Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-10-13
for alleged political offenses, and 1 may
say one-third of the Irish party have been
put in Jail from Iime TO time"
NO MORE CHAMPAGNE
The Alarm Over Phyiloxera-win 1t be
Stamped Out?
From the Pail Mall Gazette.


Stamped Out?
From the Pail Mall Gazette
If one were to believe the sensational
statements of sundry "Paris correspond
ents the champagne vineyards are on the
eve of being destroyed by the Phyl0rera
rastatrir, and in another year or two there
will be no more champagne. OF course,
there will always be plenty of sparkling
wine, for any wine may be manipulated so
as to be rendered efiervescent but be-
tween genuine champagne and the ordi-
nary manufactured rin mouSSear there ex-
lists even a greater difference than between
water which nature herself impregnates
with carbonic acid gas and n water whose
sparkling properties are due entirely to
artificial means. True champagne owes
its efiervescence to its own saccharine,
hence its superiority as a beverage AND its
value as tonic in cases OF neuralgia, nau-
sra and influenza. Must the gourmet then
indeed bid ID farewell? The following
facts and figures derived from reliable
sources will throw some light on the
matter:
The champagne vineyards yield, on aE
average, nearly IG,ee0,000 gallons of wine
every year. 0nly a portion of this is con-
verted into lia Fsousselm, the inferior
growths supplying ordinary table wine for
the inhabitants of the district except in
years of great scarcity, when they are
utilized by some of the shippers At the
present time there are about IS a00,0 900 |
bottles of sparkling champagne in the eel |
lars of the shipping houses, who. moreover,
hold stock of over 100000 gallons of |
IL l.,
average 20,000,000 bottles, so that the |
stocks in hand, large as they may seem,
only represent between four and FIVE wears !
consumption. IT,. therefore, the cham |
pagne vineyards were on the point of be- |
ing annihilated 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 |
vineyards are about to be DESTROYED. We |
have been told times without number that |
there would soon be no more cognac
brandy, the phylloxera having devasted
the Charsnte vinelands, and the stocks of
the distillers being nearly exhausted.
Statements to this effect, emanating 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. No one can
deny the serious ravages of the phylloxera
in the Charente vineyards, 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 A, 100000 gallons of wine, the
whole of which has been converted into
brandy. There is, therefore, no likelihood
of the supply Of cognac failing, though, of
course, a well-matured spirit is now more
expensive than it was in the old days. In |
a like way the depredations of the phyllox- |
era have been stayed in the Medoe. One
need only turn to the official statistics
issued by the French Government to see
that the Medoc vintage of 1887, 1888 and
1889 were among the most plentiful on
record.
The success which has attended the
efforts of the Medoc and Charente vine
growers will probably wait upon the efforts
now being made in the champagne eoun-
try. The champagne houses are extremely
wealthy. They have not spent all their
millions in supporting General Boulanger,
and one may expect that they will render
considerable pecuniary assistance to the
proprietors of the soil. The vineyards are
about 81, 900 acres in extent, and not more
than 5000 acres are owned by the ship
ping frms-all the remaining vineyards
being in the hands of comparatively small
growers. The task of contending against
the phylloxera is an expensive one, but it
is SO evidently the interest of the shippers
to support the growers that whatever
funds may prove necessary will certainly
be forthcoming. Indeed, syndicates and
commissions are already at work, and the |
entire Department of Marne is being or.
ganized in view Of offering an energetic |
resistance to the scourge.
The real champagne vineyards, it should |
be noted, are confined TO the Department |
of the Marne, and, so far, the phylloxera |
has not been found in any one of them. |
But it has been detected at Treloup, inthe |
Aisne, within 500 yards of the border of
the Marne, and it is this which has caused |
the panic. There are numerous extensive |
nurseries at Treloup, whence the growers
of the Marne have for many years been
accustomed to obtain young vines to re-
place such plants in their own vineyards
that were either dead or past bearing. As
consequence, it is thought highly prob
able that the young vines purchased at
Treloup during the last twelve months
may have disseminated the phylloxera
through the vineyards of the river and the
mountain alike-possibly even over the
slopes of Ay and Hautvillers, Bouzy and
Verzenay, and a dozen other localities
whence the best varieties of raw cham
pagne are derived. If such prove the case.
the situation will be very serious; but at
the present season it is impossible to ar
rive at any certainty on the point. The
phylloxera virtually disappears during the
autumn and winter months and one will
not know until next May whether it has
really penetrated the champagne vine
yards or not.
Meantime, all precautionary measures
will doubtless be carried out, all the reme-
dies indicated by the scientific research 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 ami
hilating the scourge even more promptly
than their confreres in the Medoc. For
comparatively small sum, no doubt, they
might purchase the contaminated vine
yards at Treloup and lay them waste,
burning every vine stock and impregnat-
ing the soil with the most approved
chemical preparations. lhlS, OF course,
would not remedy the harm which may
already have been done, but it would, at
least, tend to check further invasion. At
the present time one can only say of the
situation that it is undoubtedly threat
ening one; but, clearly enough, it is alto
gether too soon even for Paris correspond
ents to assert that there is to be no more
champagne.
In Habersham Park, Georgia, is cur
ious grape vine. About FIVE feet from the
ground, from a large live oak, there pro-
trudes grape vine about one inch in
diop,atar The fraa &c ,1arfoof1y solid and