Journal of AgriciilUire. [8 July, 1908. 



land owners. .Merchants finding their supply of this kind of_ wine- 

 cut off by the destruction of the vineyards secured their supplies of similar 

 wines elsewhere. The change of fashion which is so much complained of 

 in Jerez also affected Malaga, and what wine was yielded by the first re- 

 planted vineyards met with a poor demand at unremunerative prices. 



It IS true that subsoiling was tried in some cases, but on these steep 

 hillsides it often led to the washing away of the soil by the very heavy 

 rain sometimes experienced in this part of Spain,' for terracing was not 

 practised in Malaga as it used to be from time immemorable on the Douro. 

 A few small growers have of late years replanted small areas in a more 

 thorough manner and are, it is said, obtaining fair results, but the whole- 

 sale ruin of this once prosperous region is very striking and should serve 

 as a warning of the danger of underestimating the value of subsoiling for 

 American vines. 



The distance apart of the wine vineyards is about 6x6 feet. The 

 vines are usually pruned short. Sometimes a short rod is left but the 

 pruning is much shorter than in most other parts of Spain, such as Jerez. 

 On these drv hill sides this short pruning was inevitable. The vineyards 

 are exclusively cultivated by hand with the hoe. 



Taken as a whole the Malaga wine industry is in a most depressed 

 state. The Raisin vineyards are in a far more satisfactory condition. 

 Thev are mostlv situated in the Vega or on the low hills b>ordering it. 

 Campanula, a small town or large village ten miles from Malaga, may 

 be looked upon as the centre of the raisin growing region. The vineyards 

 are alwavs situated on almost level ground, hillsides not yielding fruit of 

 sufficient size. 



Irrigation is frequently applied though it is not by any means the 

 general rule. It must be remembered, however, that Malaga has a fair 

 rainfall, and that both culture, pruning, and training are such as to insure 

 the best use being made of what rain does fall and to protect the fruit in 

 the greatest measure possible. Irrigation is held in some quarters to have- 

 an iniurious influence on the quality of the fruit though it increases the 

 \ield. In the irrigated vineyards water is often only applied in the winter 

 time. The extent to which winter irrigation is practised in Southern Spain 

 impressed me verv much. It is a common thing to see vines and olives 

 being irrigated in December (June in Australia), partly no doubt becau.se 

 in many situations this is the only time when water is available, but with 

 the subsoil well watered and careful cultivation during the early summer 

 to assist its retention, it is wonderful what fine yields can be obtained. 



Millions of gallons run to waste each winter in. Victoria and in many 

 localities much could no doubt be done in the way of utilising this surplus 

 water for w'inter irrigation. The physical nature of many of our soils 

 is, I understand, less suitable for such treatment than that of Andalucia, 

 but there are, I feel sure, manv localities in which the system is worthy of 

 adoption. 



A curious feature about raisin vines and one in which they differ greatly 

 from those grown for wine is that heavy manuring instead of interfering 

 with the quality of the product seems to improve it. The fashioii now-a- 

 days is for a dark raisin — what is termed blue-black in the trade. It has 

 been found that this deep color is encouraged by heavy manuring of the 

 vines. 



Rt'-^onstitution has bt-en carried out on a large scale in the raisin grow- 

 ing vinevards, and though trouble has arisen in connexion with several 



