INTRODUCTION. 45 



little interval of abstraction from the main business 

 of his occupation, as each day brings with it a 

 peculiar duty, and the Swiss vine dresser, from 

 the commencement to the termination of the 

 season, is pressed by the business which a rapid 

 vegetation accumulates on his hands. 



Proprietors in the Canton de Vaud give usu- 

 ally to an experienced vine dresser, a moiety of 

 the vintage, as the remuneration of his labour. 



O ' 



At the season of wine making, the proprietor, as 

 I have before mentioned, is obliged by law to take 

 the whole of the wine made, and in money pay to 

 the vigneron the amount of his portion of the crop. 

 Nomisunderstandingonthissubject takes place, as 

 the law of the municipality establishes the value 

 of the wine measure, and from the municipal 

 tariff there is no appeal. The valuation thus de- 

 cided is affected by several circumstances, as the 

 stock of wines remaining on hand from a previous 

 vintage, the quality and quantity of wine made, 

 the demand from a neighbouring encampment 

 of troops, and the spirit of speculation among 

 the capitalists, many of whom, from want of con- 

 fidence, have withdrawn of late from the public 

 debt of the neighbouring States, and who, in a 

 country so barren of resource, seek out such an 

 investment of their unemployed funds. 



It is the duty of the municipal convention of 

 the different communes to ascertain the several 

 causes which thus exercise an influence on the 

 value of the vintage, and when known they are 

 called together, usually in the month of January, 

 to fix by their official the value of the wine mea- 

 sure of the preceding crop. I passed in Switzer- 



