Modes of Working a Vineyard. 335 



Although the working of vineyards on shares is not 

 very common, it is yet more in use than renting. But 

 it has also its objections. In the first place, the owner 

 has not full liberty to apply those modes of cultivation 

 he may deem advisable to introduce into his vineyard ; 

 he must obtain the consent of his lessee, who, on his 

 side, may apprehend that his interests will suffer through 

 such innovations. This consent is all the more neces- 

 sary if, as usually happens, these innovations demand an 

 increased expenditure, and the owner wishes to levy on 

 the products the interest of the capital employed. Again, 

 when through any of the accidents we have enumerated, 

 the crop of the vineyard is destroyed, during one, or 

 several consecutive years, and the lessee has not man- 

 aged to create a reserve fund for himself, the owner is 

 obliged to make him advances of money which he has 

 often great difficulty in recovering. This mode of 

 working, moreover, has one of the drawbacks we have 

 indicated as attending that of renting, when the farm- 

 er's lease is about to expire. It is the lessee's interest 

 to extract from the vineyard the greatest amount of 

 product possible, and that without regard to the dura- 

 tion of the plants ; and so, some time before the expira- 

 tion of the contract binding him to the proprietor, he may 

 so prune the plants as to increase their yield, but, at the 

 same time, cause their complete exhaustion. Lastly, 

 this system requires the frequent presence of the own- 

 er, who ought constantly to overlook the work, and see 

 that it is properly executed, and who, at all events, 

 should be present at the gathering, in order to divide 

 the produce. 



