JO Dec, 1908.] 



Ylticidture in Europe. 



7^3 



Avines are known throughout Spain as amongst the best table wines pro- 

 duced in the country. 



El Ciego is situated some 40 miles from Haro, further down the Ebro 

 and on the other side of it in La Rioja Alavesa. We took Sunday 

 -faorning's train for, as in other Continental countries, Spanish trains run 

 on Sundays the same as on week days. The village of Briones with its 

 curious church tower and the huge square i6th century donjon of Dabalillo, 

 across the river, are among the most striking land marks in this verv 

 picture•^que region. Olives are to be seen here and there but onlv in 

 irregular plantations for we are here on the climatic limit of the olive 

 ^one in Spain. Don Victor points out to me the celebrated vinevard of 

 La Salmuera de San Vincente situated on a rise in the bend of the Ebro, 

 the soil being free and gravelly. This wine, made from the Tempranillo 

 and Garnachio grapes, is fuller bodied than most Rioja wines, containing 

 as much as a 4 per cent, of proof spirit. The Garnachio varietv is 

 -exceedingly susceptible to phylloxera and succumbed far more rapidlv 

 than the other kinds grown in this neighljourhood. 



TART ANA — 



TYPICAL SPANISH VEHICLE. 



Xear here I remarked a curious mode of subhoiling being carried out 

 -on a small field destined to become a vineyard. The gin or winding 

 drum driven by a horseworks was fixed in one corner of the field from 

 which the furrows radiated fan-like instead of being, as usual, parallel. 

 This method, which is common about here, renders it unnecessary to shift 

 the winding plant. It appears to give satisfactory results and is no 

 doubt a better system than the partial subsoiling sometimes also practised. 

 The wide open trenches, which will be refilled when the vines are planted, 

 are occasionally to be seen from the train. 



We also pass the property of Don Victor's brother, the Conde de 

 Hervias, a distinguished Spardsh artillery officer, viho-se handsome 

 residence the Torre de Montalbo, a loth centurv castle in excellent 

 preservation, is situated near where the small river Xajerilla joins the Ebro. 

 At Cenicero we quit the train, have almuerzo (the Spanish equivalent of 

 lunch) at the small fonda near the station and hire a tartana to take us to 

 El Ciego. some 7 miles distant across the Ebro. Tartanas are the usual 

 mode of locomotion in this part of Spain ; they are light, easy running 



