FARMERS' REGISTER. 



393 



YouniT, after considering these and other calcu- 

 lations, gives it as his opinion, ihat the vine is 

 cuhivaied on an extent, thai consiitutee nearly the 

 tweiity-pixih [lart of the terriiory of France, or 

 about 5,000,000 of acres ; and that gra|)es lorni 

 about one-s;ixiii part ol' its produce. 



The vine is cultivated on all k nds of soil : on 

 the noble and leriile plain of the Garonne ; on the 

 richest lands in the vale which extends from Nar- 

 bonne to Nisnies; in the vales of Dauphiny and 

 the Loire ; and, in short, on every sort of land in 

 the wine provinces. They are, however, perhaps 

 most generally planted on rocky and uilerior soils. 

 The general routine of cultivation is as follows : 

 The vines are planted pron\iscuously, three or lour 

 feet, or two and a half from each other. In the 

 middle of January ihey give the cutiing, taille ; 

 in March tiiey dig the ground ; in April and Mny 

 they plant the provins ; in June tie and hoe ihe 

 seps — they aie tied to the props with small straw 

 bands — the hoe which is used is crooked ; in Au- 

 gust hoe again ; in October, or if the season has 

 been favorable, in September, the vintage takes 

 place. To plant an arpent of vines costs in ail 50 

 Louis d'or. There are 8000 plants on an acre, 

 2400 seps. The props cost 500 livres; to keep 

 up the stock of props 30 livres annually. It is 

 three years be((>re ihe vines bear any thing, and 

 pix before the wine is good. The amount of la- 

 bor per acre is about 21., 12, 6. The net profit 

 varies from 7 to 10 per cent. Great attention is 

 paid in the choice of the bunches, and in freeing 

 every buncii fi'om each grape ihat is the least un- 

 sound. Sixty women are necessary to gather ihe 

 grapes for tour pieces of wuie. Such is the gene- 

 ral outline of the culture, &c., of the vme in France. 

 The variations from this mode will be allerwards 

 noticed. 



1. The province of Champagne, which is now 

 divided into the departments of the Marne and the 

 Higher Marne, has long been celebrated for ils 

 vineyards. In this district there are two kinds of 

 wine ; the white wines, called Riviere dc 3farne 

 wines; and the red wines, called Montague de 

 Rheims wines. The white wines are produced 

 from vineyards situated in the valleys, and upon 

 the sides of the hills in Epernay, Dizy, Avenay, 

 Cramant, &c. It is a singular circumstance, that 

 the estate of Cumieres, in the midst of so many 

 vineyards celebrated for white wines, and under 

 the same exposure, produces red wines only. The 

 country producing the fine white wine, is all con- 

 tained in five leagues length. Among all the 

 vineyards on the Marne, the cantons of Hautvil- 

 Icrs, Marcueil, Cumieres, and Epernay, are the 

 most advantageously situated. They extend along 

 the Marne ; and it is remarked, thai the quality of 

 the wine falls off in proportion as the vineyard is 

 distant from the river. Such exposures on the 

 hanks of this river produce excellent white wines. 

 The slope which overhangs Rheims is divided ac- 

 cording to the quality of ifs wines: Of these, the 

 wines of St. Thierry are the most celebrated ; but 

 the wine properly called Clos St. Thierry, which 

 is produced in the archbishopric of Rheims, is the 

 only wine which unites the rich color and flavor of 

 Burgundy with the sparkling lightness of Cham- 

 paigne. Clos St. Thierry ho]ds the same rank 

 among Champaigne wines, that Clos-vougeot does 

 among those of Burgundy. Sillery wines, once 

 Bo famous, were in a great measure composed of 



v'oL. vin-50 



the wines produced in the territories of Verznay, 

 Mailly, and St. Basle. They were made by a 

 [)ariicular process by the Marshal D'Estrees, and 

 iijr this reason were long known by the name of 

 Tins de la Mareschal ; but ai the revolution this es- 

 tate was divided and sold. 



In Champagne, and indeed in all the vine dis- 

 tricts of Frame, the souih and the east exposurei*, 

 and the middle grounds, are preiisrred. In gene- 

 ral, throughout this province, the soils jiroper lor 

 vines rest on beds of chalk : they are planted in 

 November and December ; the plants are inserted 

 into turfs, or in longueties. Graliins: is not in ge- 

 nera! use. A gooU plant will last 50 or 60 years. 

 There is not much variety in the grapes of Cham- 

 pagne ; the black are generally preferred to the 

 white. There are whole cantons, however, where 

 I here are very lew black grapes, and yet their 

 wine is in high estimation. In this province, the 

 vine is pruned about the end of February or be- 

 giniiincr of March, tl is never allowed to rise 

 higher than a loot and a half Ai. the end ot 

 March, or begirmiiig of April, wiien the thaws 

 have softened ihe grouml. the hoeing commences. 

 The lollowing is the remainder of ihe routine 

 practised in the vineyards of Champagne ; after 

 ilie cutting in February or Marcli, and ihe lioeing 

 in March, as already mentioned. 3. They are. 

 pruned in April or May. 4. Tied or propped uj) 

 in the same months. 5. The next ofieraiion is 

 the first trimming for the «lioois. C. Pared anri 

 tied in June. 7. Second trimming in July. 8. 

 Tiiird trimming in August. The vintage is in 

 September or October. 



Many precautions are necessary in making 

 white wine; sleeping before pressing mnkes 

 red wine, ihe grupes being allowed to renniin in 

 ihe vessels till ihe first fermentation has beirun in 

 the coloring pellicle of the fruit. In making'white 

 wine, great care is taken to keep the grapes 

 from the sun ; they are conveyed liome in pan- 

 niers, covered wiih cloths, from wliich they are 

 not emptied into the pret;s till after sunset : ihese 

 precautions are necessary to prevent fiirmentation. 

 From twenty to forty panniers are put into ihe 

 [iress at a time ; the contents of" two panniffrs pro- 

 duce half a piece of wine. Forty panniers, yield 

 nine or ten pieces of white wine, and each piece con- 

 tains 200 bot'les. The fruit is pressed by three 

 successive and rapid turns of the screw in some, 

 districts, and by two only in others. The whole 

 of the operation should be finished in less than an 

 hour. When the three pressures have been ef- 

 fected, the wine produced from ttie juice is called 

 vin d'elitc, or choice wine; atler this wai d'e//ie is 

 extracted, the remaining juice is |)ressed out by 

 another turn of the screw ; this is called premiere 

 taille, ihe first cut, and is olien added to the ui/i, 

 d'elite. Another pressure is given at a subse- 

 quent period, and the wine is called deiixieme 

 taille, or vin. de tisanne ; lastly, a poorer kind ol' 

 wine, called vin de rebechage, is produced by re- 

 peatedly pressing ihe husks till they are perlWtly 

 dry. The white wines are clarified with isinglass; 

 they are generiilly boitleil in the monili of March. 

 About the middle of August, the fermentation in 

 the bottles begins, and fieqneritly there is a loss 

 by the end of September of' fiom five to ten per 

 cent, by the bottles breakincf. When the white 

 wines deposite a sediment in the bottles, very mi- 

 nute care is requisite to extract it. The wines of 



