81 



intensified by the great augmentation in the vigour of the plant under 

 the influence of the increase of light and heat to which it is there sub- 

 jected. We saw (p. 9) that the less grapes there are on a vine the richer 

 the must will be in glucose, and consequently the stronger will the wine 

 be the vigour of very closely-planted vines being small, the crop on 

 each vine is lessened, and the resulting wine is stronger than 

 would otherwise be the case, an advantage in a cool district where 

 grapes sometimes ripen with difficulty, but a drawback in a hot 

 climate where under normal conditions the wine is too strong, and the 

 object of the vigneron is to reduce it as much as possible by natural 

 means. 



In France the number of vines per acre varies very greatly; the 

 following figures give some idea of the ordinary distances in some of 

 the leading districts : 



Champagne ... 1ft. 3in. x 1ft. Sin. 



Burgundy ... 1ft. lOinx 1ft. lOin. 



Beaujolais ... 2ft. 4in. x 2ft. 4in. 



Hermitage ... 3ft. Sin. x 3ft. 3in. 



Cognac .J..yJ 3ft. 3in. x 4ft. lOin. 



Bordeaux ... 3ft. 3in. x 3ft. 6in. 



Sauternes ^ r-**i 2ft. Sin. x 4ft. 4in. to 2ft. Sin. x 6ft. Gin. 



Herault .,' *,', | 4ft. 6in. x 4ft. Gin. to oft. 3in. x 5ft. 3in. 



It will be seen from this table that the distance between the vines 

 gradually increases as one goes from the north to the south of 

 France. 



In Australia, where the high price of manual labour makes it 

 imperative that the vineyard should be so arranged as to substitute 

 by horse labour wherever possible, the majority of the above distances 

 would be totally unsuitable. At 3ft. x 3ft. the ground must be worked 

 by hand, and at 4ft x 4ft. it can only be worked with difficulty by 

 horse labour during the summer months, unless the vines be tied 

 closely to stakes or wires. 



It does not do to rush to extremes, and, except in exceptional 

 cases, such distances as 12ft. x 12ft. are not to be recommended, as 

 the diminution of the yield per acre would not be compensated by 

 the greater facility with which the soil can be worked. As proof of 

 this, let us suppose two plots of ground of one acre each, one planted 

 oft. x oft., which we shall call J., and one planted 10ft. x 10ft., 

 which we shall call B. A will contain 1,742 vines per acre, whereas 



