22 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No.l. 



chinery is in the hind boot. The water and the 

 coke are in a tender, or separate carriage on two 

 wheels, behind the locomotive. This steam coach 

 will carry six inside passengers sitting viz-a-viz, 

 14 outside on the rootj and six on the tender; total, 

 26 passengers. From the favorable terms in 

 which I have heard Mr. Russell's engine spoken 

 of, both here and in Glasgow, I feel a great curiosi- 

 ty to ride on it, and I will take advantage of the 

 first opportunity to do so, and will report to you 

 respecting it, as well as others which will no doubt 

 be introduced as the spring advances. You may 

 inquire, why did not Mr. R. remain in Glasgow? 

 I will reply in nearly the words of the gentleman 

 who showed us this carriage. He said the preju- 

 dice against it. was great, in consequence of the. 

 unfortunate accident by which 12 or 13 passengers 

 were killed or wounded; that it was expedient to 

 come to a distant part of the country. He told us, 

 that for several months this engine plied between 

 Glasgow and Paisley, and performed in a manner 

 to give entire satisfaction; and in consequence, the 

 stage coach proprietors and trustees of the road 

 were alarmed lest this and others would gain so 

 much in public estimation as to become regular 

 coaches. They therefore resolved to drive it of!', 

 if possible. This they accomplished by picking 

 up the turnpike, and putting fresh metal down in 

 unusual and extraordinary quantities. Notwith- 

 standing the road was made almost impassable, 

 the engine was still continued, and plied regularly 

 several times each day for a whole month, and 

 excited the admiration of all intelligent persons, 

 that it could overcome such difficulties. It how- 

 ever war, finally injured by being driven for so 

 long a time over a road so much worse than it was 

 constructed for, and one of the hind wheels get- 

 ting into a hole (made by order of the turnpike 

 proprietors.) it broke, and the carriage tumbled to 

 the ground; four or five persons were killed, and 

 eight or nine others seriously maimed and wound- 

 ed. But none of them were hurt from the explo- 

 sion of the engine, or the escape of steam, but 

 from being thrown with great violence against the 

 rough, new mettled road — the same kind of injury 

 as would be received from a common stage coach 

 breaking one of its wheels when travelling rapidly. 

 I am informed that an action is brought by the 

 owners of the steam carriage, as well as by seve- 

 ral of the survivors and the friends of the de- 

 ceased, killed by this melancholy event, against 

 the road company, for obstructing the King's high- 

 way, and causing the injury and death of a num- 

 ber of persons, besides loss of property. Sanguine 

 hopes are entertained that the guilty will be se- 

 verely punished. 



I forgot to tell you above, that, the swell on the 

 two canals, caused by the quick passage of the 

 boats, is very inconsiderable. 



I am, very respectfully, 



Your obedient servant, 



GERARD RALSTON. 



P. S. The demand for railway locomotives is 

 very great. I am sending nine to different parts 

 of the" United States, and both Mr. Robert Ste- 

 phenson and Mr, Bury have orders to give them 

 full employment for several months to come. 



MEMOIR ON THE MAKING OF WINE IN THE 

 CANTON OF MARCILLAC. 



By M. Charles Girou de Bczareingues. 



Translated for the Farmers' Register, from the Annates de V Ag- 

 riculture Francaise. 



The vintages which continue aboutthree weeks, 

 generally take place in the course of October. 

 More intent upon the quantity than the quality, 

 the proprietor bestows little care upon gathering 

 only the ripe and sound grapes. The vintage is 

 seldom interrupted, or suspended, to wait for the 

 perfect maturity of the fruit; in from fifteen to 

 twenty days the whole is finished in the vale of 

 Marcillac, and the vintage scarcely lasts four or 

 five days in the same vineyard. It is not thus that 

 the work is performed in the vine lands which fur- 

 nish the good qualities of Bourdeaux wine: there 

 they pick constantly, and the vintage continues for 

 one or two months. No great advantages, it is 

 true, would be obtained at first by similar care in 

 the vale of Marcillac, but in the end it would be 

 found not wholly useless, for complete ripeness 

 was never yet a defect. 



The vintager receives for hire 20 centimes a 

 day, and his food, representing a value of 50 cen- 

 times. 



The grapes are carried from the vineyard to the 

 vat in double panniers, which are placed upon 

 cushions of goat skin, of a triangular form, with 

 the angles rounded. Seen underneath, these cush- 

 ions represent, towards the sharpest of their an- 

 gles, a cap or hood to receive the top of the head, 

 and towards the opposite side two small cushions 

 near together, designed to protect the shoulders on 

 which the two divisions of the pannier rest. The 

 head of the porter being placed between these di- 

 visions, the pannier is prevented from slipping 

 back by a band of osier attached to its two divi- 

 sions, and against, which the anterior angle of the 

 cushion presses. This pannier, which together 

 with the cushion, weighs five or six kilogrammes, 

 contains from 40 to 45 kilogrammes of grapes. 



It is wonderful to see the porters, under this 

 heavy burden, descend at a rapid pace, with the 

 aid of a long staff, from the top to the bottom of 

 the vineyards or climb up them by goat paths, 

 and often traverse more than half a league with- 

 out relaxing their speed. 



If we judge of them by their gait when they 

 return unloaded, to the vineyard, they do not then 

 feel so much the necessity of hurrying them- 

 selves. 



Their stature generally corresponds with the 

 muscular force required by their employment, 

 which is at once laborious and dangerous. 



The number of porters is determined by the 

 abundance of the crop and the distance of the 

 vineyard from the cellar. When this distance is 

 great, oxen are used to haul the grapes which, in 

 this case, are put into a large tub placed upon a 

 cart. The porters then, have only to cany the 

 grapes from the vineyard to this tub which is ge- 

 nerally not far distant; their task, however, is not 

 therefore lessened, for they are fewer and more 

 frequently obliged to go up and down the steep 

 paths of the vineyard, the most dangerous and 

 most difficult part of their work. Their wages 

 and food agree with their service; they receive, 

 per day, from one franc twenty-five centimes to 

 one franc fifty centimes, and they make eight or 



