FARMERS' REGISTER. 



463 



n 1)3(1 flavor, though the contrary was the CHse if 

 the (lung of cows, and siill more that of pigs=, 

 were made nse of. M. Machon gave me 12 cut- 

 tings, the number I requested, of each of the 

 three varieties of vines. He strictly charged the 

 vigneron to select them from yountr vines; ho said it 

 was with the greatest difficulty ihey could tret the 

 vines to last 30 years, and they would not last more 

 than half of that time, if they were not taken i'roni 

 young vines, that is, from vines of five or six years. 

 The vines of Hermitage are planted at the dis- 

 tance of only 2^- feel I'roni each other, and are 

 pruned differently from any I have before observed. 

 They are not anxious too keep the stocks low, as 

 in the south, but many of the older amnng them 

 are 18 Inches, or two ieet in height. In general 

 there is only one mother branch, and one shoot only 

 (very seldom two) is prun(Ml to yield the shoots 

 of the season ; on this shoot are lelt from 3 to S 

 huds, according to its strenrrih, and from 8 to 10 

 hunches is the average produce of each vine. 

 However loosely the bearing wood of the season 

 appeared to be tied up in a tuft at the lop of the 

 stake, M. JNIachon showed me that the portion 

 which had been left of the last years wood was 

 carefully bent down in a circular form, and thus 

 fixed to the stake. This, he said, was to prevent 

 the sap from shooting up with too <rreat ibrce to 

 ihe top. The averaue produce of M. Machon's 

 vineyards is (rom 10 to 12 casks, or about 500 

 gallons per hectare ; that is, from 210 to 2(i0 gal- 

 Jons per English acre. The soil appeared to be of 

 great depth, and full of small stones and gravel, 

 but still there was every where a larsre proportion 

 of good vegetable mould. An observation made 

 by M. JVlachon was, that the wines of granitic 

 soils soon acquire their maturity, and were in ge- 

 neral very pleasant wines for the consumption of 

 the country where they grew, but seldom kept 

 well. 



Before parting, JVI. Richard asked me how I 

 had in general been treated by his countrymen, 

 and he appeared much gratified when I told him 

 that the attentions I had unilbrmly met with far 

 exceeded either what 1 did expect, or had any 

 right to expect. Indeed, I have often reflect- 



fore, the road from Chalons sur Sanne, whence I 

 look my departure this morning, and Chagny, a 

 small town, where commences the range of hills 

 called Cote (V Or, was crowded with people driv- 

 ing cattle and pigs ; a gentleman who was with 

 me in the diligence said ihey were going to a fair 

 at Chafrny. I observed a number of very fine 

 working oxen, in pairs ; ihey were yoked by the 

 head, and appeared perfectly docile. My com- 

 panion said they were worth from 300 to 400 

 i'rancs a pair, I had a letter of introdnciion ad- 

 dressed to Rally, near Beaune, and I never doubl- 

 ed that I should find it within a mile o'' that town. 

 On making inquiry, however, in which direction 

 I must proceed, I was informed that Kully was 

 13 or 14 miles distant, and ihat I had passed it 

 by on the road fi'om Chalons. After some hesi- 

 tation, I resolved, as the weather was extremely 

 wet, to content myself with seeing the vneyards 

 nearer J)ijon, to which town I had also a letter. 

 After waiting a couple of hours in hopes cf better 

 weather, I procured a boy to conduct m3 in the 

 direction of Pornard, the nearest vinejard to 

 Beaune which has any celebrity. After eaving 

 the town, however, for about half a mile, I be- 

 came tired of walking through the mud, which 

 was in many places ankle deep, and turned aside to 

 join some men who were at work on the road side. 

 The first thino' which had struck me on seeing the 

 vineyards of Burgundy, was the extreme close- 

 ness and feebleness of the plants. Tliesa men 

 were employed in planting. They opened asmall 

 furrow with a spade, only one spit, or about 12 

 inches deep, and about 9 inches wide at the bottom. 

 The furrows were 2| feet apart, and the phnls 

 were placed in them at the distance of 14 cr 15 

 inches ; the lower end of the plant was placed 

 across the bottom of the furrow, and bent up at 

 one side; a quantity of dung was placed above, 

 and then the soil was covered in, and the planta- 

 tion finished. They told me that aficr these vines 

 were three years ok', the strongest of them \^ould 

 be selected to fill another row between eaca of 

 the present rov;, by thesvstem o\' provigimi^t, the 

 same as I had seen at Hermitage ; and thus a 

 pace of 15 inches only wouIrl_be left between 



ed how ill placed was the reserve I was advised ; each plant in every direction. The vines adjoin- 

 to use about the objects Of my journey, when in | ing had not more space allowed, although the soil 



the Bordeaux country in 1822. I was then told, 

 that if these were known, it would excite the great- 

 est jealously wherever I should go, and that I 

 would be thwarted and misled in every possible 

 way. On the present occasion I had no advisers; 

 an(l acting upon the impulse of my own disposi- 

 tion, I uniformly prefaced my request for informa- 

 tion with a statement of the object for which it 

 was required. So far, however, from iiaving been 

 in any one instance ill received or misled, I have 

 found every person to whom I applied anxious to 

 forward myundertakinnr. M. Richard expressed a 

 hope, that if I published an account of my jour- 

 ney, 1 would give his countrymen the credit to 

 which I considered them entitled. 



Wednesday, \Ath December, Beaune. — Aller 

 quitting the vineyards of Hermitage, there was 

 nothing which I was desirous of examining, till my 

 arrival in Burgundy, and I accordinji made the 

 best of my way to this town, which is in the centre 

 of the Cote d' Or. Spending only one day in Ly- 

 ons, which was still in a slate of fermem from the 

 disturbances that had taken place three weeks be- 



appeared exceedingly fertile. They said it would 

 yield a good ordinary wine, but not a fine wine. 



The plain between Cagnyand Beaune, lyiiitrto 

 the southeast of the range of hills, which, from 

 the value of their produce, give the name of Coie 

 d' Or to the department, is extremely rich, and to 

 all appearance capable of yielding colden harvests 

 of corn, as the Iiills do of wine. The greater por- 

 tion olii, however, was planted with vines on both 

 sides of I he road. Near Cagny it appeared lighter, 

 with a larger admixture of stones, and on ap- 

 proaching Beaune, it was a rich brown loam. A 

 portion of the soil taken from where the men were 

 planting was very slightly calcareous. Towards 

 the top, the ranse of hills, which are of no great 

 elevation, not nearly so high or so steep as Her- 

 mitage, was not planted, but seemed to be in a 

 state of nature, or in pasturage. The hill of Her- 

 milafre was planted to the top. 



Thursday, '[5ih December, />//oh.— Havingjoin- 

 ed the diligence at ten last night. I arrived here at 

 three this mornini'-. After breakfast I proceeded 

 to Ihe house o\ the merchants to whom I liad 



