FAUMERS' REGISTER. 



443 



Some of" his wines of seven or eight years old re- 

 sembled a <Tood slierry, and he aijreed with me in 

 ihinkinij ihal hissvveei wine olihril age vva^5 ecjual 

 to those tiiree limes as old. lie Ibriher agreed 

 with me, that ilie great age of those wines did by 

 no means add proporlionably to their quality ; and 

 he evidently understands the art of giving the 

 qualities generally attributed to aire, by mixing, 

 and other management. He himself hinted at 

 ihe success with wliich he had conducted this 

 brancli of trade, and he has the reputation of hav- 

 ing acquired great wealth. 



In the evening 1 lor the last time took leave of 

 my kind and worthy friend, Mr. Kirkpatrick, and 

 embarked on board the French schooner, in v^hich 

 I had engaired my passage to JMarsi-illes. I left 

 with Mr. Kirkpatrick the fjllovving memorandum: 

 '• a box three leet long, by two feet deep, and two 

 feel wide, will contain nearly 500 cuttings of vines, 

 each the full length of the box. The book called 

 Conversacioncs J)/alagucnas contains a list of the 

 varieties cultivated in the neighborhood ol Malaga. 

 Perhaps tliere are some new varieties which were 

 no! known when it was published. About thirty 

 varieties are there enumerated. This would allow 

 of thirteen or Iburteen cuttings of each kind to be 

 sent ; but it is not likely that it will be possible to 

 procure cuttings of every kind ; there will, there- 

 lore, be room in the l)ox to send a greater quantity 

 oi" the most valuable ; lor example the JVluscaiel 

 (the Larga, or long irrape, which yields the bloom 

 raisins) and the Pedro Ximenes ; six or eight cut- 

 tings of each would be enough of the less esteemed 

 varieties. It will be observed that there are two 

 kinds of the Muscalel ; the smaller may be under- 

 valued in (his couniry, but it may suit our climate 

 better than the oiher. Mr. Dellus nieniioned a 

 vine which had produced bunches weighing filly 

 pounds. Perhaps it would be possible to oblain 

 cuttings of this kind, perhaps of the identical vine. 

 1 should not like the liiile Corinth grape to be Ibr- 

 gotten. A cutting should be taken Irom the low- 

 est part of the shoot, as near to the stock as possi- 

 ble, the top pari, of the branch being cut away. 

 Those are the best which contain the greatest 

 number of knoisor buds ; a string to be tied round 

 each variety, and a small piece of wood tied to 

 the string numbered, s@ as to correspond with the 

 number in the list and description. 



" Besides the number in the book, and color of 

 the grape, it would be desirable tliat the name 

 most commonly given in the country should be 

 stated ; also, whether it is most esteemed lor 

 raisins or lor wine ; whether used lor sweet or dry 

 wines ; whether a great bearer or oiherwise ; 

 whether it ripens early or late; vvheliier cultivaiecl 

 in the vineyards, or the gardens, and any other 

 particulars which may distinguish it. I'he cuttings 

 will pack better if procured as strait as possible. 

 Should it be Ibund that there is not room to send 

 six or eight cuttings of the least cstcemeil varieties, 

 let the number be diminished to lour or live ; but, 

 under any circumstances, I shouM not like fewer 

 than from twenty to tiainy each of the Muscatel, 

 Bloom, and Pedro Ximenes. 



"The interstices lormed by the cuttings to he 

 filled up with sand and very dry soil. Two boxes 

 ol" the above description to be prepared, one to be 

 sent by the first vessel which sails alier the vines 

 can be cut with safety, which undoubtedly may be 

 done about the Ist ol" December, the dujjlicate by 



the next vessel that may follow, botli addressed to 

 Messrs. Walker, Ltiulon, who will pay all ex- 

 penses which may have been incurred up to the 

 arrival of the boxes in London, and will send 

 them to New South Waleis by different ships, and 

 by the earliest opportunities. Perhaps, in addition 

 to the above, Mr. Kirkpatrick will take the trouble 

 to procure a quantity, say a gallon, of the li'eshest 

 royal dales of Barbary ; also a lew of the common 

 varieties, and a gallon of Jordan almonds, and send 

 them in a box to the same address. Also in the 

 same box a li;vv seeds ol'the very fine onion, which 

 is so abundant in Malaga, and of any esteemed 

 kind of melons, or any other fruit or vegetable 

 yrov.'n from seed which may be considered worth 

 attention. Alier my arrival in London I shall as- 

 Cf'rtain what are the best seasons and modes of 

 sending plams of the S|)anish chestnut and Joidan 

 almond, and I will take the liberty to write Mr. 

 Kirkpatrick upon ihe subject, satisfied, as I cannot 

 but feel, that he will esteem it rather a pleasure 

 than a trouble to contribute to the advancement of 

 a colony containing so large a proportion of hi.s 

 countrymen as New South Wales." 



During mv slay in Malaga I also wrote to my 

 friend Dr. Wilson a letter, which contained the 

 following observations and queries relative lo 

 Sherry wines : — 



* * "I have been thinking a good deal about 

 the Sherry wines, and there are some points on 

 which I have not been able to satisfy myeelfi 

 You know we no sooner had the practice of re- 

 turning the scum upon the wine, by means of a 

 f"unnel, pointed out to us by JMr. Domecq, than we 

 condemned it. It has occurred to me, that after 

 all, it may in most cases be the best thing they 

 could do. It is the saccharine principle ihat is 

 undoubtedly most abundant in the grapes of these 

 climates, and the imperfect fermentation which 

 takes place in a butt, may require to be carried Ibr- 

 ward by the addition of the yeast, which, were it 

 not for (he funnel, would escape. I think Cor- 

 mackused the expression, that it was to leed the 

 wine that the ecura was returned. In this I have 

 no doubt he was correct. On the other hand, it 

 seems to be agreed that a good deal of the Sheny 

 even of the albarizas, turns sour. 'I'lii.s might 

 undoubtedly be prevented by a contrary arrange- 

 ment to the above. I think Domecq said, that 

 sometimes 100 butts of (he Machar Nudo wine 

 would turn sour in one season. I wish you would 

 ask him whether there has been an instance of any 

 of his wine turning sour since he adop'ed the prac- 

 tice of allowing the scum (o escape. Perhaps 

 there are particular kinds of grapes in the vineyard 

 which yield a wine without body. Perhaps par- 

 ticular pans of the soil do not bring the grapes to 

 perfeciion. Yon will see from Cnapiai what a 

 dilierence there frequently exisis in France in the 

 value ol'the produce of two sides ol'the same hill. 

 It was a question I always forgot, or neglected to 

 |)ut, at Xeres, whether the difierence of exposure 

 was Ibund to affect the quality of the wine. I 

 suspect all these Ihings have lieen overlooked. 



" When 1 saw the state of the grapes vvhich 

 Domecq was pressing, and which seemed, in lad, 

 no worse than others we saw in all directions, I 

 thought it waseasyto account for the scuddines'? 

 which so generally attacks Sherry wines. Cassa- 

 bon's overseer, however, afterwards siiowed us, 

 that however broken or rotten in appearance, the 



