INTRODUCTION. 35 



free from the calamitous desolation. The un- 

 sparing element levelled in its passage the sheds 

 and corn ricks of the barn yard, uprooted the 

 majestic oak which for centuries had opposed its 

 fury, and prostrated a long line of vineyards with 

 their ripening clusters, leaving the poor Vigne- 

 ron to mourn over the sad mutation which a 

 single hour had shed on his promised fortunes. 



It is fortunate for the Swiss cultivator, that 

 such visitations are practical in their mischievous 

 effects; the governments of the Canton of Vaud, 

 and I believe of some of the other vine growing 

 Cantons, have established a system of insurance, 

 from which the prudent proprietor seeks indem- 

 nity from the losses arising from this danger, the 

 premiums paid being fully equal to the partial 

 damage sustained. It is the poor V igneron who 

 is in general the sufferer ; as from the want of a 

 prudent thrift, or an inability to afford the re- 

 quired premium, he assumes himself the risk, and 

 frequently neglects to insure against it. The 

 danger from this source, it is true, is diminished 

 by the custom prevailing in that Canton, of erect- 

 ing in different quarters of the vineyard, metallic 

 conductors supported by high poles, which tend 

 to discharge of the electric fluid the clouds over- 

 hanging the vineyard, and so raising the tempera- 

 ture of the atmosphere, as to liquify the hail be- 

 fore it reaches the surface of the earth. 



Without such protection from the vicissitudes 

 of climate, afforded to the proprietor by the in- 

 surance of government, the vine could not exist 

 in the Canton of Vaud to the extent to which it 

 is cultivated. From such obligations we are 



