Smtistics. 
Olives. 
Vineyards. 
712 
even at Tours, the district in which are Le aege is 
of small extent, . Before the time - oe Vv. ay 
mulberry trees had been propagated for silk worms on 
im the Lyonneis, Dauphiny, Provence, and Languedoc ; 
but that king carried them as far north as Orleans ; he 
also planted them near Paris, and to breed 
silk worms at the Thuilleries, Fontain , and the 
castle of Madrid, but without success. In the Lyonnois 
the white mulberry succeeds extremely well, and a 
great many silk worms are reared: the worms are kept 
in houses, and the leaves conied to prem . a — 
lar cle to see whole trees stri of their 
ae § pay ot the appearance of wiiter when other 
trees are in full foliage. A second crop of leaves, how- 
ever, comes out, but not with the beauty and luxuriance 
of the first ; and the ee to paar 
sheep and cattle when other fails. The white 
mul! tree bears a more delicate kind of leaf than 
the black, for which reason they are always given to 
the silk worms, as the silk produced from them is of 
a much finer quality: the fruit is vapid meet for 
nothing. The leaves are purchased and ‘paid for ac- 
cording to the size of the tree, by those who keep silk- 
worms, but have not mulberry plantations of their 
own. 
The limits of the olive climate have been 
defined: They comprehend a very small portion of 
the south and south-east of the kingdom. In France; 
there is a great difference in the quality of ‘the oil pro- 
duced from them ; that of the territory of Aix is reck- 
oned the finest. Here the trees are very small, com- 
monly from about eight to fourteen or fifteen feet in 
height. About Toulon and Hieres the trees are taller, 
but the oil is of a less delicate quality. The tree re- 
sembles a pollard willow in its general appearance, and 
is by no means either beautiful or picturesque. The 
fruit is gathered. green for making the oil, but if left 
to ripen, it becomes almost black. When they are 
preserved, or pickled, they are salted first for a few 
days, and then put into jars with oil and yinegar. In 
most houses in Provence lamps are used in the kitchen 
instead of candles; and among the lower classes they 
are used universally, Olive oil is used in them. | The 
wood of the olive tree makes excellent fuel when a 
brisk fire is wanted ; but it partakes so much of the 
nature of the fruit, that while it burns very 
it also consumes very fast. The time of ga- 
thering the olives is soon after the vintage. In the 
hard winter of 1789, so many olive trees wese destroy-~ 
ed by the frost, and during the Revolution so few 
young trees have been planted, that Aix, which was 
the principal seat of the commerce in oil, has almost 
entirely lost this its first. and most lucrative branch of. 
trade; and as these trees are many years in coming to 
perfection, this loss is, not likely to be soon compensa- 
ted. 
As there were aides and, customs levied on the con- 
sumption and export of wine previously to the Revo- 
lution, it might have been supposed. that the quantity. 
of vineyards in the kingdom might have been estima- 
ted with a tolerable degree of certainty, yet there is an 
amazing difference of opinion: on this subject. M.de 
Trone, author of a work on the provincial administra- 
tion of the taxes, is of opinion, that their extent is 
1,600,000 acres. In this calculation M. Mirabeaw co- 
incides; but the author of Credit National, who pub- 
lished only one year afterwards, calculates the quanti- 
ty at 18,000,000 arpents. M. Lavoisier supposes. the 
produce. 80,000,000 livres. The economists in. the 
FRANCE, 
would give 2,857,1 
dering tue 
nion, that the vine is cultivated on an extent that con- 
Nismes ; in the vales of Dauphiny and the Loire ; and 
in short, on every sort of land in the wine provinces. 
bib oriig gsoge vey poe oe 
The general routine of cultivation is as’ follows = Cultivation 
The vines are planted promiscuously, three or four of the 
feet, or two and a half from each other. In the middle vine. 
of January they give the cutting, /ail/e; in March they 
dig the ground; in April May vient’ a 
provins ; in June tie hve the = are tied 
to the with small straw ,—the hoe which 
is used is crooked; in hoe again ; in October, 
or if the season has been le in September, 
a . To 
in en ee There are 8000 plants on an 
acre, 2400 seps. e pi cost 500 livres; to keep 
up the stock of props 30 livres ; » It is three 
years before the vines bear any thing, and six before’ 
the wine is . The amount of: labour per acre is 
about £2: 12:6. The net profit varies from 7 to 10 
pesneets Great attention is paid in the choice of the 
unches, and in freeing every bunch from each grape 
that is the least unsound. Sixty women are necessary 
to gather the grapes for four pieces of wine. Such is 
the general outline of the culture; &c. of the vine in’ 
France. The variations from this mode will be after- 
wards noticed, tle: boat hint rags 
I. The province of Champagne, which i now divide conn 
e Marne ‘Higher wines.” 
into the d ents of 
Marne, has long been celebrated for its vineyards. In 
this district there are two kinds of wine; the white 
wines, called Riviere de Marne wines; and the red 
wines, called Montagne de Rheims wines. ‘The white 
wines are produced from vineyards situated in the val- 
leys, and upon the sides of the hills in Epernay, Dizy, 
Avenay, Cramant, &e. It is a singular citeumstance, 
that the estate of Cumieres, in the midst of so ma 
vineyards celebrated for white wines, and under the 
same exposure, uces red wines only. The country 
wes 2c, J the white wine, is all contained in five: 
feaan ength. Among all the vineyards on the’ 
yar. the cantons of Hautvillers, Marcueil, Cumieres, 
pernay, are the most advantageously situated : 
They ra along the Marne; and it io vemathedl 
that the q of the wine falls off in- proportion as 
the vineyard is distant from the river. South expo- 
sures on the banks of this river produce excellent 
white wines. The slope which overhangs Rheims is 
divided ing tothe quality of its wines: Of these, 
3 wines of we Lee hfe earns ; 
e wine ' Clos. St Thierry, which is 
penrtdceds eat ths archbishopric of Rheims, is the only 
vies qa ae the rich colour and flavour of Bur~ 
iy. wit sparkling lightness of Champaigne. 
Clos St Thierry holds the a rank Cham: 
ne wines, that C/os-vougeot does among those of 
urgundy. Sillery wines, once so famous, were in a 
great measure composed of the wines ced in the 
‘wW 
