1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



131 



of Burgundy and Macon which supply the chief con- 

 sumption of Paris. 



"The limited extent of the first-rate vineyards is 

 proverbial, and writers upon the subject have almost 

 universally concluded that it is in vain to attempt ac- 

 counting for the amazing diri'erences which are fre- 

 quently observed-in the produce of vineyards similar 

 in soil and in every other respect, and separated from 

 each other only by a fence or a foot-path. My own 

 observations have led me to believe that there is more 

 of quackery than of truth in this In all those'dis- 

 tricts which produce wines of high reputation, some 

 few individuals have seen the advantage of selecting- a 

 particular variety of grape, and of managing its cul- 

 ture so as to bring it to the highest state of perfection 

 of which it is capable. The same care has been ex- 

 tended to the making and subsequent management of 

 their wine, by seizing the most favorable moment for 

 the vintage — by the rapidity with which the grapes 

 are gathered and pressed, so that the whole contents of 

 each vat may be exactly in the same state, and a sim- 

 ultaneous and equal fermentation be secured through- 

 out — by exercising equal discrimination and care in 

 the time and manner of drawing oif the wine, and in 

 its subsequent treatment in the vats or casks where it 

 is kept — and, lastly, by not selling the wine till it 

 should have acquired all the perfection which it could 

 acquire from age, and by selling, as the produce ot 

 their own vineyards, only such vintages as were cal- 

 culated to acquire or maintain its celebrity. By these 

 means have the vineyards of a few individuals ac- 

 quired a reputation which has enabled the proprietors 

 to command almost their own prices for their wines; 

 and it was evidently the interest of such persons that 

 the excellence of their wines should be imputed to a 

 peculiarity in the soil, rather than to a system of man- 

 agement which others might imitate. It is evident 

 however, that for all this a command of capital is re- 

 quired, which is not often found among proprietors of 

 vineyards; and to this cause, more than to any other 

 it is undoubtedly to be traced, that a few celebrated 

 proprietors have acquired, and maintained, almost a 

 monopoly in the production of line wines." 



EXTRACT3 FROBI A REPORT ON SELECT 

 FARMS, 



Made by an examining committee, appointed by the 

 Societe d' Agriculture et d'Economie Domestique 

 de Rosay ( Seine- et- Mar nc.) September, 1S34. 



Translated for the Farmers' Register, from the Jlnnales de 

 Vjigriculture Francaisc, of November; 1834. 



[Of the farm of Chapelles, only part of the obser- 

 vations of the committee are here given, and that, 

 principally, because of the more full notice of the four- 

 shift rotation, which is again referred to in the suc- 

 ceeding statements. Of the two farms of Noas and 

 La Grange, to which the two first prizes of the society 

 were awarded, the remarks of the committee are given 

 entire. The reports on six other farms are omitted. 

 Whether the details here presented to our readers may 

 possess any practical agricultural value, or not, those 

 relating to La Grange will be of some interest, as exhi- 

 biting something of the private life,and humble but use- 

 ful labors, of the illustrious man who belonged to our 

 country as much as to that which gave him birth, and 

 to the world — and whose deeds were more for man- 

 kind, and less for self aggrandizement, than those of 

 any, or all the great men now leading or governing, 

 nations, or striving to attain such eminence.] 



Farm of Chapelles, belonging to M. Caron, cul- 

 tivated by M. Vignier. 



The tillage of the lands belonging to the farm 

 of Chapelles, is almost completely subjected to the 

 four-shift rotation, based upon the sowing of clo- 

 vers on wheat, and of oats upon the clover lay — 

 the rotation most suitable, lor all kinds of land, 

 because it is readily accommodated to all the par- 

 tial modifications which may be suggested by the 

 circumstances of the farmer, and of his land — and 

 which is inflexible only on one point, viz: the con- 

 stant alternation of grain crops and artificial grass- 

 es. 



M. Vignier did so much the better in adopting 

 this improvement, as his land, naturally wet, hav- 

 ing been put in lucerne by a preceding tenant, 

 could no more bear that grass, notwithstanding 

 all his care lo establish it. He has not succeeded 

 in making it grow, except upon a lot of land which 

 had not yet borne it. He attributes his success to 

 the use of poudreite,* of which he has sown a 

 great quantity at the same time with the lucerne 

 seed. The growth on the part thus sown, is much 

 finer than that of the same ground, in lucerne 

 without poudreite. M. Vignier makes considera- 

 ble use of this manure, of which he knows the 

 good effects on wheat. It is said that its effect is 

 not prolonged beyond that of one crop: but he has 

 made an observation on that head, which deserves 

 to be cited. This is, that a crop of clover, made 

 upon wheat manured Irom the farm-yard, where 

 there had been, four years before, wheat made on 

 p&udrette, grew much finer than the other clover 

 made after two euch crops of wheat on farm-yard 

 dung, or one crop manured by penning, and one 

 from the farm-yard. Perhaps we ought to con- 

 clude that this alternation ol poudreite and farm- 

 yard manure suits best, especially for humid soil9, 

 because that the poudreite, by its effervescent ac- 

 tion making the soil enter into fermentation, acta 

 not only as [alimentary] manure, but as an im- 

 prover of the texture of the soil. After the wheat, 

 without doubt the part serving as manure is ex- 

 hausted, as the action of the poudreite is very 

 quick: but the improvement of the soil remains 

 — the earth is warmed, reanimated, and more 

 proper than any other to bear good crops, w T ith 

 the addition of farm-yard manure. 



The rotation of the farm of Chapelles is cer- 

 tainly that which suits it the best, and M. Vignier 

 follows it with perseverance and intelligence. All 

 his ploughings are well executed, his ground in 

 the best state of preparation — and yet, though 

 the land of this farm may be of good enough 

 quality, the products are not such as w r ould be 

 desired. The crops of this year, especially, are 

 far from answering to a culture so judicious and 

 well executed. The wet nature of the soil is op- 

 posed to complete success: it requires to be tilled 

 precisely at such times and seasons as it is in the 

 best order for receiving tillage, and without per- 

 mitting the commencement of the difficulties by 

 which the crops suffer. The amelioration of the 

 soil is not yet enough advanced — there remain 



*This is dried and pulverized human excrement-— 

 prepared generally in towns in France, where large 

 quantities of the material can be collected from privies, 

 or from cleaning out the public "fo?t?3 des atsance." 

 — Tr. 



