1869.] ANOTHER CHAPTER ON THE VINE. 81 



of that system from the modes adopted on the Continent, but it must 

 be borne in mind that even those systems are artificial, and adapted to 

 suit circumstances of soil and climate; none of them are suggestions 

 from nature. 



The Vine seems cosmopolitan in the temperate zone; it turns np in 

 odd places from Bury St Edmunds and Asia Minor to the forests of 

 North America and the antipodes ; the line of perfection hovering 

 about the 39th degree of north latitude, if we take the quality of the 

 juice as the criterion for the quality of the fruit. Bearing this in 

 mind, we have a strong suspicion of English-made wine, pure and 

 unadulterated, although we never tasted any. A little more south- 

 ward, and we reach the range of the rascally vin ordinaire, so cheap 

 about Paris as the northern limit to wine production, of course with 

 fluctuation as to locality, as in the instance of the thin but sparkling 

 Rhenish wines. Southwards to Bordeaux, and improved climate and 

 claret appear ; then over the Pyrenees to the land of sherry and port, 

 until the climax of quality is reached in the home of Don Quixote. 



We hear of the Vines on the Rhine being low bushes planted on 

 the brashy hill-sides, which is necessary to get every advantage of the 

 sun's rays in that northern limit; but that does not prove that Vines 

 should always be planted in brashy soil. The roots must be exposed 

 to much wet and cold in winter, and altogether their vitality must 

 be low. Step a few degrees farther south to Lombardy, where we 

 were lately told of the Vines being allowed to run high on poles, and 

 planted on the flat land little removed from bog ; indeed, the soil is 

 often raised to keep the crops above the water-level, it being impos- 

 sible to quite drain the low flat lands, reminding us of a peat -bog or 

 the fens of Lincolnshire. But then the Vine enjoys a much higher 

 degree of heat than on the Rhine, and being a thirsty plant under 

 those circumstances, it has unlimited moisture at the root and a deep 

 soil. 



We hear also of the Vine growing to an enormous size on the low 

 flat country lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian, a country 

 of crooked rivers and inland lakes, which geologists say was once 

 ducked under the sea, and barely lifted out again in the days of 

 Noah, and has been in a draggled state ever since ; too moist for 

 corn, but the home of the Vine, where the heat and moisture are 

 excessive in summer, the winter equalling our own in severity. 



It is clear that the Vine luxuriates in a deep rich soil with abun- 

 dance of moisture, and when in such condition can enjoy a very high 

 temperature with abundant circulation in the air. It appears also that 

 the Vine, growing in a temperate climate in a deep moist soil, does 

 not suggest a very high degree of heat at the root at any time, until, 



F 



