€nd the Method of making Wines. Jzy 



them a faccharlne tafte and a good flavour, it would be erro- 

 neous to believe that its a6lion alone can produce every efFe£l 

 required. It can be confidered only as a mean neceflary for 

 maturation, which fuppofes that the earth is fufficiently fur- 

 nifhed with the juices that ought to fupply the materials. 

 Heat is neceflary ; but this heat muft not be exercifed on 

 dried earth, for in that cafe it burns rather than vivifies. The 

 good fl:ate of vines, and the good quality of the grapes, de- 

 pend then on a juft proportion — a perfe6l equilibrium be- 

 tween the water, which furniflies the aliment to the plant, 

 and the heat, that can alone facilitate its maturation. 



5, Culture. — The vine grows naturally in Florida, Ame- 

 rica, and almoft every part of Peru, In the fouth of France, 

 even almoft all the hedges abound with wild vines ; but the 

 grapes they bear are always fmaller, and, though they come 

 to maturity, they never acquire the exquifite tafte of the 

 grapes that are cultivated. The vine then is the work of 

 nature, but art changes its produ6tg by bringing the culture 

 of it to perfection. The difference which exifts at prefent 

 between the cultivated vine and that which grows wild, is 

 the fame as that efi:abliflied by art between the vegetables of 

 otir gardens and thofe of the fame kind which grow acci<- 

 dentally in the fields. • 



The culture of the vine, however, has its rules as well as 

 its boundaries. The foil where it grows requires great care ; 

 it mufl; be often dug up ; but it refufes the manure neceflary 

 for other plantations. It muft here be remarked, that all 

 thofe caufes which powerfully concur to give activity to the 

 vegetation of he vine, alter the quality of the grapes; and 

 here, as in other delicate cales, the culture ought to be di- 

 redlcd in fuch a manner that the plant may receive only poor 

 nouriflmient if grapes of a good quality are required. The 

 celebrated Olivier de Serres fays on this fubjeft, that, ^^ by a 

 public decree, dunging is forbidden at Gaillac for fear of lef- 

 fening the reputation of the white wines, with which the 

 people of that diftri6l fupply their neighbours of Touloufe, 

 Montauban, Caftres, and other places, and of thus depriv- 

 ing them of the great profit thence arifing, which forms the 

 beft part of their revenue,*' 



9 • ■ " There 



