Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 136

[Footnote 104: Riley.]

The parts of the vine attacked by the Phylloxera are the rootlets, which in a diseased plant, may be seen more or less covered with what appears to the naked eye, a yellowish powder, but upon a microscopic examination reveals itself as a mixture of phylloxerae of different sizes, and of their eggs.

During August and September, the phylloxerae invest the rootlets in countless numbers, and are so abundant as to entirely obscure the colour of the roots, and to cause them to appear yellow from the enormous number of their minute organisms.

The effect of the attacks of the parasite upon the rootlets is to give rise in it to the formation of a number of little tumefactions or enlargements. These in course of time decay, and their destruction results in the death of the plant.

Exposure to air and sunlight acts fatally to the Phylloxera, shrivelling and drying it up. Hence its instinct of self-preservation, no less than its search after its food, leads it to bury itself beneath the surface of the soil. But, as the insect does not possess an organisation that fits it for burrowing, the character of the soil has a great deal to do in affording facilities or the reverse favorable to its existence.

If the soil be of such a nature, that it splits easily into fissures or cracks, which better lead to or serve to expose the vine roots, it will of course afford a much more easy means of access to the parasite than if it be compact or close.

Hence it is that clayey and chalk soils, from their liability to split up on the surface, afford much more congenial habitats for the Phylloxera than sandy ones, which, being dry and closely-knit, afford a much more impenetrable barrier to the entrance of the insect, or to its subterranean movements.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _a_, healthy root; _b_, root on which the lice are working, showing the knots and swellings caused by their punctures; _c_, root deserted by them, on which the rootlets have begun to decay; _d_, _d_, _d_, lice on the larger roots, natural size; _e_, female pupa, dorsal view; _f_, winged female, dorsal view, greatly enlarged.]

These statements are borne out by the fact that where the disease has shown itself it has been found to vary in extent and intensity in proportion as the soil of the vineyard is more or less clayey; and many instances are known in which patches of a vineyard have continued unaffected amidst the surrounding devastation, owing to the absence in those particular parts of the soil, of the argillaceous element.

A forcible ill.u.s.tration of this malign influence of clay in the soil is afforded by the following a.n.a.lyses of two specimens of earth taken from the same vineyard. The specimen marked "healthy" was from a small plot of ground in which the vines were perfectly sound; that distinguished as "unhealthy" formed by far the greater portion of the soil of the vineyard, the plants growing in which were all suffering from the ravages of the parasite:--

Healthy. Unhealthy.

Water 225 320 Nitrogen 011 012 Sulphate of calcium 062 042 Chloride of sodium 115 018 Carbonate of calcium 4900 4200 Siliceous sand 2350 1020 Clay 1775 3750 Organic substances } and error of a.n.a.lysis.} 562 638 -------- -------- 10000 10000

From the locality already indicated, where it had first developed itself in 1865, the vine disease gradually extended until, in the year 1873, it was ravaging the vineyards of the Gard, Vaucluse, Isere, Herault, Drome, Bouches du Rhone, Ardeche, Ba.s.ses-Alpes, Var, the Gironde, and the Charentes, since which time it has gradually continued to spread into the adjacent districts.

"We may gain a more precise idea than can be afforded by a mere observation of the geographical extension of the disease, of the disastrous nature of the ravages of the Phylloxera, by the examination of some of the statistics of the grape-crop in successive years, in some of the departments attacked. Thus, in the Department of Vaucluse, where the disease showed itself in 1866, there were in 1866, according to the results obtained by the departmental commission inst.i.tuted at Avignon to observe on the new vine-disease, 6000 hectares absolutely dead or dying, and a much larger number already attacked, which have since succ.u.mbed to the parasite. Out of the 30,000 hectares of vineyards comprised in this department, 25,000, or five sixths of the total area, have been destroyed. In the Gard, where the vine flourishes better than in the above-mentioned department, the ravages of the disease are yet most terrible; for in 1871, in the Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Uzes, but one half of the average crop was produced, and in the Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Nismes a tenth part of the crop was destroyed. These proportions, moreover, have increased since that year.

"If we examine the mischief done in the less extended areas of the communes, we shall obtain a still clearer idea of the rapid spread of the disease:--

"COMMUNE OF GRAVESON.

1865-66-67 mean crop 10,000 hectolitres.

