Though nearly a fifth of the cultivated portion of the island was thus planted, yet the individual vineyards were but small in extent, the largest of them not exceeding three or four acres. In the wine-growing countries of Europe fresh plants are set at least every twenty years; but in Madeira they are allowed to remain in the ground so long as they yield any fruit. The native growers do not relish improvements; of all the agricultural implements which some English landowners, settled near Funchal, wished to introduce, the garden-rake alone was adopted by these enemies of innovation. The vineyards of Madeira were usually let out to farmers (caseiros), and rarely cultivated by the proprietors themselves. The yield of an acre was estimated at from one to three pipes. In 1848 the cost of producing a pipe of Madeira amounted to from 12 to 40 Spanish piastres. In the same year the total production of the island amounted to 30,000 pipes, of which only 10,000 were exported, as the inferior sorts, not keeping well, are not suited for the foreign markets. Of the wines exported, half went to Russia and the Baltic provinces, the other, comprising the best kinds, were sent to England, the West Indies, and the United States. Up to the year 1851, when the last good vintage occurred, the price of a pipe varied from 12 to 14 Spanish piastres. So late as 1845, when the Danish corvette Galatea, on her voyage round the world for scientific purposes, put in at this island, the inferior sorts were so cheap that Captain Steen Bille considered it more profitable to supply the crew with wine mixed with water than beer. Since that time prices have become ten times higher, and the best quality now sells for from £110 to £150 a pipe, and will doubtless rise in proportion as the older stores are exhausted.
Though the yield of the vine had been decreasing, year after year, for a considerable time, yet the actual vine disease only made its appearance in 1852, when the leaves and fruit were covered with a kind of fungus (Oïdium Tuckeri),[20] like a white dust. The Portuguese Government sent a commission for the purpose of investigating the causes of the calamity. The report[21] is not decisive on the point, whether the fungus is the real cause or only a symptom of the disease, nor does it offer any advice as to how it may be checked. Dr. Hermann Schacht,[22] who resided during a period of 18 months in the island, and has published a valuable treatise, states that the vine-disease appears there in the same form as in Germany, even as regards the season, which is soon after the blossom disappears. At first the young leaf is covered with a whitish matter, chiefly on its lower side; it then assumes a crumpled appearance, becomes spotted, and at last decays. The young diseased grape likewise becomes covered with a white dust, at first partially, and then entirely, the green skin by degrees assuming a brown colour, the grape increasing at same time in size, until it as large as a currant, or a small cherry, when it becomes black, and perishes together with its diseased stock. In this decayed condition the grapes remain on the vine till late in the autumn. Dr. Schacht was successful in arresting the progress of the disease in its earlier stages, by washing all parts of the plant with a solution consisting of one part of glue to sixteen parts of water; an operation which had been likewise performed with good effect in the Royal hothouses of Sans-souci in Prussia. He rubbed the leaves and grapes infected by the fungus with this solution, and, where possible, dipped the grapes in it. The solution very soon dried, and gave the grapes and leaves a glossy appearance. All that had once been operated upon in this way remained in a healthy condition, and even those affected by the fungus recovered beneath the crust, the operation thus seeming to afford a protection against the fungus. The practice of strewing the plant over with powdered sulphur, which was so much lauded, seems to be of little use. At Teneriffe, Dr. Schacht found the fungus widely spread, notwithstanding the application of sulphur. Keeping the grape close upon the ground is also recommended as a protection against the disease, having proved very successful in the south.
[20] Vide Botanical Gazette of 1852, page 9; of 1853, page 583; and of 1854, page 137;—Fulasne, "Sur le Champignon, qui cause la Maladie de la Vigne."—Comptes Rendus, vol. xxvii. 1853;—Dr. Schacht on Madeira, pages 52 to 58.
[21] Memoria primero sobre a mangra e doenza das vinhas nas ilhas da Madeira e Porto Santo, por Joao de Andrade Corvo. Lisbon. 1854.
[22] Madeira und Teneriffa mit ihrer Vegetation, &c. Von Dr. H. Schacht. Berlin. 1859.
The pecuniary loss sustained since the first appearance of the malady amounted in the autumn of 1852 to 1,137,990 Spanish piastres, £190,000,[23] and after having waited in vain a period of five years, for a better state of things, the impoverished landowners entirely gave up cultivating the vine. A traveller who chances now to visit Madeira can scarcely believe that but a few years ago the greater portion of the island was covered with the plant. The cause of its disappearance must, however, not be ascribed entirely to the disease, but partly also to the utter neglect of its culture in favour of that of other products, so much so that of late it was scarcely possible to procure a sufficient quantity of grapes for invalids to whom they were medicinally prescribed. Moreover, the sugar plantations, which annually increase in extent, have contributed to the destruction of the vines, as the former require irrigation, which causes the roots of the latter to rot in the humid ground.[24]
[23] The quantity of wine produced amounted, in the year 1851, to 10,374 pipes; in the following year (1852), only to 1413½ pipes.
[24] The vine disease seems, however, to have been already prevalent in Madeira at a former period. In an old lease, referring to land or property in the west of the island, there is a clause to the effect that "In the event of the young grape being covered with mildew (mangra), the contract would be null and void." In Portugal also, the disease is said to have existed more than fifty years ago, though not to a great extent.
The present situation of the people of Madeira claims alike the sympathies of the philanthropist and the attention of the political economist. We here behold a population of upwards of a hundred thousand souls, deprived at once of a product, which has been for more than three centuries the principal means of obtaining their living, and by which many an industrious grower made a considerable fortune.
The farmer of Madeira, accustomed for generations to this branch of industry, is now forced to apply his energies to another, on the fortunate selection of which will depend his welfare for the future, or at least for years to come.