162 TRANSACTIONS OP THE 



the scorching rays of the noonday sun. Besides, the aspect due south 

 is less favorable here, as the soil on the southern slopes is in most cases 

 less fertile. 



The component parts of the soil must be favorable to the retention of 

 sufficient moisture for the nourishment of the vine, and yet permit of 

 perfect drainage. It is not enough that the surface attests its fertility 

 by a luxurious growth of indigenous plants. The subsoil should be 

 sufficiently porous to prevent water stagnating during the rainy season. 

 Hence, heavy clay soils are inadmissible. The product of such soils is 

 a superluxuriant growth of wood, but the fruit is scanty, irregular in 

 size, late in maturing, and of insipid flavor, lacking all the elements nec- 

 essary for a good wine. A mellow loam, easily worked, and of sufficient 

 tenacity to retain moisture for the thrifty growth of the vine, without 

 irrigation, will give all the essential elements requisite for a vineyard. 

 A red, loamy soil, if of sufficient depth, and produced from the disinte- 

 gration of adjoining rock formations, is next best; but if the rock near 

 the surface is of a hard sandstone, the growth of vines and fruit will be 

 scanty. A third class, and very extensive one in some parts of our 

 large valleys, consists of gravelly, loamy soils, which will rate according 

 to their fertility and permeability. 



As all of our agricultural lands have none or but little of the elements 

 essential for the growth of plants exhausted, and the soil is in every 

 sense an alluvial, and produced from the disintegrated strata of the 

 adjoining rock formations, we can well dispense with a minute chemical 

 analysis of a given soil, but use our critical acumen, in that respect, to 

 learn from the natural productions its capacity for fertility and drainage. 



Many persons taken in by the romantic associations which the colored 

 descriptions of the vine-clad hills of France, or by the Father Ehine, 

 convey to the mind, advocate indiscriminately the practice here. In 

 those countries favored less by nature in the extent of suitable land for 

 vine culture, their humid and cold climate often destroying, or at best, 

 impairing successive crops of grapes, it is of the utmost importance to 

 select land for a vineyard on a hill side, on account of the perfect drain- 

 age which is to be had only in such a locality, and also that the land 

 should slope southward, to afford shelter from the northern winds, and 

 to concentrate each ray of the retreating sun upon this favorite fruit. 

 The scarcity of those sheltered places causes each sunny nook to be 

 occupied by a grape vine, whose nourishment is scraped in the valley, 

 and by toilsome labor, often on the backs of men or women, conveyed 

 up the rugged heights. After all this patient toil, the scanty beverage 

 obtained would hardly impart to our gustatory senses visions of ambro- 

 sial nectar. Indeed, places are few and far between where the soil and 

 proper location, as to altitude and aspect, are most favorably combined 

 to give to certain vinej^ards and vintages a world wide reputation. 



In manj* respects, California is highly favored by nature for a wine 

 country. A network of mountains affords the necessary shelter from 

 the prevailing winds, and the high grounds are free from the nightly 

 condensed vapors of the low valleys, while the dry season extends indefi- 

 nitely the length of time nccessaiy for the perfect development and 

 ripening of the grape. Few countries can boast of the favorable climatic 

 conditions which permit the already palatable fruit to remain upon the 

 vine three months longer, subject to the laboratory of solar rays, con- 

 verting it into delicious raisins or ambrosial juice. With all these ad- 

 vantages in our favor, we cannot with impunity plant a vineyard where 

 we wish, but only in locations offering most favorable conditions. Innu- 



