212 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



WINES THEIR COST AND QUALITIES. 



In 1861 the British government instituted an inquiry into the 

 " strengths of wines in the principal wine-growing countries of Europe." 

 It embraced the growths of France and Switzerland ; of the Rhine 

 provinces, Bavaria, Hungary, and Austria ; of Spain and Portugal ; of 

 Sicily and Italy. The gentlemen selected for this mission were emi- 

 nently qualified for the task, and have executed it with diligence and 

 judgment. Though their instructions were specially to ascertain the 

 percentage of alcohol contained in the various products of the grape, 

 their researches were necessarily of a much more expanded character. 

 Mr. Ogilvie, inspector-general of customs in London, reported on 

 France and Switzerland. At the commencement of his remarks he 

 observes that he confined himself to those wines known to contain in 

 their natural condition the greatest quantity of spirit. His inquiries, 

 therefore, were limited to the south-eastern and southern districts of 

 France, commencing in the Burgundy district, and extending as far 

 south as Perpignan, at the foot of the Pyrenees, and thence back to 

 Bordeaux. 



The quantity of wine produced in France from year to year varies 

 considerably, being seriously affected by the weather and other cir- 

 cumstances. Of this uncertainty in the crop the following statement 

 is ample proof: "In 1847 the produce was upwards of 54,000,000 

 hectolitres, or 1,011,188,000 gallons; but in 1854, owing to the 

 disease that made such ravages among the produce of the vines 

 throughout Europe, the total production dropped below 11,000,000 

 hectolitres, or 242,000,000 gallons, being about one-fifth of the former 

 year." Independently of the oidium, or the vine disease, which may 

 be regarded as exceptional, severe frosts in the early part of the year 

 kill the plants in low-lying localities, while abundant rains in summer 

 render the juice of the grape inferior through weakness. It may be 

 well here to observe that the hectare is equal to two and a half Eng- 

 lish acres, and the hectolitre to twenty-two English gallons. If the 

 aggregate crop is liable to very great fluctuations, so is the propor- 

 tionate quantity in different localities. Thus, in 1861, according to 

 Mr. Ogilvie, the produce in the department of the Jura was estimated 

 at 6^- hectolitres per hectare, or about 57 gallons per acre; on the 

 other side of France, in the Charente Inferieure, it was estimated 

 at 10 hectolitres per hectare, or 88 gallons per acre; while in some 

 parts the produce was computed to have reached 60 hectolitres per 

 hectare. In 1858, the total production of France averaged 25 hecto- 

 litres per hectare, or about 220 gallons per acre; in the following 

 year it was only about 14 hectolitres per hectare, or 123 gallons per 

 acre. From this uncertainty of production prices must be subject to 

 excessive fluctuation, which is only to be guarded against by the cul- 

 ture of a larger area of soil. This has become the more urgent as the 

 prices for home consumption in France itself have increased consider- 

 ably during the past few years ; in consequence, distillation from wine 

 has been entirely abandoned. Still, though wine in many places is 

 double what it was ten or twelve years ago, and in some parts even 

 fourfold, yet it still ranges at a low figure when consumed in the dis- 

 trict where it is made. Ordinary wine of good quality may still be 



