T1IK VINE IN ITALY. 837 



containing a certain quantity of oxide of iron. In porous volcanic soil 

 the grape is of excellent quality, and the wine obtained from the growth 

 on chalky soil is very highly esteemed. The best Chianti wine comes 

 from a slaty soil of reddish color, containing a certain percentage of 

 carbonate of lime, and in the hilly districts there is considerable chalky 

 soil not adaptable to any other use than that of viticulture. In the 

 majority of the vineyards where the custom is to plant the vines in 

 rows, and train them on trees, the intervening spaces are cultivated in 

 the usual rotations of planting, but care is taken to avoid such growths 

 as might be incompatible with the successful development of the vine. 

 In low-growing vineyards, however, no other culture is ever prose- 

 cuted. 



It is not generally customary to irrigate the vine, although it is some- 

 times done with marked success. Drainage is always carefully provided 

 for in the vineyards. 



The average yield of wine to the hectare may be set- down as 14.29 

 hectoliters. The yield in Veneto is only 10 hectoliters, but in Pied- 

 mont it reaches 23.07 hectoliters to the hectare. 



The cost and mode of planting vineyards vary considerably according, 

 to locality. In Yiterbo the vines are planted some 18,000 to the hectare, 

 and are trained on poles at an outlay of 1,823.58 lire to the hectare, for 

 the first four years, and the cost of maintenance averages 383.03 lire, 

 while the average yield to the hectare is 33 quintals of grapes. At Bari, 

 in Altamura, the vine is cultivated without props, and the cost of plant- 

 ing 6,200 vines to the hectare is 1,215.24 lire, the annual cost of mainten- 

 ance is 266.86 lire, and the average yield per hectare is 25 quintals of 

 grapes. In Tuscany the vine is also cultivated without props 5 the 

 planting per hectare costs 2,518 lire; annual cost of maintenance, 466.12 

 lire, average yield 49.50 quintals to the hectare. 



LEWIS RICHMOND, 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE-GENERAL, Consul- General. 



Rome, April 1, 1884. 



TUSCANY. 



REPORT BY CONSUL WELSH, OF FLORENCE. 

 [Republished from Consular Reports No. 41$.] 



To the cultivation of oranges, lemons, and figs little or no attention 

 is given in Tuscany. More attention is paid in Tuscany to vine culture 

 than to that of olives, inasmuch as the grape- vine is less delicate, and 

 withstands better the severity of climate and variety of soil. Except- 

 ing in some mountainous regions, it may be said that the grape is culti- 

 vated all over Tuscany. 



To enumerate the different vines of Tuscany would take up too much 

 space. For the province of Florence alone there are about 150 different 



