S June, 1908.] 



YiticitUiirt in Europe. 



\6r 



sold freely ai 400 pesetas a butt, or about 3s. a gallon. The town of 

 Jerez was one of the richest in Spain — certainly the richest for its size— 

 this great prosperty being entirely due to the shipment of Sherry. Even 

 now It is a prosperous place; its population is about 60,000 and it is one 

 of the cleanest and best built towns in Spain. It is a town which has a 

 special character of its own, with its whitewashed walls and light blue 

 window-gratings — every house is whitewashed on the 24th June of 

 each \ear. The almost complete absence of signboards, on which there is 

 a tax, and the tree-planted streets gi\e a very agreeable appearance to the 

 town. The older streets are chiefly planted with orange trees trained with 

 \ery high trunks. At the time of my visit they were laden with fruit 

 which brings in a small revenue to the city council. In some of the newer 

 streets sheoaks have been planted. They appear very curious to an Aus- 

 tralian amid such unfiniilinr surro'indino-q. 



CAS A UE LAG ARES (,CRL 



(USE) AT EL CARIBE. 



The decline of the Sherrv trade is a curious fact and one which is 

 hard to explain. Though a verv large business is still done in Sherries, 

 it is nothing compared to what it used to be. The type of wine now in 

 demand is of a lighter tvpe known as Fino in Spain. The fuller wines 

 of the Oleroso class which were the chief glory of 30 to 40 years ago are 

 now quite neglected. Jerez people complain that now-a-days business is 

 only done in cheap wines; many of those \vho have accumulated large 

 stocks of high grade wines are 'practically ruined owing to the present 

 difficulty of selling these very expensive wines at an\thing like a payable 

 price. 



Many reasons are given for this depressed state of the Sherrv trade. 

 Merchants are blamed for blending in wines from other districts in_ order 

 to meet the demand for a cheap article. Dr. Thudicum's adverse criticism 

 of Sherrv from a "health" stand-point is also blamed. His condemna- 

 tion appears to have been due to personal reasons rather than to the 



