46S 



F A R x\l E R S ' REGISTER. 



ihe close of the season, than the top. When the 

 seai?on has been cxiremely fine and warm from 

 beirinning to end, the wine of ihe hifihcr and low- 

 er regions of ihe hill equals ihat of the middle re- 

 gion. Il' F was struck wiih ihe closeness of the 

 plan's in JBurirundy, the closeness of ihpse was 

 more remarkiilile siill. The viirneron said, that il 

 it were possible to keep the vineyard fully furnish- 

 ed with plants, there would be one for endi 8 or 9 

 inches in lenjilh, by 6 or 7 in breadili. The sup- 

 position which I made to illustrate the mode of 

 provignage in Burgundy is actually realized here. 

 JEvery year an addition is made lo the bottom of 

 the vineyard of a certain number of plants, and 

 the whole of the vines are in a slate of continual 

 progression, being; buried, and by that means car- 

 ried 12 or 14 inches up the hill every third year. 

 The process is of course not regular, for in every 

 place there are plants in each stase of the progress 

 which they pass ihrough. According to the num- 

 ber of (he voids to be lilled, the branches of the 

 slock lhat is buried are from two to four or five. 

 On each of these branches, when pruned in the 

 ppring, are left two buds ; these buds produce 

 branches or shoots, which bear fruit the first year. 

 The next spring three buds are left upon the liijzh- 

 er, and two upon the lower of the two shoo's. and 

 the spriniT liillowing they are pruned to bear shoots 

 .corresponding to the number of voids to he filled 

 in their neiifhlioihood, for their turn to be burieil 

 has agiiu arrived. By this tneanc, also, a supply 

 of rooted p'anis is obtained when ihey are rt'quireii; 

 but when these rooted [)lants are cut oH, and plant- 

 ed oat, Ihey never bear fruit till the ihird year. 

 The maitre vigil eron said, he believed the roots 

 never die. They frequently trace th' m lo a very 

 great length, but never disturb them, always bury- 

 ing the others above them. The prodm-e perar- 

 pcnl, he says, sometimes amounts to 15 pieces, 

 (661) gallons per acre,) and the small proprietors, 

 vvho manure their vines more stronsly, have fre- 

 quently 16. M. Ruinart himself told me, that he 

 knew instances of lour arpents siving 100 pieces, 

 1,100 gallons per acre. The manure is alvvajs 

 added to the plants which have been buried ; a 

 handful of earth is first put over the plant, and the 

 manure above. They are, however, extremely 

 cautious as to the quality of the manure. In some 

 places I observed dung trom the farm yard mixed 

 with the soil, but in general it was only strong soil 

 from the valley below, mixed with ashes, and 

 other amendments of a mild description. 



I here closed my examination of the vineyards 

 of France, there being no point unexplained of 

 RufHcieiil importance to induce me to wait another 

 day for the purpose of seeing iVI. Ruinart's steward. 

 Next morning the maxire vigneron brought me 

 three small bundles of plants, which, he said, were 

 the only varieties cultivated in the vineyanis which 

 produce nood wine. The black and white Pineau, 

 Hccording to M. Ruinart's statement, and as is 

 generally understood, are the varieties ol' vines 

 cultivated in Champagne, as well as in Burgundy. 

 The vigneron hrouuht me two black varieties, 

 which he called \\ie plant vcri, nnA plant dare, and 

 one white. The, plant dnre, he said, was intro- 

 duced into the vineyards oI'M. Ruinarr only a few 

 years ago, and was no; common in the country. 

 It is much more productive than the other two 

 varieties. These plants were all rooted, having 

 been cut from stocks that iiad been buried the 



preceding season : they had each two branches, 

 and are sold in the country at the rate of a half- 

 penny each. Ti;ese plants were very abundant 

 this season, for a vast rujinber had been destroyed 

 by the severity of the winter, 1829-.S0. i)ud it was 

 necessary to provide plants to replace them. To 

 such an extent were the vineyards injured durin;? 

 that season, that i:i some places the quantity of 

 wine produced did not exre^d from 2 to 3 pieces 

 per arpent. With such difficulties to overcome, 

 the vineyards of Champagne and Burgundy are 

 striking examples of the effccis of industry and 

 skill. Nothing can contrast more strontjlv than 

 the small and puny shoots of the vines of Cham- 

 pagne and Burgundy, compared with the strong 

 and vifTorous branches of the vines of Spain ; yet 

 have Ihe care and skill of tlie cultivators produced 

 in the former countries, a wine equal in value to 

 ihe best of those produced in the most favored 

 climates, and, notwithstanding all their losses,, 

 much more abundant in quantity. 



Having recorded with so much minuteness my 

 observations on everv vineyard and district throuirh 

 which I passed. I will avoid adding to the length 

 of this journal by offering many ijeneral remarks. 

 I cannot, however, relrain from observing, that 

 from the albarizas of Xeres, the most southern 

 vineyards of any reputation in Europe, to those of 

 the chalky hills of Champagne, amongst the most 

 norihern, I met with no vineyard producing dry 

 wines of reputation, which was not more or less 

 calcareous. Allhouch it is acknowledged that 

 two thirds of the vineyards of France are situated 

 upon soil more or le.es calcareous, by Chaptal, and 

 other writers upon the subject, they have stated, 

 that provided the soil is porous, Iree, and hcrht, its 

 component pans are of little consequence; and 

 tliey enumerate jiranitic, schistose, atijillaceous, 

 fliriiy, sandy, and calcareous soils, as equally well 

 (|ualified to produce, and as actually prodiicimr, in 

 diH'erent parts of France, wines o( the finest 

 quality. It appears evident to me, however, that 

 t hese writers have, in many instances, been misled 

 by the representations which have been trans- 

 mitted to them ; as, for instance, when Chaptal 

 and Cavoleau* cite the wine of Hermitage as an 

 instance ol the excellence of wines produced upon 

 the dean's of granite; while the fact is, that Ihe 

 wine of the hill of Hermitage owes its superiority 

 over the wines of the other hills in its neighbor- 

 hood only to the circumstance ol' the granitic soil 

 of a part of that hill being mixed with calcareous 

 matter; and but for this circumstance, I am satis- 

 fied that the wine of Hermitage would never have 

 been heard of beyond the neighborhood where it 

 grows. 1 am 1herel()re of opinion, that the finest 

 dry wines owe their superiority chiefly to the 

 quality of the soil : and I am much mistaken if it 

 be not found that the soils ol' all vineyards produ- 

 cing dry wines of superior excellence are strong- 

 ly calcareous. All my observations have led me 

 to this conclusion, and I know of no instance to 

 the contrary. It will be observed, lhat I here only 

 speak of dry wines, for sweet wines of great excel- 

 lence are produced in a variety of soils, and, in 

 fiict, owe their qualities more to the variety of the 

 grape, and ihe manner in which it is treated, than 

 to the soil. The sweet Muscat and Old Mountain 



* QEnolosie Fran9aise, on Sfatistique de Tons les 

 Vignobles de France. Paris, 1827. 



