Journal of Agriculture. 



[lo Dec, 1908. 



due to its wine trade, for it is tiie chief supplier of good table wines 

 to the whole of Spain. 



I presented a letter of introduction to Don Arturo -\larcellino, one of 

 the leading wine merchants of the town, who very kindlv drove me out 

 to see one of the most important \ine\.ards in the neighbourhood owned by 

 Don I.. Etcheverra. Zaco' was the name of the vineyard we visited. 

 Together with Paceta, across die river and l:elonging to the same pro- 

 prietor, it constitutes an estate of several hundred acres. 



Zaco is plante.d on gently rising land the soil being an excellent one, 

 a deep rich, free, loam containing a large Dioportion of waterworn pebble^. 

 As the percentage of carbonate of lime onlv amounis to 10 or 12 per cent, 

 adaptation has given little trouble ; 3,309 is lanrelv used as stock and is 

 giving excellent results. As regards scions, the Tempranillo varietv 

 preponderates, about one-half of the vine^ being of thi.5 sort. One-third 

 consists of Gracianc, the balance being made up witli white sorts chiefly 

 Malvasia and Calagrano. The admixture of a fmall quantity of white 

 grapes is held to te an advantage here, as is the case also in the Hermitage 

 district of France, the object being to increase the " finesse " of the wine. 

 The vin:^s are planteil at 6 \ 6 feet, short pruned and trained gooseberrv 



HARD. 



bush fashion with ratlier low crowns. Culti\atii)n is done by animal 

 traction — horses and mules. At the time of my visit the first winter 

 ploughing was in progress. Single furrow French ploughs with one mule 

 harnessed in shafts were l)eing used, the .soil turning up in beautiful 

 order to a depth of 6 or 7 inches. In this climate. >vhich is cooler and 

 moister than that of Southern Spain, the ground is not turned over to 

 such a considerable depth. This vineyard is tvpical of the majoiitv of 

 those in the region. Don L. Etcheverra 's fine bodegas, adjoining the 

 Haro railway station, were next visited. It is here that the grapes grown 

 at Zaco and Paceta are made into wine as well as large quantities of 

 bought grapes grow'n by small vineyard own.i'rs, the selling of the grapes 

 to large wineries being the general rule. The usual price paid last vintage 

 (1907) was two pesetas per arroba of \\\ kilogrammes which would 

 work cut at over ^8 per ton reckoning the peseta at par. 



I next visited the large bodegas of the Compania Vinicola del Xnrte 

 de Espaiia which may be taken as typical of the numerous wineries and 

 maturing cellars of the region. As has alreadv been pointed out, Rioja 



