

 15 



CHAPTER III. 



FACTORS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH AND 

 PRODUCTS OF THE VINE. 



Any one who studies the numerous works on viticulture, or strives 

 to obtain information on the subject from practical men coming from 

 different parts of Europe, will be struck by the great confusion which 

 exists, and the startling way in which the systems recommended by 

 each differ from one another, even on what would appear to be the 

 fundamental principles, or such operations as planting, pruning, 

 &c. 



It may be imagined that this is so, because each district in the old 

 country has its particular method, handed down from generation to 

 generation, and the prejudice common to uneducated country people 

 makes them unwilling to change it ; but the application of more 

 scientific methods would change all this, and bring about a reform, 

 having for result the adoption of one standard system. This, how- 

 ever, is not the case. It is not alone by scientific research that our 

 modern knowledge of viticulture has been obtained. Our ancestors 

 were not scientific men, yet no one can deny that they brought it 

 to a high state of perfection. Their guide was practical experience, 

 extending over many centuries ; it taught them slowly but surely, 

 with comparatively few exceptions, the best method to adopt ; this 

 is amply proved by the fact that since the results of modern research 

 have been applied to practical viticulture, few alterations have been 

 made in the methods used. 



We are thus led to admit that nearly every district in the wine- 

 producing countries of Europe has a distinct viticultural method of its 

 own, and at the same time that all these methods are correct, pro- 

 vided they are adopted in the locality where experience has proved 

 their suitability. In Europe things are thus greatly simplified ; in nine 

 cases out of ten a man may, with perfect safety, copy the method 

 adopted by the majority of his neighbours. In Australia we are very 

 differently situated; we have no experience of past generations to guide 



