50 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



SOU for cacli extra, vine. The usual wages for working an acre 

 for the year, excepting the packing of the grapes and making ^he 

 wine, is from eighty to a hundred francs per acre. Many pro- 

 jDrietors give their lands on half shares, as I have already men- 

 tioned. 



The practice of manuring the vines is a necessary evil. It is 

 a well-understood fact that vines produced on soil not manured 

 will be more durable, and clear better, and are, consequently, 

 sooner ready for market. 



The general conviction in this district is, that the closer the bud 

 to the main stem, the stronger the wine it will produce ; that is, 

 the first bud from the old wood will give grapes less in size than 

 the second and third buds, but it will be a better wine. It is also 

 demonstrated that the toj) bud will produce wood which is much 

 more prolific in bearing than the wood of either of the other buds. 



The reader will understand that by cutting the vine to three 

 buds it will make, of course, three branch vines. The sprouts 

 must be rubbed off, so that these three vines will grow vigorous- 

 ly, and enable the grapes to grow to perfection. 



It is generally admitted by all the vintners and French writers 

 that, the closer the vines are kept to the ground, the better the 

 grapes will ripen, and they will contain more saccharine and col- 

 oring matter. It is also agreed unanimously by all reports on 

 this subject, that when vines are pruned for large crops many 

 buds will be left on the vines, which will produce many grapes, 

 but they will be neither as sweet nor as dark colored as the grapes 

 from the moderate-bearing vines, besides making an inferior wine 

 without the proper bouquet. In the district of Burgundy the 

 practice of three-bud pruning is in general use. The vineyards 

 being renewed every ten years, as described above, are, of course, 

 kept in splendid condition. We were told that the Burgundy 

 vines exported to foreign countries, and not cultivated in the man- 

 ner above described, in fifteen or twenty years ceases to bear en- 

 tirely, or, if at all, in very small quantities. 



The vintage is conducted as follows : Those proprietors of vine- 

 yards which have stone walls around them, called " des Clos," are 

 allowed to gather their grapes whenever they please ; consequent- 

 ly, they will begin the vintage whenever their grapes are in the 

 very best condition. This accounts for the fact that the wine 

 from fenced vineyards is better in quality, and commands a high- 

 er price in the wine market than that of others. 



