350 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [lo May, 191 i. 



At the large vineyard of Villeroy (864 acres) belonging to the same 

 company, which has, in a single vintage, yielded over a million gallons 

 of wine, the usual practice in previous years was to apply oil cake (con- 

 taining 7 per cent, of nitrogen and about half as much phosphoric acid) 

 at the rate of 18 cwt. per acre, per year. The market value of this oil 

 cake is about ^5 per ton, which would bring the cost of this dressing to 

 ;^4 per acre. The results of such heavy manuring on vineyards planted 

 in almost pure coastal sand, proves conclusively the extent to which vine 

 yields can be increased by the use of manures. 



Requirements of the Vine. 



Manuring must replace, in the soil, the annual removals of plant food. 

 It is therefore necessary that these should be accurately calculated. 

 Muntz's investigations* on the requirements of the vine show, in a 

 striking manner, the influence of climate. The warmer this is, the more 

 complete is the utilization of fertilizing substances, so that for an equal 

 yield, the vineyards of cold, northern climates demand heavier applica- 

 tions of manure than those of the warm .south. 



On the basis of M. Muntz's investigations, the following would be 

 the amount of each important plant food element brought into play for 

 the production of one hectolitre (22 gallons) of wine. The quantities are 

 in kilogrammes (2.2 lbs.)t — 



Nitrogen. 



Midi ... ... ... ... ... .480 



Medoc (claret) ... ... ... 1-485 



St. F.milion (claret) ... ... ... i-349 



Burgundy ... ... ... ... 1.020 



Beaujolais ... ... ... ... 1.014 



Chablis ... ... ... ... 1.080 



Champagne ... ... ... ... i.6qo 



The difference between the figures for the Midi (warm southern France) 

 and those for ail the other districts is very striking. Champagne, the 

 coldest of all, is also the most exacting. It is worthy of note that, with 

 the exception of the Midi, all the above districts yield high class wines. 

 It is, in fact, generally recognised that wines of high quality take rather 

 more out of the soil than vin ordinaire does. 



The greater efficacy of manuring in warm climates is a fortunate 

 provision of nature, so far as the heavy bearing Herault is concerned, and 

 one which should prove consoling to us. The climate of northern Vic- 

 toria, being even warmer than that of southern France, we may not un- 

 reasonably hope to very largely increase our grape yields by less costly 

 applications of manure than those described above. 



Which is the Dominant Manure Element? 



This question has given rise to much discussion within recent years. 

 For a long time, it was held that heavy applications of nitrogen were of 

 greatest use for the purpose of forcing production, and it will be seen 

 from the figures quoted above that nitrogen, the most expensive plant food 

 element, is applied on a very lavish scale. t although, as we have seen, 

 potash is removed in greater quantity. It is, however, more abundant 

 than the others in the majority of soils, and portions of the non-assimilable 

 reserves of this element are no doubt released by the gypsum which is 



* Muntz. Les Viines. Etude experimentnh sur leur culture et leur exploitation, 1895. 

 t O. Ch>ippaz in Proqres Agricole et VUicole. 18 October, 1908. 



X Thi« L« in diroot contradiction to the results of .all cereal manure experiments conducted in 

 northern Victoria. Nitrogenous manures liave led to little appreciable increase in wheat yields. 



