A PERTINENT INQUIRY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2146, 16 November 1885, Page 2

A PERTINENT INQUIRY.

"Has the dreadful phylloxera ever made it appearance in New Zealand?" is a question which we imagine will not be without its interest to all who have anything to do with the culture of the vine, it is not easy to give it a direot and positive answer, but some suggestive remarks on the subject are furnished by Professor Kirk, in a valuable report which he has presented to Parliament on "the fruit blights and diseases of fruit trees in New Zealand." It appeared that about four years ago Mr Isaac, of Remuera, near Auckland, imported some vines from England. They were planted in a Wardian case, and shipped by way of Mel-' bourne, where they were detained for a short time,' pending transhipment. They were planted in a border on their arrival in Auckland, but were sickly almost from the first, the growth being weak and miserable, and the plants infested-'with mealy bug and other pests. This continued until May last, when - 'specimens of the routs were submitted to Mr Pond, the Colonial Analyst at Atickland, who reported that he had discovered phylloxera upon them, Acting upon Mr Pond's advice Mr Isaacs had the vines destroyed the vinery washed and fumigated, and the soil in,-which the vines were grown burnt, in order to extirpate the pest, So much for one side of the case, which is alarming in all conscience. Now for the other side. Professor Kirk, on examining MrPond'slaboratory, examined specimens of the insect mounted for the microscope,. and found that it differed from the typical Phylloxera msMrix in somo particulars, notably in the length of the rostrum in the larval forms. A satisfactory feature about the pest, whatever it was, is .that it does not appear to have spread, and Professor Kirk remarks that it is extremely difficult to imagine that the typical phylloxera could have remained for between three and four years without having spread to various vines in adjacent gardens and vineries. There is one puzzle, however, which the learned author does not attempt to solve, and that is, "If the insect was not phylloxera, what was it ' Timaru Herald,'