690 Journal of Agriculture. [10 Nov., 1908. 



smallest is under an acre. They are thus enabled to call at a plan- 

 tation in their immediate neighbourhood for such cuttings as they may 

 require. A small grower taking some of his purchases home from the 

 Government plantation at Sartaguda on a small pack donkey is here illus- 

 trated. This system of localization pr'^sents the further advantage of en- 

 abling growers to obtain their supplies in fresh condition. As soon as they 

 are removed from the vines, the cuttings are kept fresh by having their 

 bases placed in running water in large open trenches ; a little brushwood or 

 straw thrown over the top protects them from the direct sunlight. 



Climate and Soil. 



The climate of Pamplona is cold and wet. The southern part of the 

 province, where it borders on the River Ebro, is however sufficiently mild 

 to permit of olive culture, which occupies some 20,000 acres. The entire 

 produce is made into oil, of which nearly 700,000 gallons were made in 

 1906. The trees are usually planted at from 25 x 25 ft. tO' 32 x 32 ft. 

 apart ; the principal varieties grown being Vidreal, Empeltre, Acebuche 

 and Negral. In a general way the climate is considerably colder than 

 that of Andalucia and La Mancha. 



From a geological point of view, Navarra presents much variety, 

 especially in the mountainous northern portion where primary formations 

 and a little granite, intermixed with that of secondary age, chiefly of the 

 Cretaceous period, are to be found. The vine-growing portion is however, 

 mainly tertiarv — miocene in the extreme south, and eocene in the more 

 central portion, whilst in the valleys are smaller areas of alluvial soils, 

 recently deposited, in which the vine grows well. The high lime contents 

 of the tertiary soils, so largely represented, have caused some trouble 

 so far as adaptation is concerned, as soils containing from 35 to 50 per 

 cent, of carbonate of lime are not uncommon. In such soils, the older 

 stocks fail to give satisfaction. Berlandieri hybrids and Franco- Americans 

 now play a large part in the reconstitution of the Province, as shall be 

 shown presently. Don Nicolas is naturally an authority on questions of 

 agricultural Geology. He was much interested in the Geological map 

 of Victoria which I had brought with me, and with the aid of which 

 i was able to give him a better idea as to the nature and constitution of 

 the soils with which we have to deal. He was struck by the prepon- 

 derance ot soils of primary geological age, and of more recent ones 

 resulting from their decomposition. Such soils are comparatively rare 

 in Spain, and are mainlv confined to the high mountain ranges. With few 

 exceptions, the wine-growing districts are rich in lime in secondary and 

 tertiary formations. I was particularly anxious to studv reconstitution 

 in soils as similar as possible to our own, but this fundamental difference 

 between the geological ages of the two countries rendered this a matter 

 of some difficulty, soils similar to ours being hard to find. Don Nicolas 

 was well qualified to assist me in the matter, as the great soil survey he 

 is engaged on has made him familiar with the whole of his country. He 

 advised me tO' visit the extreme north-east of Spain where, near Figueras, 

 in the Province of Gerona, the Pyrenees fall away to the Mediterranean. 

 It was there, in his opinion, that I would find vines cultivated in soils 

 geologically similar to our own. He very kindly gave me letters of intro- 

 duction. It was from him that I learnt which of our soils are likely to 

 prove the most difficult in the way of adaptation. These are the stiff 

 limeless clays, containing much silica in a fine state of division, which 



