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The Botanist and the
Vintner:
How Wine Was Saved
for the World
Christy
Campbell
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, NC,
2005, 320pp.
Price: $24.95, hardcover
ISBN: 1-56512-460-X
From
the title, one might not suppose that this is a story centered on an insect, but
the original 2004 British title Phylloxera would be instantly recognized
by entomologists. The book is a fascinating popular history of the invasion of
the grape phylloxera [Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch), Hemiptera:
Phylloxeridae] to France, the catastrophic consequences for the vines, and the
chaotic but ultimately successful recovery of the French wine industry in the
late 19th century. The author, a British journalist and defense
correspondent, has clearly immersed himself in the research. On the whole, the
result of his research is a finely crafted book that is well worth reading.
Most
Americans, perhaps even most American entomologists, are more familiar with the
Irish potato famine than with the calamitous impacts of the phylloxera that was
introduced into Europe in 1865, some 20 years before the potato famine. Not only
was the vine (France’s cultural icon) devastated, but a huge portion of the
European population and economy was upended. Many peasants lost their land, and
Campbell quotes estimated losses in France alone that equate to about $8 to 25
billion today. The successful “reconstitution” of French vineyards later
resulted in another economic crisis of oversupply, accompanied by further social
displacement and tumult.
The
cryptic and complex life cycle of the grape phylloxera, and the fact that its
origin was then unknown, vastly complicated the response to its introduction. By
the time the vines were dead, the tiny root-inhabiting life stages were usually
gone, having moved to still-living vines nearby. Unbeknownst at the time, it was
these root-feeders that were damaging the susceptible European Vitis vinifera
vines, in contrast to the importance of aerial galling populations on American
grape species. We now know that the alates arising from the root populations,
their nonfeeding sexual offspring, and the winter eggs that hatch into stem or
root-dwelling stem mothers, are merely a curiosity and not important to grape
production in Europe. Granett et al. (2001) provide a nice review of the complex
biology of this pest.
There
was no shortage of other heroes, villains, mystery, and political intrigue
during this crisis. A stupendous reward of Fr. 300,000 was offered for a cure of
the phylloxera. Even though the problem was cured, no one was ever
awarded the prize. The central character of the book, Montpellier botanist
Jules-Émile Planchon, had the best claim. He steadfastly and scientifically
pursued the problem. On an investigative foray in the United States with C. V.
Riley, he established that the American and European insects were identical.
Planchon came to champion resistant rootstock, the eventual solution, but he
died suddenly before his claim could be lodged. Our own ESA has some significant
artifacts from this convoluted case, including a bronze statue awarded to C. V.
Riley in 1892 by French winemakers, and also Riley’s French Legion of Honor
medal for service to the grape industry.
The
book illuminates the interplay between science and ignorance, superstition, and
chicanery. The chief consequence of the staggering government prize was to
heighten the mania surrounding phylloxera, and to encourage ever more bizarre
proposed remedies to the insect, which included snail slime and human urine.
French nationalism also complicated the situation. The central debate in France
during this time was between chemical control and host plant resistance, the
solutions advocated by the French elite and the so-called Americanists,
respectively. Neither approach was cheap, yet planting American-based resistant
rootstocks that were grafted with vinifera scions was the sustainable response.
The verdict of the people was clear; “peasants were voting with their grafting
knives.”
Although the book is a compelling read, some aspects could have been improved.
First, the author’s lack of scientific perspective causes him to overlook the
important and long-lasting contribution involving soil fumigation, which not
only protected particularly valuable vineyards until resistant rootstock could
be established, but more importantly inaugurated large-scale agricultural
experimentation focused on factors affecting the productivity of soils (Wilhelm
1966). Another problem with the book is that, although it provides a timeline
and several maps showing the phylloxera invasion into France, I found myself not
infrequently disoriented in time and especially in space. This is because many
French regions, towns, and wine-growing areas mentioned in the text are not
shown on the maps. Perhaps the British familiarity with France accounts for this
oversight.
The
phylloxera history illustrates several principles that are important even now.
One is that it is difficult to study the subterranean, and our knowledge of
underground fauna lags behind that of more accessible taxa. Second, quarantine
is always fraught with human issues such as education and enforcement; and these
problems are aggravated by problems of detection, particularly for cryptic
pests. Also, chemical control alone will not eradicate all but the most
restricted and obvious pest invasions. The most important lesson, though, is
that science with important practical implications is ipso facto political, and
those whom we now call “stakeholders” must be engaged and convinced of the
wisdom and fairness of activities that affect them, preferably by the scientists
themselves.
Biological problems are never as simple as they seem. In the big picture, grape
phylloxera was an invasive pest exploiting susceptible hosts in Europe, and the
solution was to import resistant American rootstock. To the author’s credit, he
goes into considerable detail about the complexities of this approach, and more
than this, he highlights the continuing challenges in California and other
wine-growing regions to remind us that no pest problem is ever finally solved,
as long as the insect continues to evolve.
References Cited
Granett, J., M.A. Walker, L. Kocsis, and A.D. Omer. 2001. Biology and management of grape phylloxera. Ann.
Rev. Entomol. 46: 387–412.
Wilhelm, S. 1966.
Chemical treatment and inoculum of soil. Ann. Rev. Phytopathol. 4: 53–78.
Donald C. Weber
USDA-ARS Insect Biocontrol Laboratory
Bldg. 011A, Rm. 107, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705
301-504-8369
weberd@ba.ars.usda.gov
My thanks to Joel Grossman for the Wilhelm reference.
American Entomologist
Vol. 52, No.3, Fall 2006
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