1868 " 5,500 "

1869 " 2,200 "

1870 " 400 "

1871 " 205 "

1872 " 100 "

1873 " 50 "

"In the Commune of Maillanne the crop in 1868 was only 40 per cent. of the average of the three preceding years, while in 1869 it was only 10 per cent. In the Commune of Eyragues the crop in 1868 was about 33 per cent.

of the average of the three preceding years, and in 1869 there was a further falling off of about 10 per cent. In 1870 the crop in the three above-named communes was almost entirely destroyed. From instances such as these, fairly selected from many others equally tragic in their stern figures, we may form some idea of the magnitude of the disaster. Indeed, it is difficult to see, so rapid is the extension of the disease, how, unless some potent and effective remedy can be soon applied, any vine-bearing district in France can escape the visitation of the Phylloxera."[105]

[Footnote 105: 'Nature,' vol. x.]

The French Government, fully alive to the peril threatening the staple product of their country, shortly after the appearance of the Phylloxera in the vineyards of France, offered through their Minister of Commerce and Agriculture a reward of 300,000 francs for the discovery of a means of arresting and stopping its ravages; and in 1871 the Academy of Sciences, at Paris appointed a commission, presided over by the celebrated chemist M. Dumas, to investigate the biology, habits, &c., of the parasite, together with the nature of the injuries it inflicted upon the vine, the area of its depredations, &c. From amongst the members of this commission three gentlemen were chosen to visit the infected districts, so as to be afforded an opportunity of studying the Phylloxera at its destructive work, and its environments of soil, situation, temperature, &c.

The delegates selected by the Commission were MM. Balbiani, Cornu, and Duclaux, respectively amongst the most distinguished living representatives of zoology, botany, and chemistry in France, and the results of their labours was the issue, some few years back, of a most exhaustive and valuable report to the Academy of Sciences on the subject of the Phylloxera.

The vines of other countries besides those of France have also suffered from the attacks of the Phylloxera. Thus it has made its appearance in the vineyards of Algiers, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia, and North America, on all of which it has been productive of more or less serious injury to the vintage.

Amongst the numberless remedies that have been suggested and tried, with varying but by no means uniform or satisfactory results, for the destruction of the Phylloxera, may be mentioned sulphur, the sulphites, tobacco, caustic soda, and potash, bisulphide of carbon, coal-tar, soft soap, lime, the immersion of the vine in sulpho-carbonate of pota.s.sium, and the application around the roots of sand.

A certain amount of success, it has been said, has attended the employment of the sulpho-carbonate of pota.s.sium and sand.

An American botanist, Mr Riley, recommends the importation into French vineyards of the American vines, which he suggests should be employed as stocks on which to graft the French ones.

The American plant being of a hardy nature, he believes its incorporation with the more susceptible French ones, would give rise to a vine sufficiently vigorous to resist, or at any rate not to be injured by the ravages of the parasite.

=PHYSIC b.a.l.l.s.= See VETERINARY MEDICINES.

=PHYSOSTIGMATIS FABA.= See CALABAR BEAN.

=PI'CA.= Depraved appet.i.te.

=PIC'AMAR.= One of the peculiar principles discovered by Reichenbach in beech-tar, and described by him as a viscid, colourless, oily liquid, only feebly odorous, but intensely bitter; insoluble in water; freely soluble in alcohol, ether, and oils; boiling point 520 Fahr.; sp. gr. 1095. See KREASOTE.

=PICCALIL'LI.= See PICKLES.

=PICK'LE.= The liquor in which substances used as food are preserved. That for flesh is commonly brine; that for vegetables, vinegar; both of which are commonly flavoured with spices, &c.

_Prep._ 1. (FOR MEAT.)--_a._ From bay salt, 3 lbs.; saltpetre, 2-1/2 oz.; moist sugar, 1 lb.; allspice and black pepper, of each (bruised) 1 oz.; water, 9 pints; simmer them together in a clean covered iron or enamelled vessel for 7 or 8 minutes; when the whole has cooled, remove the sc.u.m, and pour it over the articles to be preserved. Used for hams, tongues, beef, &c., to which it imparts a fine red colour and a superior flavour.

_b._ From bay salt and common salt, of each 2 lbs.; moist sugar, 1 lb.; saltpetre, 1/2 lb.; allspice (bruised), 1/2 oz.; water, 1 gall,; as before. Used chiefly for pork and hams. Common salt may be subst.i.tuted for bay salt, but it is less powerfully antiseptic, and the flavour is less grateful.

2. (For VEGETABLES.)--_a._ Strong distilled vinegar, to each quart of which 1-1/2 oz. of good salt has been added.

_b._ Good distilled vinegar, 4 pints; common salt, 2-1/2 oz.; black pepper, 1/2 oz.; unbleached Jamaica ginger, 2-1/2 oz. (the last two bruised, but not dusty); mace (shredded), 1/4 oz.; simmer in an enamelled iron or stoneware vessel, as above, and strain through flannel. Sometimes a little capsic.u.m is added. Used either hot or cold, according to the vegetable it is intended to preserve.

