Manures and Chemcial Applications. 231 



that, do what we may, can only yield inferior wines, 

 sold at the rate of $0.22 per gallon, we shall have a 

 gross product of $30.15 per acre, which will be quite 

 inadequate to pay the expense of cultivation. In the 

 celebrated growths, this yield would also be considered 

 insufficient. For this reason, the quantity is increased, 

 by means of manures, to about two hundred and thirty- 

 two gallons the acre, in Medoc, and about one hundred 

 and ninety gallons in the more celebrated growths of 

 the hills of Burgundy. It is in the latter vines that 

 the least manure is used, but the pomace of grapes, the 

 fertile soils and the composts that are strewed over 

 them, are, in reality, manures, whatever may be said to 

 the contrary. 



We must conclude, from the foregoing, that if man- 

 ures exercise a hurtful influence on the quality of wine, 

 the manuring of vineyards is, nevertheless, necessary 

 for the sake of increase in quantity ; that this manuring 

 should be abundant, in proportion as the high price 

 of the product compensates for its scantiness ; and, 

 lastly, that all other things being equal, manures may 

 be the more freely used the more we advance toward 

 the South. 



[In the fertile soils of the West, that have been devoted to 

 the planting of the vine, one of the difficulties that has at- 

 tended this branch of culture has arisen from the excessive 

 growth induced by this fertility, which, in some varieties, is 

 attended with poor results in fruit. Hence, we have had 

 little experience with manurial applications, and we are even 

 advised to plant certain sorts on the poorest land.* As a 



* This is the case with the Diana, and some other strong-growing kinds. 



