THE VINE AND CIVILISATION. 49 
‘*From Catalonia a common wine is exported in large quan- 
tities, called Malmsey, which is also the name of a Canary 
wine, also Maturo and Terragona, of a quality somewhat harsh 
between Port and Claret. Catalonian Wines are both red and 
white, and are seldom imported to the United States. Before 
the American colonies were lost to Spain, 350 thousand pipes 
were annually exported to Spanish America. 
‘*The wines of Malaga, produced in the mountainous dis- 
tricts around the city, are well known wines, dry, sweet and 
luscious. The vineyards are estimated to produce 30 to 40 
thousand butts of 127 gallons each per annum. As much as 
£200 sterling has been paid for a cask of very old wine of fine 
quality. The varieties of the vine in the Malaga district are 
very numerous, and in this fine climate there are three gather- 
ings of grapes in the year. The first gathering takes place in 
June, and furnishes the Muscatel Raisins, and the bloom, dried 
in the sun. The Lexias, which are exported as such, are dip- 
ped in lye and exposed to the sun’s action. The Larga grape 
that yields the sun raisins, makes an excellent wine mingled 
with the Pedro Ximenes grape. The export of fruit and wine 
to America is on the increase. The Muscatel grape cannot be 
cultivated more than four leagues from the coast. The fine 
climate of this part of Spain renders the vintage not only rich 
in produce but certain in crop. 
‘*The wines commonly drank by the people in the interior 
of Spain are much deteriorated by carelessness in making, and 
tainted by the skins in which they are put, which, the lack of 
staves for barrels, and poverty, compels them to use. The 
wine sold in the taverns is relished by the natives, but cannot 
be drank by foreigners, being so defiled by the skins in which 
it is transported. 
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