INTRODUCTION. 33 



wheat, the Vaudois grain measure, now com- 

 mands in the market of Yverdon (April 1832) 

 about ninety cents of our money. 



The quartron of that Canton appeared to me 

 aboutone-third of thebushel ofPennsyl vania, mak- 

 ing the wheat of Vaud equal to two dollars and 

 seventy-five cents per bushel. Other objections 

 combine, which, if fairly considered, operate 

 against the Swiss vine dresser, and incline the 

 balance toward the side of American cultiva- 

 tion. The unfavourable influence of the climate 

 of Switzerland, from the proximity of the Jura, 

 the line of separation between France and that 

 country on the one side, and the chain of Alps, 

 with their eternal snows, which skirt the south- 

 ern boundary on the side of Savoy, expose the 

 cultivator of Vaud to the various injuries sustain- 

 ed from the late frosts, which frequently nip the 

 blossom of the vine, and the equally dreaded 

 destruction of the young fruit, from the violent 

 hail storms, of the months of July and August,. 

 by which, in many cases, the whole crop is total- 

 ly destroyed. I have more than once seen this 

 mischief inflicted on the vineyard, and heard the 

 poor Vigneron of the Cantons lament the reverse 

 to which a capricious climate so peculiarly ex- 

 poses his profession. 



The district of Granson, on the lake of Neuf- 

 chatel, but half a league distant from Yverdon, is 

 a vine growing country, and on either side of 

 the ancient chateau, whose lofty turrets and stern 

 defences still exist, the rude memorial of their 

 iron age, the peaceful labours of the vine dresser 

 are in unhappy contrast with those " by gone 



