1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



265 



pared and burnt. After havini; raised on it a crop 

 of wheat, I planted tills piece in a kind of vine 

 called "Arenion." The vines were rooted plants. 

 These vines urew most viiporousiy ; andiiiis year, 

 8 scterees, (abont 1 hectare, 60 ares) beinij 4 

 years olil, and 20 scierees (about 4 hectares) beiny; 

 3 years old. produced about 3G niuids of wine, 

 without iiicliuliiiix about 4 uuiids oj' rotten srrapes, 

 which had t* be abandoned. The vines, 4 years 

 old, produced uinre than 2 nniids per seieree of 2J 

 ares, and ihose ihree years old about one tnuid [ler 

 peieree. (b) The vintaire took place li'orn the 

 21st to the 23d of September. Every body knows 

 liow the last year was unfavorable to the perfect 

 maturity of the urapes. Therelbre, seeintr the 

 considerable quantity of fruit produced by these 

 youn<r vines, I was convinced lliat the wine pro- 

 duced by it would be very weak. I cannot ex- 

 press what was my surprize, when I hail obtained 

 the full conviction, that notwiihstandinu; this cause, 

 and that no less powerful one of the atmospheri- 

 cal circumstances, the quantity oi" alcohol contain- 

 ed in the wine, was, on the contrary, very "jreat. In 

 fact It yielded per maid — the wine which had been 

 one nifrlit only in the vat alter the (grapes had 

 been crushed— 262 lbs. (French, about 294 lbs. 

 En<:lish.) Wine lermcnted in the vat, (the len<jth 

 oflitneriot speci(ied) 256 lbs. and that from the 

 press, 235 lbs. 



Mr. Chassefiere, a distiller at Montpellier bought 

 this wine ol" me, which he distilled. Being still 

 under the persuasion, that I could attribute this 

 result only to the exposition of the vineyard, I 

 submitted to the experiment some of the "Pique- 

 poule," the crop of which had been gaiherecl in 

 the besinning of October, the produce of the vine- 

 yard, I have alrea-lv noticed, and from si.\ seterees 

 of plants 4 years old, placed in a soil which had 

 not had the benefit of the paring and burning. 

 This wine only yielded 240 lbs of alcohol. The 

 e.xposition was the same, the maturity of the 

 grapes more perfect lor the "Pique-poule," than 

 for the "Aremon,'" which had been gathered ear- 

 lier on account of the rot which had already af- 

 fected a iireat portion of the grapes. The ages 

 of the vines were the same, and yet the difference 

 was 22 lbs. of spirits per moid in the wine made 

 in the same manner. I then recollected the wine 

 of the " Pique-poule," sold to Air. Clnparede in 

 1832. On referring to my books, I found that the 

 year which had preceded this vintage, the vine- 

 yard had been manured with the burnt earth. I 

 then found that the same cause had produced the 

 same eflect. 



Experiments often repeated can alone give cer- 

 tainty to the facts that I advance, but they have 

 appeared to me sufficiently important to claim the 

 attention ot" our cultivators. Burnt earth gives 

 the vines an uncommon vigor. Should not their 

 use become more general, if we can acquire the 

 certainty that, with the quantity of wine, the quan- 

 tity of alcohol is also increased? I engage tlie 

 proprietors of the vineyards to make experiments 

 to obtain the solution of this important quesiion, 

 and I promise to continue mine, and to impart the 

 result, whatever it be, to the society. My mos' 

 anxious desire heini; that of contributinir to the 

 discovery of the truth.— C^^'jc. yJgr. Herault.) 



Notes by the Translator. 

 (a.) 306 lbs. French weight is about 344 lbs. 

 Vol. V— 34 



1 Enirlish. The muid about l>iO gallons, the veltc 

 I about two gallons, and tlie litre about one quart. 

 [This, then,'gives 344 lbs. of alcohol to 180 gal- 

 lons of wine. This is only an approximation of 

 ihe reduction of measures of France to the Eng- 

 lish. I have not books at hand lo enable me to 

 get nearer. 



(b.) The author of this article has somewhat 

 miiigle<l I he new decimal weight and mcasurea 

 aelopted in France, duruiir the Revolution, with 

 the measures of particular districts of the coutitry. 

 I cannot ascertain tlie meaning of seieree, nor the 

 exact contents of the muid ho alludes to, as it is 

 not the same all over France. This prevents our 

 knowing the precise produce of the vineyards. 

 The principal object, iiowever, is obtained, of 

 showing the advantageous eflects of the burnt 

 earth on the production of the vine. We have 

 the less reason to doubt this effect, that it is well 

 known that volcanic soils are celebrated lor 

 the strength and richness of the wines which they 

 produce; and the adding of burnt earih lo the nat- 

 ural soil, brings it in some small desxree, to the 

 condition of volcanic soils. This kind of amelio- 

 ration, has also the great advantage over or- 

 dinary manures, that it introduces neither weeds 

 nor grass in the fields improved by it. This arti- 

 cle vvasthoutrht Ihe more interesting, that although 

 given only for the benefit of the vine cultivator, it 

 may also be as highly beneficial to almost all 

 other kind of cultures. There is very little doubt 

 that in many situations it would be highly benefi- 

 cial to the cotton culture. The naiTiing. particu- 

 larly the cultivation of cotton here, offers me an 

 opportunity to recommend to the perusal of cotton 

 planters, a very excellent article on the subject of 

 the rot in cotton, by Ur. Robert R. Harden.* It 

 is one of the most judicious selections in the Sou- 

 thern Agriculturist for the present month, page 

 305. Very little doubt can be entertained that Dr. 

 Harden has discovered the true cause of the rot in 

 cotton, and the remedy is most obvious. The ag- 

 ricultors of the southern states are much indebted 

 to the indefatigable and judicious exertions of this 

 gentleman, not only for this, but for many other 

 valuable communications, which have been no- 

 ticed from his pen, ibr many years past. 



From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for June, 1837, 



EXPERIMENT IN FEEDING CATTLE 0!V DIF- 

 FERENT DESCRIPTIONS OF FOOD, 



By Mr. Roht. Stephenson., IVhitelaw, Haddington. 



The catile selected for this experiment were 

 oxen rising two years old, and bred on the same 

 farm. Their live-weights were ascertained at the 

 beginning, during diiierent periods, and at the end 

 of the experiment. They were divided into three 

 lots of six beasts each, and placed in open courts 

 with sufficient sheds and stalls, and smalt mangers 

 fitted up lor corn and linseed cake. A correct ac- 

 count was kept of the weight of food consumed 

 by each lot. Lot 1st were allowed linseed cake, 

 bruised beans, and bruised oats, in addition to 

 what turnips they could consume: and. (or the last 

 twenty-lour days of the experiment, 20 lb. of po- 



* Rs- published in the FarmersT^ Register, p. 22, vol, 

 V,— Ed. 



