80 Memoir on the Vineyards and Wines 



time for the juice to be elaborated, and spread through alt 

 the channels of vegetation, when mists, humidity, or* dew> 

 succeed : it is a certain fact, that there is a difference of one 

 third in the quality and value between vines situated in east 

 and west exposures. 



1Y.' Describe the Nature of 'the Ufovtid or Soil which pro- 

 duces the best fVM, 



Next to exposure, the nature of the soil and of the ground 

 influences the quality of the wine. It must be admitted^ 

 however, that grounds with a northern exposure produce" 

 wines of a generous and spirituous description; while an* 

 other exposure, perhaps to the south, yields a poor and com*- 

 inon sort of wine. It is therefore to the salts and the juices 

 of the earth, combined with the influence of the atmosphere, 

 that we must ascribe the goodness and qualities of soils, 

 adapted for vineyards. 



The most proper soil for v'mes is a sandy granitic carth > 

 neither compact, nor too thick, nor clayey : frequently in 

 the best exposures, we meet with stony soils, which give 

 very strong wines; but warm and dry seasons are requisite in 

 these cases, and a necessary maturity : beneath these stony 

 soils, there are clayey and unctuous parts, and plenty o£ 

 springs, which conduce to the elaboration of the juice. 



In .gtmecal throughout Champagne the soils proper for 

 vines rest upon banks of chalk. The vine, indeed, comes up 

 slowly in this kind of soil, but when it has fairly taken root 

 it grows to perfection : the heat of the atmosphere is tem- 

 pered and modified by the coolness of the chalky beds, the 

 moisture of which is constantly sucked up by the vegetative 

 channels of the vine-plant. 



CULTIVATION OP THE V/NE. 



V. How is the Vine planted P 

 tn November or December, when the season admits of it, 

 the vine is planted by making an oblong hole or furrow, 

 one foot and a half in depth, by two or three feet in length : 

 the plant is introduced into it and covered with earth, slop- 

 ing it in such a way as to uncover only two or three inches 



of 



