9 March, 1908.] Viiicidture in Europe, 183 



many cases slate posts are used, about 2x4 inches in section. These 

 look very neat, and are strong and practically indestructible. At first 

 sight they look very like wood, and one wonders at wires being' supported 

 on such light pieces of timber. These slate posts are quarried at Pocinho, 

 higher up the river, and cost from 5d. to 6d. each. The vines are not 

 tied up in the summer, but care is taken to arrange the shoots, when dis- 

 budding, so as to shelter the fruit from the sun as much as possible. 



Cultivation is very thorough, and is all done by hand. The first, or 

 deep cultivation, corresponding to our winter ploughing, is termed in Por- 

 tuguese ' ' Cava. ' ' The ground is thoroughly turned to a depth .of nearly a 

 foot. Sometimes the land is gathered up into ridges, so that the whole 

 of the rainfall may sink into the subsoil, and none be allowed to run to 

 waste. This "Cava" is executed with the hoe during February and 

 March. The trunk of the vine is bared, so that any roots thrown by 

 the scion may be thoroughly removed. "Cava" is the heaviest work in 

 the vineyard; it, as well as subsoiling (Rotiamento in Portuguese) is 

 usually performed by gangs of Gallegos, or men from the adjoining 

 Spanish province of Galicia. The Portuguese inhabitants of the Douro 

 prefer the lighter ordinary work. The second cultivation is known as 

 Redra. It consists in a light stirring and levelling of the soil with the 

 hoe. It is done by the people of the district during May or June. Should 

 weeds be troublesome, a Secunda Redra is carried out later in the season, 

 but in the hot and dry Douro summer it is not, as a rule, necessary. 



The vineyards I saw struck me as being remarkably clean and well 

 cultivated. A few vines were suffering from sunburn, but last summer 

 was hotter and drier than usual. The rainfall on the upper Douro from 

 ist January, 1907, to 30th September, 1907, only amounted to 9.68 inches, 

 of which nearly 2 inches fell in September, just in time to save the crop 

 from failure. 



The healthy state of the vines and their resistance to drought is no 

 doubt due to the great depth of the preliminary preparation of the soil 

 in the first place, and in the second to the thorough and deep winter cul- 

 tivation. 



Reconstitution on the Douro. — Phylloxera made its appearance in 

 Portugal nearly thirty years ago, the Douro being one of the first districts 

 attacked. It spread with astonishing rapidity, and in a few years the 

 whole district was practically destroyed. The example of one vineyard 

 — Quinta de Roriz — ^will serve to show the rapidity with which the pest 

 spread in this porous, rocky soil. The last four vintages yielded by this 

 vineyard (about 90 acres in extent), prior to its total destruction, were 

 lespectively as follows: — 140 pipes, 60 pipes, 10 pipes, and 6 pipes. 

 The Portuguese Government and private growers turned to France for 

 advice. That country had by this time replanted large areas on resistant 

 stocks, and French growers were beginning to find out the faults of the 

 stocks first used, such as Taylor, York's Madeira, Jacquez, &c. It was 

 the commencement of the Riparia period. This stock was thus planted 

 extensively on the Douro, and, strange to sav, it has on the whole, given 

 satisfactory results ; far more so than T expected from what I had seen 

 of it in the south of France. Whether it is the very deep preparation of 

 the soil, or the freedom from excess of lime, it is hard to say ; no doubt 

 both these points are in its favour, but Riparia, grafted with the usual 

 Douro varieties, and pruned long, is, even after twenty vears, still giving 

 satisfactory results in many of the Douro vineyards. Rupestris du Lot 



