lo April, 191 i.] Wine Indnstry in Southern France. 



237 



it loses much of its force. In Victoria, the most practical and observant 

 of our growers are coming back from the more extravagant distances they 

 were led to adopt a few years back. In the best of the replanted vine- 

 yards at Rutherglen 10 x 6 is usual — a considerable change from the 

 10 X 10 and 10 X 12 formerly favoured. 



That the heaviest bearing vineyards in the world should be planted 

 at 5 X 5 is certainly interesting. As regards quality there can be no pos- 

 sible objection to closer planting, for it is a well known fact that the 

 closer the vines the better is the quality of the wine. 



It is highly probable that insufificient preliminary preparation of the 

 soil has, in the past, been responsible for the popularity of very wide 

 planting above referred to. The better the land is worked, the closer 

 together can vines be planted. The roots, being able to extend down- 

 wards, do not need to spread laterally to nearly the same extent. 



Pruning. 



The Herault vine varieties (see Journal, vol. viii., p. 471) all belong 

 to the class which carry fruit-bearing eyes at the base of the canes; in 

 other words, they are sorts which are suited by short spur pruning. I1! 

 is this which, since time im- 

 memorial, has been the method . y 

 universally followed. The num- 

 ber of spurs left to each vine 

 varies considerably, according to 

 the vigour of the variety and the 

 richness of the soil. The vines 

 are formed according to the sys- 

 tem known in French as the 

 "Gobtet.'" which is too familiar 

 to require detailed description. 

 The vinos consist of low stocks, 

 bearing from 6 to 8. and even 

 more arms, which radiate upwards 

 and outwards, each bearing, as a 

 rule, one spur, cut back to two 

 clear eyes and the basal one. 



The ''Hare's ears" system. — This is a modification of the usual 

 " Goblet " method, and is coming into very general use in some parts of 

 Herault. It is known in French as orcilles de lievre (Hare's ears). The 

 innovation which, by the way, I have not seen described in any work 

 dealing with the pruning of the vine, consists in leaving. the spurs in pairs 

 instead of singly, as is usual in "Goblet" pruning. These pairs of 

 spurs are supi)o.sed by the vigneron to have some resemblance to the ears 

 of a hare, an animal a good deal scarcer and more esteemed in France 

 than in Australia. 



Fig. I, representing a portion of a short pruned vine, will give an 

 idea of the difference between the old and new methods. According to 

 the former, the pruning wouUl be carried out by means of the cuts 

 marked A. The " Hare's ears " are established by cutting at the points 

 marked B. The same number of spurs can be left to a vine in either 

 case, but, on comparing Figs. 2 and 3, it is evident that the three arms, 

 bearing each a pair of spurs, are less crowded and neater than the six 

 arms with one spur each. The amount of cutting is also reduced. In 



I. ' HARE S EARS SYSTEM. 



Ordinary method, pruned as at A. 



" Hare's ears " method, as at B. 



