THE PHYLLOXERA PEST.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 48, 27 February 1890, Page 5

THE PHYLLOXERA PEST.

AN ADELAIDE EXPERT'S OPINION.

BEST METHOD OF STAMPING OUT

PHYLLOXERA.

Mr Thomas Hardy, of Brookeide Vineyards, Adelaide, is one of the biggest growers of grapes and manufacturers of wines in Australia. He exports largely to England, and carried away the German '. gold medal afc their National Exhibition. : He may therefore be accepted as a good authority on the phylloxera question, and writing to Captain James, of Avondale, on the subject, he says : —" Launceston, Tasmania, February 8, 1890. Your letter of 20th January has been sent on to me here, where we are at present on a visit. I am sorry to hear that you have phylloxera near you, as there is always the danger of it being carried from'one place to another ; but I should think there ought to be no difficulty in dealing with it about Auckland. If it has only appeared in one place the chances are that it has not spread and that it was brought to that place by importing vines from I"""'ope. All that is necessary to be done ti :aU$ oub anc * b urn all the vines in that house to a depthu of 2ft, and not to plane, any more vines in it, because the roots lefb in the ground will keep alive for 10 years, and the phylloxera will also live on them so long as they keep alive ; we have proved thia at Geelong in Victoria. You will see by this that it would not be safe to plant again on or near the same ground. The idea of rooting up all the vines for 5 miles is absurd, and will not be done again in Australia as ifc was at Geelong. In New ■■ South Wales they are destroying only ( the infected vineyards, and keeping a >, strict watch on all the adjoining ones. In.)' I all cases where vineyards are destroyed j compensation is paid, but sometimes it is i very much less than it should be, and in i others too much. If you have no Act passed ,p to deal with it, your people should try ;: and get one as soon as possible, ) and not delay it as they did i in New South Wales till the disease is spread to other places. If they had dealt with it when I wanted them to, three years ago, it could have been stamped out with i very litble expense. Now it will cost them ; no end of money, and what is worse, the ; increased danger of it being carried to ; other parts of the country. I have had a ; good deal to do with phylloxera, having | been a member of the Victorian Commission j to represent South Australia from its begin-1 ning, and have been sent by our Government to New South Wales to investigate. and report on it there, so that I am in a' position to give any advice that may be j useful to you, and will be pleased to do so. Oar prospects of a good vintage were never better, and our trade with England ia yearly increasing. We hope soon to get ■ all the duties removed between the colo- j. nies, and then you will be able to enjoy a.' glass of our good wine when you want to. > I hope to be in New Zealand again thia year, and will certainly call and see your vineyard." ]