268 J ouriidL of Agriculture. [lo April, 1909. 



parts, hoping in the flanks of the Pyrenees, to find soils similar to those 

 which will probably prove our most difficult ones in Victoria — the stiff lime- 

 less clays containing silica in a fine state of division, which set hard after 

 rain and dry without cracking. My quest after such soils was only par- 

 tially successful. Primary formations I certainly did find in abundance, 

 but the soils were usually fairly friable, and less '' difficult " than I had 

 anticipated ; rather the soils of the stony hillsides of Rutherglen than the 

 stiff" siltv clays of the Goulburn Valley. 



The question of geological formation has a most important bearing on 

 the character of the wine produced, for it is only on Primar\- soils that 

 wines of the old Priorato type with a strong Rancio character are regularly 

 produced. 



Cataluna from a geological point of view presents much variety. In 

 addition to the Primary soils free from lime above referred to, there are 

 large areas of Secondary age, usually fairly calcareous, as well as Tertiary 

 formations, often rich in lime and " difficult " so far as reconstitution is 

 concerned on this account, though their phvsical state is usually satisfac- 

 tory. Alluvial soils also abound, but these are only exceptionally devoted 



to viticulture. 



***** 



I arrived at Barcelona, from Zaragoza, on 6th January, 1908, leaving 

 on the loth January for Valencia, Gandia, and Denia, my investigations in 

 which centres ha^'e alread\ been described. I returned to Barcelona on 

 23rd, in which cit\- and its neighbourhood I spent nearly a week before 

 finally leaving Spain for France, via Figueras and Llansa. 



On my arrival in Barcelona, I presented a letter of introduction from 

 our Agent-General to Don Jose Gras y Fort, for many years a resident of 

 Melbourne, but who, some little time ago, returned to his native land. I 

 cannot thank Don Jose enough for his kindness and the valuable assistance 

 he gave me. He retains the warmest friendship for Australia and took a 

 great interest in my mission. I have to thank him for introductions to 

 some of the leading wine merchants of Barcelona and of Reus, his native 

 town, the commercial centre of the ancient Priorato, and now of the Tarra- 

 gona Port trade. 



Reconstitution. 



The provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona were officially declared to 

 be phylloxerated in 1888. The pest spread rapidly in Cataluna, which 

 was thus one of the regions which had to face reconstitution at an early 

 jjeriod. It suffered in consequence from the same disabilities in connexion 

 with it as Jerez, Malaga, and other earlv infested districts. 



Twenty years ago, the era of active Government assistance had not 

 commenced. Growers were left to their own resources, and had to work 

 out their own salvation as best they could. The information available w-as. 

 necessarily far less complete than it is at present, for even in France re- 

 plantations on a large .scale were comparatively recent. For that country, 

 it was still the Riparia period, though even at that time the Rupestris was 

 beginning to attract attention. Early replantations in Cataluna were there- 

 fore largely on Riparia stocks. The usual failures, for which this variety 

 is responsible, especially in dry situations and limestone soils, were ex- 

 perienced, entailing the rooting up and replanting of many thousands of 

 acres, chiefly with Rupestris du Lot which is at the present day the stock 

 most widely planted. Reconstitution has long since been practically com- 

 pleted, and on the whole with good results, though even now some of the 

 early planted vineyards are being replaced by vines on more satisfactory 



