9 March, 1908.] Viticulture in Europe. 181 



wrought bv phylloxera is apparent on every side. Numerous families 

 who derived a comfortable income from their vineyards, so long as these 

 continued to produce, had not the necessary capital or credit to face the 

 heavy cost of reconstitution, and have been utterly ruined. The work 

 people dependent on these vineyards for their livelihood feel the change 

 and there is much poverty on the Douro. The cost of reconstitution here 

 is very heavv. Competent authorities assure me that the cost of sub- 

 soiling, terracing, planting and grafting the land necessary for 1,000 

 vines amounts as a rule to ^100. 



Climate and Soil. — As regards climate the Alto Douro is drier and 

 hotter than Oporto and is very similar to Northern Victoria — especially the 

 Goulburn Vallev. I have secured rainfall and temperature records which sho\^ 

 this similarity. Corroborative evidence of it is to be found in the way 

 in which Australian indigenous trees prosper. Thousands of eucalypts, 

 chiefly blue gums {E. globulus), have been planted along the railway line; 

 these do quite as well as in Victoria in marked contrast to their behaviour 

 near Montpellier (France) where they are frequent! v cut down by severe 

 winter frost. Acacias also do well ; our common blackwood is frequently 

 to be seen, and is known under the common name of "Australia." A 

 good many blackwoods in dry situations succumbed to last year's drought. 

 Several wattles also do well in moister situations, notably the silver 

 wattle. 



The soil of the Alto Douro is very striking and quite different to that 

 of the country surrounding it. The greater part of Northern Portugal 

 is granitic and from Regoa to its mouth the Douro runs mostly between 

 huge granite boulders. Along the railway line from Oporto to Regoa 

 the countrv is mostly granitic though there are patches of auriferous land 

 which were worked for gold in the time of the Romans. The Alto 

 Douro wine district however is entirely composed of schistose slate, 

 easily broken up and which disintegrates into a fairlv fertile soil. This 

 schistose rock is of a fibrous, silky^ semi-crystalline texture verv striking in 

 appearance. In many places schistose and granitic formations occur 

 side by side. It is a notable fact that no good port is ever grown on 

 granitic soil. Where these occur on the Douro light table wines are 

 produced. Port is only grown on schistose soil. Some of the rock 

 near the Rutherglen Viticultural College is similar in appearance and 

 texture to the schists of the Alto Douro though it is darker and especially 

 redder in colour. 



From a chemical jx)int of view, the most important feature in connexion 

 with these soils is their freedom from excess of lime. As a rule, through- 

 out Portugal vinegrowers seldom have their reconstitution troubled by 

 excess of lime in the soil. 



SuBSOiLiNG. — This is carried out to a truly extraordinary depth. Had 

 I not seen several places where the work was last discontinued, I could 

 not have believed that the soil was generally prepared to such an extreme 

 depth. I have seen places where subsoiiing has been regularly carried 

 out to a depth of 8 and even 10 feet. The soft rock is_ broken down 

 with crowbars and smashed into fairly small pieces which gradually 

 weather into soil. This depth is certainly not the average. In this case 

 the rock was practically on the surface ; there being scarcely any soil to 

 mix with it, extra deep preparation was deemed necessary ; but land is 

 seldom planted with vines on these dry, stony hillsides, where 



