52 INTRODUCTION. 



were at command, should certainly prefer a 

 sandy soil, or a soil of stone and gravel. I 

 should by all means avoid a close argillaceous 

 loam, as the rains accumulating on a stiff clay 

 bottom, are, of all sources of injury, most to be 

 deprecated, as hostile to the prosperity of the 

 vineyard* It is on account of the reflected heat 

 of the southern declination, that the inclination 

 of a hill is chosen by the Swiss vigneron, as he 

 obtains thereby an increase of temperature of se- 

 veral degrees, not afforded by the natural climate 

 of the country, and gets rid at the same time of a 

 superabundant moisture, from the rains which 

 dispute with his efforts the artificial advantages 

 he has thus obtained. 



In considering the state of the vine cultivation 

 of that country, we should always bear in mind 

 that the climate is so essentially different in many 

 important points from that of Pennsylvania, as 

 to induce a rational belief that the system adopt- 

 ed there, though protected by the fostering hand 

 of government, as well as the active support and 

 influence of private associations, confirmed as it 

 is by long experience, may not be found the best 

 for the American cultivator. Such, on a close 

 observation of the comparative advantages of 

 the two countries, is my decided opinion. 



The Swiss cultivator finds it necessary by 

 every means available to his art, to counteract 

 the injurious effects, to which a proximity to the 

 Jura exposes the vine of that country. It is 

 quite a common feature of the Canton of Vaud, 

 to have the mercury of Fahrenheit ranging be- 

 tween seventy and eighty degrees at the meridian, 



