatening one; but, clearly enough, it is
altogether too soon even for Paris CORE
spondents to assert that there is to be nc
more champagne