The French bailiff Benoît Raclet (1780-1844) married into a family of winegrowers. He is regarded as the inventor of an effective method of combating the caterpillars of the dreaded vine pest grape berry moth, which caused severe damage to the vineyards of the Mâconnais ( Burgundy wine-growing region) in the first half of the 19th century.
The invention was the result of good observation. The Raclets' plots of vines were infested by the caterpillars (hayworm, sour worm), as were those of their neighbours, and only one vine was unharmed. This stood in front of the kitchen window, from which his wife always poured out the hot water after washing up. The vine was regularly showered with water. Raclet correctly deduced from this that the pests were scalded.
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