FARMERS' REGISTER 



453 



10 them three limes a day. The lambs appeared 

 nil of ihe same size, and must all have been drop- 

 ped vviihin two or three days of each other. The 

 wool was not of a q'lality that would be reckoned 

 fine in New South Wales; and yet Mr. Durand 

 says there is nothing finer in this part of the coun- 

 try. At th'^ rate wools were sellincr in Auirust 

 this year, (1831.) it would hrinp-, in London, about 

 18(/. a pound. It is at present only worth about 

 7-2'/. here, thoufrh two years afjo it sold for 20(/. 

 A <,rood wether will brins 10s. or 12s. They do 

 not milk the cows, hut allow the calves to suck 

 them. I'here is no such thing known in this coun- 

 try as a dairy lam). Oil is the almost universal 

 substitute for every purpose to which butler is ap- 

 plied with us, anil milk is seldom or never used. 

 There are, perhaps, Ihw prejudices stronger than 

 that of the English against the general use of oil, 

 which tliey are accustomed to consider as a very 

 gross kind of condiment; and perhaps there is no 

 prejudice more unlbunded. For surely the pure 

 vegetable juice of the olive is far fi'om being infe- 

 rior, in delicacy, to butter, the animal fat of the 

 cow ; and there can be no doubt, that oil is also 

 more wholesome and congenial to the human con- 

 stitution, in a hot climate, than the latter. This 

 district is not celebrated for the quality of its oil ; 

 but they do not as in Spain, consider rancidity a 

 merit; and in the hotels it is furnished of very 

 good quality, while the olives are quite delicious. 

 Mr. Durand's working oxen are fed during the 

 winter on hay of excellent (]uality, and are all in 

 the highest condition. They liave also potatoes, 

 and sometimes turnips in winter. One set is 

 worked /rom morning till noon, another set from 

 noon till evening. I neulected to inquire what the 

 average produce of wheat is on this farm ; but on 

 the farm first visited, where there was no irricra- 

 tion, it was sixteen or seventeen bushels per Eng- 

 lish acre. The workmen are paid extremely well. 

 The permanent servants of the fiirni have 1-50 

 francs, (S2S,") about £6 a year in money ; 6 hec- 

 tolitres (21i English bushels) of wheat ;'500 litres 

 (120 gallons) of wine ; 40 pounds of oil, and 20 

 pounds of salt, besides a piece of ground to plant 

 vegetables and haricots, (the great dependence of 

 the working people here,) and house room about 

 the premises. The peasants and their wives and 

 children are all extremely well clothed. Day la- 

 borers, at all seasons, receive 30 sous, about 14J. a 

 day. In the harvest, mowers and sheep shearers, 

 2-| francs, and reapers two francs per day, besides 

 their food ; and Mr. Durand says, they make six 

 meals a day at that time, and the quantity of ibod 

 is almost incredible. About sunset we reached 

 Perpignan, from which the last firm was three 

 leagues distant, highly gratified with our excur- 

 sion, and the kindness of our entertainers, who, to 

 wind up their attentions for the day, had invited us 

 to dine, and we now found a sumptuous dinner 

 wailing our arrival. 



Friday, ISth. — Messrs. Durand had been kind 

 enough to say that they would give me a letter to 

 their manager at Port Vendre, where they have a 

 large establishment for shipping wines. I wailed 

 upon them to-day, and found it ready. Port 

 Vendre is only about half a league from Collioure, 

 which I had resolved to visit, as its environs pro- 

 duce the first quality of Ronsillon red wine. At 

 two o'clock I accordinirly took my place in the dili- 

 gence, and arrived at about seven at Collioure, 



where I stopped /or the night. From Perpignan 

 in this direction (southeast) the soil is richer than 

 I have elsewhere observed it in the neighborhood 

 of Perpignan. Though there is here and there a 

 vineyard, the land is generally under corn or mea- 

 dow. Two or three miles before reaching Col- 

 lioure the country begins to ascend towards the 

 Pyrenees, on the tops of which, bordering the 

 ocean, are still to be seen some towers built by 

 the Moors when masters of this part of the co\m- 

 try. No sooner do the hills begin to rise, than the 

 cijllivation of the vine begins also, and the first 

 ranges of the mountains are covered with it to 

 their very tops. 



Saturday, \9th. — After breakfast this morning I 

 walked over to Port Vendre, and waited ufion Mr. 

 Mas, the agent of Messrs. Durand. The road 

 from Collioure winds from hill to hill along the 

 shore. The hills are exactly similar in form and 

 structure to those of Malaga : a shah* or schist, 

 with a slaty trravel, plentifiilly mixed through the 

 soil. Mr. Mas conducted me over the hills in the 

 neighborhood of the town, which are planted with 

 irreat regularity and beauty in terraces from 6 to 

 18 feet wide, according to the slope of the hill. 

 The terraces are made to follow the different 

 curves taken by the hills, and are divided by 

 channels, to allow of the passage of the water. 

 Ft is a stated part of the labor to carry up the soil 

 from the lower part of the terrace, where it has 

 been stopped by the small stone walls, to the 

 higher part. 



In planting these hills they break up the ground 

 only to the depth of eight or nine inches, and as 

 they take up a great number of stones, the depth 

 of the soil remaining is not more than six inches. 

 They then bore a hole in the loose rock with a bar 

 of iron, and thrust in the plant to the depth of 12 

 or 15 inches. 1 saw a plantation of the preceding 

 year where almost every plant had succeeded, al- 

 thoiiiih none of them had given shoots of more 

 than six or eight inches. Mr. Mas says it was 

 formerly the prac'ice in this country to trench and 

 break up the rock to the depth of two or three leet, 

 but (stransre to say) they f^jund the vines were 

 sooner worn out, and they now fidlovv the less ex- 

 pensive method. A hectare of middle-aged vines 

 is here worth 1,000 li-ancs. The greatest expense 

 is in the first plnnfation, for it is universally neces- 

 sary to build a series of terraces to support the soil. 

 The value of a hectare with a good exposure, be- 

 fore plantinfT. is 500 francs. There is, however^ 

 little ground in this neighborhood remaining to be 

 planted, alihoucrh the greatest portion lias been 

 brought into cultivation within the last 15 or 20 

 years. The average produce, according to Mr. 

 Mas, does not exceed six charges the hectare, 

 which is just the half of the vines of the plain. 

 The annual expense of cultivation, including the 

 vintage, is 40 francs, but the wine is worth 28 to 

 30 fralncs a charge, or from 168 to 180 francs the 

 hectare. The distance of the plants is from three 

 to four feer, and the pruning is, in every respect, 

 similar to that of the vines of the plain. The va- 

 rieties chieflv cultivated are the Grenache and the 

 Carignan. The vines are never manured. The 

 wines sometimes remain in the fermenting vat so 

 long as 30 days. Like the wine of the plain, it is 

 seldom drurdc'in its pure state, but is sent to Paris, 

 with an addition of from 7| to 10 per cent, of 

 brandy, in order to be mixed with the lighter winea 



