%S On ths Cultivation of the V'tne, 



It is well known to all farmers that moift foil is not prop^, 

 for the cultivation of the viue. If the foil, continually moiil- 

 encd, is of a fat nature, the plant languifhes in it, rots, and 

 dies : on the other hand, if the foil be open, light, and calca- 

 reous, the vegetation may be itrong and vigorous, but the 

 wine arifing from it cannot fail to be aqueous, weak, and de- 

 ftitute of flavour. 



Calcareous foil in general, is proper for the vine : being 

 arid, dry, and light, it affords a proper fupport to the plant; 

 the water with which it becomes occafionally impregnated^ 

 circulates, and freely penetrates through the whole ftraturn i 

 the numerous ramifications of the roots imbibe it at every" 

 pore; and in all thefe points of view calcareous foil is very 

 favourable to the vine. In general, wines produced in calca- 

 reous foil are fpiritous, and the cultivation is fo much the. 

 cafier, as the foil is light and not ftrongly conne6led ; be- 

 fides, it is to be obferved that thefe dry foils appear exclufively 

 def^ined for the vine : the want of v/aler, mould, and manure, 

 oppofelhe idea off every other cuhivation. 



But there are fome kinds of foil ftill more fa;vourable t?o the 

 vine, thofe which ane at the fame time light and pehblv: the 

 root eafily forces itfelf through a foil, which, by a niixtaive of 

 light earth and pebbles, is rendered exceedingly permeable. 

 The ftraturn of ^^/^/x which cowers the furfaee of the earth 

 defends it from the ckying ardour of the fun ; and whv-le the 

 flem and the grapes receive the benign intluence of that lu- 

 minary, the root, properly moiilened, furnilhes the juice lie- 

 cefTary for the labour of veoetation. S')il of this kind- is called 

 in different countries, flony foil, fandy foil, &c. 



Vpleaiiie earth alfo produces delicious wines. I have had 

 occafion to obferve in different parts of the fouth of France 

 that the m.ofl vigorous vines and the mofl capital wines were 

 produced among the remains of volcanoes. Thefe virgin 

 earths, prepared for a long time in the bofom of the earth by 

 fubterranean fires, exhibit an intimate mixture (if all the 

 earthy principles ; their femi-vitrified texture, decompofed by 

 the combined a^lion of the air and water, furni flies all the 

 elements of good vegetation, and the fire with which thef^ 

 earths have been impregnated, feeing to pfffe in fucc<;fl[i6n into 



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