ao May, 1910.] Tlie Wine Industry in Southern France. 311 



THE WINE INDUSTRY IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. 



{Continued from fage 226.) 

 F. de Castella, Government Viticultnrist. 



Main Features. 



The department of Herault comprises that strip of land, roughly twice 

 as long as it is broad, between the Cevennes Mountains, which form tlie 

 southern fringe of tlie great central plateau of France and the Mediter- 

 ranean coastline, which in this part runs approximately from north-east 

 to south-west. This roughly rectangular area, which averages 70 miles 

 long bv 35 wide, is bounded on the east by the river Vidourle and on the 

 west by the river Aude. It is traversed, in a northerly to southerly 

 •direction, by the rivers Orb, Herault and Lez, on the last of which is 

 situated the town of Montpellier, the capital of the department. _ As 

 Professor Crova points out, the department constitutes a sort of inclined 

 plane, falling away from the flanks of the Cevennes to the Mediterranean. 

 The height above sea level thus varies from nothing, to over 3,000 feet, 

 the average for the whole department being 738 feet. In marked contrast 

 to one another are the broken and twisted ranges of the northern portion 

 and the large expanse of level or undulating land, in the vicinity of the 

 sea shore, almost wholly devoted to the culture of the vine. 



Including, so far as altitude is concerned, so wide a range, nearly every 

 situation and climate in which the vine will grow in France is to be met 

 •with. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the \'ineyards are situated at but 

 a slight elevation above sea level. 



Orographically, the department may be divided into two distinct 

 regions of approximately equal area, known respectively in the south ot 

 France as La Montagne and La Plaine (see page 72). The former 

 consists of the uplands, more stony and dry, in spite of the more abundant 

 rainfall ; the latter, the level or undulating ground on which are the 

 heavv bearing \ineyards. The former is in a general way, furthest in- 

 land whilst the latter is nearer the sea. It is the coastal portion wath its 

 heavy bearing vineyards to which I propose to devote most attention in 

 the present articles, for it is the one which is truly characteristic of the 

 region and in which intense culture is so admirably carried out. The 

 uplands vinevards are more similar to those of many other parts. 



In the vicinity of the sea, especiallv along the eastern portion of the 

 •coast, are. large salt lakes or lagoons, known locally as etangs, bordered 

 often by low sand hills, on which ungrafted viniferas can live in spite of 

 Phylloxera, as we shall see presently. 



Soils. 

 H. Mares, one of the best known writers on the yiticulture of the 

 region, divides its soils intO' three categories — 



1. Rich alluvial soils formed by rivers. 



2. Soils of the plains away from the rivers. 



3. Hillside .soils or Garrigues. 



It is those of the second group which are of the greatest importance, so 

 tar as the vine is concerned. On them are planted the majority of the 

 heavy bearing vineyards, though some of them are also to be found 

 in the rich alluvial soils. The first and second group between them con- 

 stitute what is known as La Plaine. the 3rd group La Montagne. 



