No. 12. 



The Grape-Vine. 



375 



farmers — they never have been, and we hope 

 they never will be. If it is necessary for 

 them to have wine, they can, with very little 

 pains and care, have it of their own native 

 growth and manufacture — the pure juice of 

 the grape — without adulteration or admix- 

 ture of alcoiiol. We caimot conceive wliy 

 domestic wines are not preferred to foreign 

 wines, if of supposed equal quality. It strikes 

 us that they must be preferred by the real 

 friends of the country — by those who are op- 

 posed to the importation of any article that 

 can be readily produced among ourselves. 



Wine is an article of lujcury — in very few 

 cases is it necessary to our comfort, and they 

 are principally cases of sickness and debility. 

 The importation of foreign wines draws from 

 our country millions of dollars every year — 

 while their consumption does not benefit the 

 national interest a copper. The substitution 

 oi native wines would open a new branch of 

 domestic industry — give employment to num- 

 bers of persons who are not able to perform 

 laborious work — bring many acres of land 

 now lying waste, under cultivation — and 

 retain millions of money within our own 

 country to the benefit of individuals and the 

 nation. 



The editor of the Southern Cultivator, in 

 recommending the cultivation of the grape, 

 publishes a synopsis of M. Cavoleau, on the 

 vineyards and wine manufactures of France. 

 As it may be interesting to some of our read- 

 ers, we give it below. 



"According to the estimates of M. Cavo- 

 leau, who obtained a prize given by the in- 

 stitute for an elaborate work on the vineyards 

 and vines of France, the quantity of vineyard- 

 land in 1806 was about 4,142,600 English 

 acres, and in 1827 about 4,26.5,000 acres. 

 The calculations of the French Statistical 

 Society show that in 1788 the number of 

 acres in cultivation was .3,988,800 acres, and 

 in 1829 about 5,104,000 acres. The vine- 

 growers estimate the increase of vineyards 

 since 1788 at 28 per cent 



" France is divided, for fiscal purpose?, into 

 76 wine-districts, in the same way that Eng 

 land is sub-divided by the board of excise in- 

 to districts termed ' collections.' The total 

 superfices of France is not quite .>'3,000,000 

 hectares, the uncultivated lands amounting to 

 nearly one-eighth of the whole. More than 



one-thirtieth part of France, including the 

 waste lands, is cultivated in vineyards: this is 

 equivalent to about a seventh part of Eng- 

 land. If the counties of Hcdford, Bucking- 

 ham, Berks, Ilortfoni, Huntingdon, Middle- 

 sex, Oxford, Rutland, Surrey, Westmore- 

 land, and Worcester, England, wore entirely 

 covered with vineyards, the vineyards of 

 France would exceed them in extent by 'Alb 

 square miles. The distunce from Eondon to 

 York is 196 miles; and if the land on each 

 side of the road produced vines, instead 

 of grain and food for cattle, each side of the 

 road to the extent of the above sixteen miles 

 must be appropriated to this purpose in order 

 to equal the breadth of land in France which 

 is devoted to the vine ; or, in other words, a 

 tract of country nearly 200 miles long and 

 33 broad. 



M. Cavoleau estimated the value of the an- 

 nual produce of the vineyards at £21,615,- 

 572; the Statistical Society at £28.040,000, 

 and in 1788 at only £28,200,000. 



M. Cavoleau is of opinion that the quanti- 

 ty of wine produced in a year is 812,808,040 

 gallons, or about 200 gallons an acre. The 

 estimate of the Statistical Society is 998,- 

 932,900 gallon?, worth on an average 6|d. 

 per gallon; and the production of 1778 is es- 

 timated at about 610,750,000 gallons. 



The wine-growers are supposed to be 

 1,800,000 in number. 



A commission which was instituted a few 

 years ago to examine into the operation of 

 the tax on wine, which amounts to about 

 £2,900,000 per annum, assumed the total 

 produce to be 924,000,000 gallons, and calcu- 

 lated by approximation the manner in which 

 it was disposed of. They estimated that there 

 was — 



Oallons 



198,000,000 



34 1,080,000 



91,344,000 



44,000,000 

 24..5:!0,l>00 

 1 1,000,000 

 308,000, 0<W 

 105,400,000 



Consumed by the proprietors, not being 



subject tn the duty 

 Employed in the manufacture of brandy 

 Loss and waste among the growers 

 Loss in conveyance, and in the hands of 



dealers 

 Exported 



For tlie manufacture of vinegar, 

 Diuy recovered on consumption is 

 And tlie fraudulent consumption is 



The loss by evaporation was calculated at 

 12 per cent, per annum on the small, and 5 

 per cent, on the large casks. 



The total average export of wine is about 

 22,0()0,(M)0 gallons, of an average value of 

 nearly £2,000,000. 



The district in which the production of 

 wine is carried on to the largest extent, and 

 where the cultivation of the vine is the most 

 advanced, and the qualities of the wine of the 

 highest order, is the department of the Gir- 

 onde. The superfices of the Gironde is 

 2,.500,000 acres, and the extent of vineyards 

 is equal to 350,000 English acres. The 