=Pickle, Lemon.= See SAUCES.

=PICKLES.= These well-known articles are easily prepared of the finest quality. The vegetables and fruit, selected of the proper quality and at the proper season, after being well cleansed with cold spring water, are steeped for some time in strong brine; they are then drained and dried, and transferred to bottles or jars; the spice (if any) is then added, the bottles filled up with hot, strong, pickling vinegar, and at once securely corked down and tied over with bladder. As soon as the bottles are cold the corks are dipped into melted wax, the more surely to preserve them air-tight. Good wood or distilled vinegar is commonly used for this purpose; but the best malt or white wine vinegar of the strength known as No. 22 or 24 is exclusively employed for the finer pickles which are not spiced. In those for early use the 'steep' may be made in hot or boiling brine, by which the product will be ready for the table in a much shorter period; but with substances of a succulent and flabby nature, as cabbage, cauliflower, some fruit, &c., or in which crispness is esteemed a mark of excellence, this is inadmissible. To such articles the vinegar should also be added cold, or, at furthest, should be only slightly warmed. As a general rule, the softer and more delicate articles do not require so long soaking in brine as the harder and coa.r.s.er kinds; and they may be often advantageously pickled by simply pouring very strong pickling vinegar over them without applying heat. It must also be observed that beetroot, and other like substances which are sliced, as well as certain delicate fruits, must not be steeped at all. The spice is commonly added whole to the bottles; but a more economical plan is to steep it (bruised) for some time, or to simmer it in the vinegar before using the latter, as in the forms given under PICKLE (_above_).

The spices and flavouring ingredients employed for pickles are--allspice, black and white pepper, capsic.u.ms or red pods, cloves, garlic, ginger, horseradish, lemon peel, mace, mustard, shallots, and turmeric. These are chosen with reference to the particular variety of the pickle, or the taste of the consumer.

A good SPICED VINEGAR for pickles generally is the following:--Bruise in a mortar 2 oz. of black pepper, 1 oz. of ginger, 1/2 oz. of allspice, and 1 oz. of salt. If a hotter pickle is desired, add 1/2 dr. of cayenne, or a few capsic.u.ms. For walnuts, add also 1 oz. of shallots. Put these into a stone jar, with a quart of vinegar, and cover them with a bladder wetted with the pickle, and over this place a piece of leather. Set the jar on a trivet near the fire for 3 days, shaking it 3 times a day, then pour it on the walnuts or other vegetables. For walnuts it is used hot, but for cabbage, &c., cold. To save time it is usual to simmer the vinegar gently with the spices; which is best done in an enamelled saucepan.

In the preparation of pickles it is highly necessary to avoid the use of metallic vessels, as both vinegar and brine rapidly corrode bra.s.s, copper, lead, &c., and thus become poisonous. These liquids may be best heated or boiled in a stoneware jar by the heat of a water bath or a stove. Common glazed earthenware should be avoided, either for making or keeping the pickles in, as the glazing usually contains lead. Pickles should also be kept from the air as much as possible, and should only be touched with wooden or bone spoons. They are also better prepared in small jars, or bottles, than in large ones, as the more frequent opening of the latter exposes them too much. Copper or verdigris is frequently added to pickles to impart a green colour, or the vinegar is boiled in a copper vessel until sufficiently 'greened' before pouring it on the vegetables. This poisonous addition may be readily detected by any of the tests mentioned under COPPER. If a green colour be desired, it may be imparted to the vinegar, and ultimately to the pickles, by steeping vine leaves, or the leaves of parsley or spinach, in it. A teaspoonful of olive oil may be advantageously added to each bottle to keep the pickles white, and to promote their preservation.

? The following list includes the leading pickles of the shops, and some others:--

=Barberries.= From the ripe fruit, without heat.

=Beans.= From the young green pods of the scarlet bean, and the French or kidney bean, with heat.

=Beetroot.= From the sliced root, without steeping in brine, and with cold spiced vinegar. When wanted for immediate use the vinegar may be used boiling hot.

=Broccoli.= As CAULIFLOWERS.

=Cabbage.= This, either red or white, is cut into thin slices, and steeped in strong brine or sprinkled with common salt, and allowed to lie for 1 or 2 days; after which it is drained for 10 or 12 hours in a warm room, and then put into jars or bottles, with or without a little mace and white peppercorns, and at once covered with cold, strong, white vinegar.--Another plan is to steep the sliced cabbage in alum water for 10 or 12 hours, and, after draining and drying it, to pour the vinegar upon it as before. The product of the last formula eats very fresh and crisp, but takes longer to mature than that of the other. Some persons add a little salt with the vinegar; and others mix slices of red beet with the cabbage.