FARMERS' REGISTER 



433 



!he plan of which he had procured from Friun-e. 

 1 did nol wait to ex;imine its cotisiruciion. The 

 viiiiH^ers hroDghi in ihe irry|)t!s iu-s iht^v •^rt'hered 

 theiii^iii hiicUfie: or pails, which ilioy c.Hrrifd upuM 

 their shoulders. I was itsioinshfd lo oti^erve ih:i 

 60 diilc itiieiition was paid to ihe qu-tlity of the 

 ^nipfs (mt into lh« press. I h^td previously oli- 

 eerved lo every mule- or ass lo.id, which 1 liul 

 seen con ve)iiiii; grapes lioiii the, vuieyard towards 

 the town, thai a l.irgH'. pruporlioii was detMyed, 

 but I ihoijifhi it proliuhle that some eeiecuon 

 would be ma le helore jire-sinir. Here, hov/ever, 

 I oliserved thai three lourihs ol' ilie ur.ipes had 

 burst in coiisequehce of Ihe Trini ; and, perhaj)!!. 

 from one-iliird 10 onehalf api eaPi-d lo lie fir nd- 

 vanced tow.irds patrefuctioa, boi the must ili.it 

 ran (ium iliem was nevenheless perlecily svveei. 

 Oliservinjr so hide selection in a vmeyard where 

 more rare was taken liian in any o:her we had 

 seen, and some science really indicated by the 

 proprietor, I concluded liiat noliiing was niore 

 coiuinoii than lor the grapes to be in a state of 

 ■decay when the wine was made. It was evident 

 that if baskets had been employed in which to 

 gathenhe grapes, a great proportion of the juice 

 would have been lost; but there was an immense 

 waste of labor in each vintager bringing what he 

 liad gathered the whole way to the cellar. If 

 Don Pedro had left roads for a cart, or even paths 

 lor a mule through his vineyard, he might have 

 brought his grapes to the press with half the 

 manual labor he now employs. Having an en- 

 gagement to dine wiih Don Jacobo Gordon at 3 

 o'clock, we quilled Don Pedro Don)ecq's vine- 

 yard sooner than 1 would have wished to part with 

 its intelligent proprietor. He is the largest holder 

 of wine in Xeres, and exports more than any other 

 merchant. 



Wednesday, 5lh October. — At seven this morn- 

 ing 1 took leave of my hospitable and very atten- 

 tive fiiends at JTeres de la Frontera; Doctor 

 Wilson having engaged, at the proper season, lo 

 procure and send me to London cuttings of all the 

 varieties of vines cullivaied m that neighborhood. 

 I had engaged a calesa, a wretched son of gig, to 

 convey me to San Lucar, there to join the steam- 

 boat lor Seville, this being considered my best 

 route lo Malaga, whither I now proposed to make 

 the besl of my way. We had only proceeded 

 three or four miles, when one of the wheels be- 

 came loosened, and the calesera had no means 

 of repairing the damage, there was nothing, there- 

 fore, tor it but to return. Accompanied by Dr. 

 Wilson, 1 rode out in a different direction from any 

 we had previously taken, and stopped to examine 

 more particularly one of the 7ionas which supply 

 Xeres with water. We entered a stable, and as- 

 cended to Ihe loft where the mules work ; the 

 ascent is without steps, to allow the mules to go 

 up and down. The elevation of this loft was ten 

 (eel; the mules were not at work, and the driver 

 lighted a piece of rope and let it down into the well 

 to show us ils depth ; the well is about seven leet 

 in diameter, and 25 varas (about 70 (eel) to the 

 water, which has a depth of 11 feet, making the 

 whole depth of the well about 80 feet. 



The circle round which the mule treads is 30 to 

 35 feet in diamater ; the horizontal wheel is 10 

 feet ; the veriicle wheel 8. They act upon each 

 other by a series of leeth, which are merely pegs 

 fixed lo the outside of the wheel, The leeth pro- 



VoL. Vlll-55 



jecling from the horizontal wheel were ten inches; 

 ihoRR Irom ihe vertical wheel 8 inches in length. 

 The horizontal wheel is turned by a lever attached 

 10 the top ol' the beam, aliout 10 or 11 lt?et in 

 height, and filling at an anL^le to the heighi of the 

 shoniders of the mule. The circular t)ands, la 

 .vhich are attached ihe eanhen j us, are made of a 

 kind of irrass wiuch is in general use t<T ilial pur- 

 poise. Thejaisare separaie nbotji six or seven 

 inches, and are very deep in pr.ij.ortion to iheir 

 widih ; they are fixed between the two bands, by 

 cor.is passinvr roni.d ihe muldle, (where their g rlli 

 IS leas'.) and nearihe lop ; the whole ling, h ol ihe 

 circular Oaii.is is, of course, twice the depili of ih'i 

 well, the number of the pols is 37, a"d ihey are 

 about lour leet apart. Whi-*n the wheel is set iti 

 motion, they descend em|)ly on one side, an i pas.--- 

 iniT throiiirh ilie water, ii.<e nearly full on the oher 

 side of the well ; there are small holes in the bot- 

 tom of ihe jars, to allow ihe air to escape when 

 ihey enter the water, there is, consequently, a con- 

 stant leakage from jar to jar as they ascend. Each 

 of the jars delivers from four lo five English pints 

 at each revolution of the wheel (of ropes.) The 

 trough, into which they are emptied as the wheel 

 turns, is on a level with its centre. When there 

 is a greater demand for water in the very dry sea- 

 son, they double the number of pols, putting one 

 between each of those now in use, and yoking a 

 second mule. They must double the quantity of 

 water delivered in the same time. The water is 

 conveyed to the two in earthen pipes, and sold 

 from the cistei n to which it flows, the norias being 

 all private property. 



Having finished our examination of the noria, 

 we proceeded lo the adjoining vineyard, where 

 half a dozen men were employed in gathering 

 the grapes. This vineyard is situated in what 

 are called the arenas, (sands;) the soil is a light_ 

 sandy loam, and though surrounded by hills of 

 chalk did not appear on trial to contain the small- 

 est portion of calcareous matter. 



The soil seemed capable of supporting a more 

 vigorous vegetation than at any place he had vi- 

 sited, and the vines were pruned accordingly. On 

 each vine there was at least one long branch, con- 

 taining from eight to ten knots, and from two to 

 four spurs, with one or two knots each. On some 

 vines there were two branches, one containing 

 eight or ten knots, the other four or five, beside 

 lliree or four spurs, with one or two knots each. 

 On one or two vines, which seemed very heavily 

 chartred, 1 counted twelve knots on one branch, 

 and '^seven spurs ; the crop was in proportion, 

 many of the vines producing twenty bunches 

 and upwards. The average weight of fruit on 

 each vine could not be less than from 25 to 30 

 lbs. The vinador said, the extent of the vine- 

 yard was ten aranzadas, (9 acres, 2 roods, 10 per- 

 ches :)the produce varied according to the season, 

 from forty to fifty butts; forty-five butts is about 

 six hundred srallons, old measure, for each Eng- 

 lish acre. The other vineyards in the arenas 

 seemed to be pruned in the same manner, and to be 

 fuJly as heavily charged with fruit. The vinador 

 said the wine was of very good quality. The 

 irrapes were chiefly the variety called Uva de Bey; 

 but there are also a very few of Pedro JCimenes, 

 and one or two other varieties. The vines in this 

 vineyard appeared to be in the highest state of 

 health, and had evidently been treated with the 



