THE VINE IN CHAMPAGNE. 803 



There are several other species of vine of second rank, cultivated in 

 the champagne vineyards, notably the common meunier, or miller, bear- 

 ing black grapes, and which derives its name from the circumstance of 

 the young leaves appearing to have been sprinkled with flour. There 

 are also the black and white gonais, the meslier, a prolific white variety, 

 yielding a wine of fair quality; the black and white gamais ; the tour- 

 l<m ; the marmot, and several others. 



These second-rate vines produce in abundance the wines which were 

 formerly reserved by the vine-growers for their own consumption, but 

 which are now used by not over-nice speculators to mix with their 

 superior wines. It is but fair to say, however, that these second-rate 

 vines are rapidly disappearing, and vines of the first class taking their 

 place. 



On the hills around Eheims and Vertus the method of low cultivation 

 prevails, whilst tall vines are almost exclusively grown on the hills of 

 Chateau Thierry. These widely different methods are said to be re- 

 quired by reason of the different nature of the soils. Along the course 

 of the Marne the vine grows on a shallow, dry soil, receiving and re- 

 flecting nearly the whole of the sun's rays. The mode of culture em- 

 ployed allows of the assimilation of the vines to a sort of trellis-work, 

 the trunks of which are in the ground, while the bearing branches grow- 

 ing up from them extend along the face of the soil just the same as if 

 they were trained on a wall, only in this case the face of the soil repre- 

 senting the wall. On the hills of St. Thierry, on the contrary, the sit- 

 uation is less favorable, the soil being richer, deeper, and more humid ; 

 hence the need of a higher growth and a special mode of cultivation. 

 The vines are almost invariably planted on rising ground, the lower 

 slopes, which usually escape the spring frosts, producing the best wines. 



In the champagne country the vine, whether cultivated on the high 

 or low method, becomes productive as the result of the most minute, 

 incessant care and attention. In the localities where it is almost the 

 only industry, it involves during the whole year a series of operations 

 which employ the greater part of the population. According to the 

 statistics the hands employed are about equal in number to the hectares 

 of land in cultivation, and an average of one vine-dresser for every 2J 

 acres of cultivated land. 



The various operations required in cultivating the vine are performed 

 by the owners or vine-growers, properly so-called, or by laborers em- 

 ployed by them, who are to be hired at wages which vary according to 

 the urgency of the work. 



The heads of the great champagne houses are as a rule proprietors, 

 in one or more localities, of extensive vineyards. They possess also a 

 large wine-making establishment, and retain a regular troop of vine- 

 dressers, whom they lodge and employ by the year. 



Pruning, tilling, propagating by layers, bedding, hoeing, propping, 

 pruning and nipping the buds, and making storehouses are the principal 



