198 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 4 



economy live at their ease. They begin to live 



rather better than they formerly cIIlI ; tlieir wants 

 are altribmecl to the liearness ol' articles of con- 

 sumption, of which they are deprived, such as 

 meat, which they very rarely eat, and iron, of 

 which they use large quantities lor their Tarming. 

 Tliey sometimes sutier li'om the want ol" sale lor 

 their produclions." 



M. Joanno!, the intelligent librarian of the Bor- 

 deaux public library, has atlbrded ample inlbrma- 

 tion respecting the moral and eocial condilion ol 

 the population engaged in vineyards in the de- 

 partment of the Giront'e. He stales that the pro- 

 prietors ol' vineyards producing wines of the first 

 quality are rich, but the others are not in prosper- 

 ous circumstances, and if they were not also en- 

 gaged in liirming it would be impossible to sup- 

 port themselves. M. Joannot says that, owing to 

 the ambition of the small land-owners to increase 

 their possessions, they often purchase land at a 

 price very much above its real value. The ave- 

 rage daily pay of a vine-dresser is Is. 4d. ; a wo- 

 man and cihld together gain about 7.>c/. ; and the 

 most skilful laborer, who provides himself with 

 board and lodging, obtams liom Is. 8d. to Is. l\d. 

 per day. The vintager who is led and lodged by 

 his employer receives hom 7d. io Is. and some- 

 times Is. 3d. per day. Women and children em- 

 ployed in the vineyards receive half the pay of the 

 men. The workmen attached to the vine-press 

 receive 4i^(/. per day more than the others. In the 

 Medoc district, the vineyard is cultivated on the 

 following terms : — A certain portion of land, ge- 

 nerally about seven acres, is divided according to 

 agreement, and it is then managed by the vine- 

 dresser. It; is his duly to cut the vines — prune 

 the shoots — to tie them up in bundles and carry 

 ihem out of the vineyard ; and he also attends to 

 all the necessary processes wliich the successful 

 culture of the vine demands, such as loosening 

 the ground about the roots of the plants, and 

 breaking up the ground in places which the 

 plough could not reach: all the other e.xpenses are 

 at the proprietor's cost. The vine-dresser receives 

 a salary lor himself and liimily of 6/. in money, be- 

 sides half the cuttings, four barrels of a liquor call- 

 ed "piquette," made from the wastage ol the wine- 

 barrels, the remnants of the grapes, &c., a lodg- 

 ing, and a small garden. It is usual amongst the 

 extensive growers of the Sauterne and Earsac 

 grapes to employ whole families of vine-dressers 

 to cultivate the crops at fixed wages. Each fami- 

 ly is boarded and lodged on the estate, and has a 

 email house, garden, liemp-field, and half the cut- 

 lings of the vines collected on the portion of 

 ground they cultivate; and they have, moreover, 

 permission to grow vegetables on several of the 

 lurrows in the vineyard. They receive besides, ' 

 for each man and woman, fifty kilogrammes (110 

 lbs.) of rye, and half that quantity Tor each child. 

 The head of the litmily receives an annual addi- 

 tion of from 21. to 21. 8s. ; and a child, as soon as 

 it commences working, is paid at the rate of 24s. 

 a year. 



The manager of a large wine property in Me- 

 doc gives nearly a similar account of the condition 

 of the vine-dressers on the estate under his super- 

 intendence. A vine-dresser who is the head of a 

 family, and whose wilii works, receives from 18/. 

 to 20/. a year in money, and is provided with four 

 barrels of piquette, lodging, a garden, and land 



.suited for the growth of hemp to supply the fami- 

 ly with linen, and he has one- half of the relijee 

 wood oithat portion of the vineyard which he cul- 

 tivates, besides medical attendance and medicines 

 at the cost of the proprietor. This account adds 

 that the ignorance of domestic economy amongst 

 the vine-dressers is usually very great in the de- 

 partment of the Gironde. Another account says 

 ihal insiruclion is but little ditiused among them. 

 Tliose who have learned to read when young, no 

 longer think of reading at a more advanced age, 

 although this is exactly the period when the 

 greatest possible advantage would be derived from 

 the perusal of useful books. Wlien young, it is 

 stated that liiey read nothing but the catechism 

 and prayer-bouk, and a complaint is made that 

 books of a more attractive kind are not circulated. 

 As a consequence of this state of things, they are 

 extremely liinatic, and having lew sources of ra- 

 tional amusement and instruction, they either "go 

 to bed early," lor want of occupation, or spend 

 their lime at the public houses. M. Joannot says 

 they are in general endowed with great penetra- 

 tion, but they are ignorant, superstitious, devoid of 

 religion, proud, setting at defiance ihe educated 

 and the rich, selfish, little Ibiid ol work; yet he 

 states that they are kind and hospitable, adding, 

 however, that llimily ties have litlle weight 

 amongst them — the sickness of one of their cat- 

 tle distressing them more than that of their wile 

 or child. Almost all of them live without care lt)r 

 the future, and die unregretted. This is a disas- 

 trous picture of the moral stale of so numerous a 

 class, and it will require many efibrts to lift them 

 out of that degradation in which they are placed 

 by reason of their ignorance of their own nature, 

 and the duties which are imposed on them. 

 France will soon be covered with parish schools, 

 and the instruction which may be obtained there 

 will, it is to be hoped, do something towards im- 

 proving their character. We must add, that 

 though thus spoken of, M. Joannot says "their 

 sobriety is worthy of imitation." 



In some parts of the department of the Gironde, 

 where the elevation of the country renders the air 

 extremely pure, the men are finely Ibrmed, have 

 blue eyes and light hair, and pretty women are 

 common among them. The population of these 

 parts is much devoted to pleasure and dress, and 

 they are of a gay temperament. 



in the district where the Macon and Beaujolais 

 wines are produced, M. Uelahante, a public func- 

 tionary, affirms that ''it is certain that within the 

 last twenty years civilization has made great pro- 

 gress among the population employed in the cul- 

 tivation of the vine. There are lew of the old 

 people who know how to read, and lew of the 

 young who cannot do so." 



M. de Brimcnt, of Kheims, says of the vine- 

 dressers of the Champagne district, that as to 

 education they are on an average with the popu- 

 lation of France generally, "but they are more 

 sober and orderly than the manulacturing classes 

 in General." 



From tlic Edinburgli Eiicyclopxdia. 

 ON SEA-WEED, OR ALGA MARINA. 



Sea-weed, a plant that grows upon rocke with- 

 in the sea, is driven ashore after storms, and is 



