186 AGRICUJ.TUKE OX THE RHINE. 



Walluf, where they suddenly leave it and stretch 

 at a right angle towards Wiesbaden and Homburg. 

 At Walluf a projecting ridge runs out from the main 

 range, and thus the gentle slopes that, \yith various 

 undulations, lie on the base of the Taunus between 

 Iliidesheim and Walluf, are sheltered from the east 

 wind as well as from the violence of storms from the 

 S.W. When to these favourable circumstances we add 

 that these slopes are formed of alluvial soil, frequently 

 attaining a depth of twenty feet or more of an ex- 

 ceedingly fertile nature, the reader will easily conceive 

 on what the claims of the " llhinegau" to be pre-emi- 

 nently adapted to the production of wine are founded. 

 The ])roduce of the llhinegau vineyards will unhesitatingly 

 be pronounced by all who have had an opportunity of 

 tasting it in its purity, and with due selection, to be the 

 choicest wine that is made. But, in addition to the draw- 

 back of its being the dearest wine that is sold, its rarity 

 prevents so many from having the opportunity of judging 

 of it, that many of our readers, travelled as well as un- 

 travelled, must, we fear, content themselves with the 

 proofs which we shall adduce of the correctness of our 

 asseveration. The whole length of this favoured tract of 

 country is from 10 to 12 English miles. The summits of 

 the Taunus that shelter it on the north rise 1500 feet above 

 the Pthine, and recede to a distance of a mile and a half 

 from its bank. The upper part of the mountains is 

 wooded, the lower part presents undulations of varying size 

 and slope. As the boat winds round what is emphatically 

 called the hill of Riidesheim, the traveller glances with 

 no little surprise at the close and compact patches of 

 vines with which its precipitous side is literally clothed. 



