430 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



as I was given to understand, was a fair sample 

 ol" the sheep and cattle of the province. It is not 

 lawful to enclose cornfields; nor, indeed, are any 

 enclosures lavvltjl, except lor vineyards or gardens. 

 As soon as the grain is off the tields, ihey are com- 

 mon property, and every one who chooses is enti- 

 tled to send cattle or sheep upon them: a law 

 which, |)erhaps, more than any other, strikes at 

 the root of agricultural prosperity, and keeps t%e 

 agriculture of Andalusia in its present barbarous 

 condition. 



3Jondmj,3d October. — Mr. James Gordon hav- 

 ing invited Dr. Wilson and myself to visit a vine- 

 yard belonging to him, about lour miles from 

 Xeres, we accordingly started at about one o'clock; 

 Mr. Gordon riding a black barb, or jennet, which 

 he valued at £lOO (§^475,) and which he said 

 Jiad cost him £70, (ig)332 50.) We passed 

 out of the town by this direction, as well as by 

 every other, through hills of dung, which had 

 been allowed to accumulate, and appeared to be 

 considered as not worth taking (arther. The road 

 lay between immense hedges of the cactus, or 

 prickly pear, and aloe, planted on the top of high 

 banks, and making a ience wliich would prove a 

 considerable impediment to the march of an army. 

 Mr. Gordon pointed out a hedge of prickly pears 

 two years old ; and which, even though it had 

 been on the level ground, would already prove a 

 very tolerable fence. He is of opinion tliat the 

 original plants, if properly looked after, will form 

 a ience lor forty years ; and if renewed with occa- 

 sional fr; sh plants, would last lor ever. 



The aloe is also much used for fencing, but is 

 considered by Mr. Gordon as very inferior to the 

 prickly pear, as it dies off whenever it has flower- 

 ed. There is a prejudice that this plant flowers 

 only once in a hundred years, and it is thence 

 called the centennial aloe. The truth is, that 

 though it is often many years in flowering, when 

 it has once flowered it dies off for ever. If there 

 is any part of the rural economy of the Anda- 

 lusians which the settler of New South Wales 

 could adopt with advantage, it is the hedge of 

 prickly pears. It is not poseible to imagine a 

 more efi'ectual fence, nor one which it wotiJd take 

 less trouble to plant or keep in order. It is only 

 necessary to place, at certain distances along the 

 proposed line, a leafj or part of a leaf, of the plant. 

 In nineteen cases out of twenty they will take 

 root without any flirther trouble ; and in two years, 

 or three at the farthest, there will be a more effec- 

 tual Ience than a four-railed one. The only ob- 

 jection to this kind of fence is the room it occu- 

 pies after a kw years' growth, if not pruned 

 down : but, in New South Wales, we are not 

 yet so much pressed for room as to make this an 

 objection. To those who may feel inclined to 

 adopt this recommendation it may be a useful hint. 

 Though 1 was told it was scarcely possible to keep 

 the prickly pears from growing, even by cutting 

 the leaves into small pieces and throwing them on 

 a dry spot, still it would be worth the trouble to 

 place each leaf, or part of a leaf, in a spadeful of 

 manure, both to insure its striking and its more vi- 

 gorous growth. 



The road to Don Jacobo's vineyard passed at 

 first through banks of albariza, but we presently 

 came to the arenas, or sandy soils, which adjoin 

 the common of Xeres. Don .Tacobo's vineyard 

 was in this soil. His people had just recommenced 



the vintage after the rain, and were now assem- 

 bled to dinner; which consisted of a kind of cold 

 soup made from water, with oil, vinegar, salt and 

 pepper, and salads scraped down, or cut small. 

 The more substantial part of the meal was bread, 

 prickly pears, sweet pepper and grapes. 



1 here tasted some of the boiled must which ig 

 used for coloring the wine. It was literally the 

 quintessence of the must, having been boiled down 

 to a fifth part of its original bulk. It was as thick 

 as treacle, and resembled it in flavor, but with a 

 strong burned taste. 



Don Jacobo Gordon's vineyard yielded him, 

 when in a good state, from 2^ to 4 butts of wine 

 per acre. At present it is in a course of renewal, 

 having been ruined by the spread of a grass which 

 sends its roots to the depth of four feet. A cer- 

 tain porMon, which had been planted within the 

 last five years, appeared to be in a good state of 

 bearing; another part was only two years old. 

 The young vines were all very healthy, and had 

 been cut down to two or three mother branches, 

 with one knot on each. In forming the young 

 vines, as well as in pruning them alierwards, great 

 care is taken to have the branches in such a direc- 

 tion that they will balance each other upon the 

 stock, the latter being generally from 12 to 18 

 inches from the ground before the branches spring 

 out. The object of this care is, of course, to sup- 

 port the bunches from the ground without the aid 

 of props or stakes. It cost £56 (,^266) an acre 

 to renew the plantation of this vineyard, it being 

 necessary to trench it to the depth of four feet, in 

 order to get out the grass. The soil, as turned up, 

 even from that depth, was extremely sandy. The 

 plants here, as elsewhere throughout the district, 

 were at the distance of five feet from each other 

 in both directions. The varieties which had 

 been planted were the Pedro Ximenes and Uva de 

 Rey, white, and Tintilla, black. Black grapes 

 are, however, very rarely cultivated here. The 

 difl'erent varieties were planted in distinct divi- 

 sions. I observed that some of the old vines 

 which it was intended to eradicate this season, 

 were loaded with grapes, havinsr been pruned to 

 carry as many as possible. This is what the 

 French called charge a mort, and the practice 

 here was known by the name of similar import. 

 The vines are regularly manured with any kind 

 of dung; in general, strong stable dung: not 

 every year, because, said Mr. Gordon's chief 

 vinador, who accompanied us, he could not pro- 

 cure it. He would dung them every year if he 

 had the means, and did not seem to consider that 

 the quality of the wine would be affected by it. 

 But this vineyard, as well as all o'hers on the 

 same kind of soil, only produced inferior wines. 



The olive having been mentioned, we were 

 shown two olives, which supported a wheel for 

 drawing water from the well. Two posts having 

 been required for this purpose when they were 

 clearing the ground of some olive trees three 

 years ago, they took two of the trunks of these, 

 which were respectively 10 or 12 inches in diame- 

 ter; they nevertheless took root, and are now co- 

 vered with strong branches, affording a proof of 

 the great facility with which the olive takes root. 

 'V\\t vinador said that an olive would produce a 

 crop three years after its plantation, but not a fuli 

 crop till its fifth year, and would reach its greatest 

 perfection in its tenth year. He said a plant ought 



