248 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



class in England. But the accommodations for railway travel 

 in England and France are not to be compared with those in 

 America for comfort. 



We are now in the ancient and celebrated province of Bur- 

 gundy, celebrated not only for its superior and popular wines, 

 but for the part it has had in the history of Europe. The most 

 extensive vineyards stretch along a low range of hills, begin- 

 ning at Dijon, and upon them are situated Chambertin, Nuits, 

 Romance, and Clos Vongcot, which have given their names to 

 favorite varieties of wine. The vine is planted in rows, about 

 three feet apart, and cut down to about three or four feet in 

 height. We rode through thousands of acres, all trained iu 

 the same way, full of luxuriant foliage and loaded with grapes 

 in great clusters, but still green. It was just the middle of 

 July. 



There is, I am sorry to say, nothing very picturesque in 

 these extensive vineyards in this part of France. All looks 

 more practical and less poetical than I expected to find it. No 

 graceful festoons hanging from tree to tree, as we see in Lom- 

 bardy, no vine-covered trellises, as we see in the Swiss Italian 

 valleys, but just plain, erect, well-trimmed plants, tied to 

 stakes. No fences separate the lands of different owners, no 

 ditches even, but the rights of property appear to be most 

 scrupulously respected. 



The culture of the vine in tliis region, especially in the 

 vicinity of Baune, dates back as far as the time of Christ, for 

 Pliny, writing about the year 77, speaks of the vine cultivated 

 here as very remarkable for the delicious wine made from it. 



To the east of this splendid vine-producing district, and 

 extending to the slopes of the Jura mountains, the farmers pay 

 more attention to the raising of cattle and the dairy, more 

 especially to the manufacture of cheese. In the hilly parts of 

 this section they have what are called Fruilicres, or associa- 

 tions for the manufacture of cheese. I had long known the 

 nature and character of these associations as they existed in 

 Switzerland, bnt I did not know that the same had been 

 adopted anywhere else. 



These associations arise, in part, from the minute division of 

 lands, from which it happens that but a small number of cows 

 can be kept by any one tenant or farmer, not enough to enable 



