THE VINE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. 797 



Horns and rags remain effective for five years, oil cake for two only. 

 Whatever may be the manure employed, it is customarily buried in fur- 

 rows cut between the rows of vines. These rows are generally from 3J 

 to ,"> feet apart, and the same distance is kept between each plant in the 

 row, but in some parts of the country a larger space frequently exists 

 between the rows. The intervals thus intervening are then devoted to 

 some other culture, wheat in most cases. But it has been found out 

 that the system proves injurious to both cultures, and it has been aban- 

 doned to a a great extent. 



Yield. Grapes are never dried in this country, except by such farmers 

 as do not have a sufficient number of vines to enable them to undertake 

 the making of wine, or are too far away from a consuming center where 

 they could send to the market the small quantity of fresh grapes pro- 

 duced on their farm. The method followed by such farmers is very 

 simple : The grapes are dipped in boiling water and exposed to the rays 

 of the sun for eight or ten days. The raisin thus prepared can not com- 

 pete with that imported here in large quantities from Spain, and the 

 amount produced is consequently insignificant. 



Kailroad facilities have made it possible to dispose of a certain quan- 

 tity of fresh grapes at paying prices, but still the great object is the 

 production of wine. In consequence, all the calculations made regard- 

 ing the yield, value, and cost of crop depend upon this production, 

 which is regulated by so many circumstances that it can not easily be 

 established on a fixed .basis. 



While the cost is submitted to little variation, between the sums of 

 300 and 400 francs per hectare ($24 to $40 per acre), including the 

 purchase of manure, sulphur (as a preventive against oidium), and the 

 making of wine, the yield is entirely subject to the weather throughout 

 the year, as is the value to the quotations of the wine market. It is 

 generally conceded that one acre of vines can produce from 200 to 400 

 gallons of wine, and that the cost of cultivation takejs up one-third of 

 the proceeds. 



Diseases. Many causes can affect the yield and value of the crop. 

 Amongst those of frequent occurrence are atmospheric influences, early 

 spring frosts, that blight thje plant and leave no other remedy than the 

 cutting of the stem on a level with the ground to let the new sprouts 

 grow from the roots, or the uprooting of the whole plant, which is 

 either replaced by a new one or, more rarely, by means of "provining," 

 that is, forcing into the ground one of the long branches of the next vine. 



Extreme drought prevents the growth of the grapes in size and quan- 

 tity, but improves the quality of the wine wonderfully, according to the 

 common saying, "A year of drought is a year of good wine." A wet 

 season, on the contrary, brings abundance of wine, but impairs the 

 quality, so that in many instances the wine is unsalable and must be 

 turned into alcohol. 



The vine also suffers from many parasitic insects or diseases. Few 



