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CULTIVATION of the VINE. 



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your fruit will be knotty, and flarved, and will not come 

 to maturity; if you fufFer the ftakes or props to fall, and 

 your vine to fprawl on the ground, the fruit will not ripen, 

 but remain auftere, and will not make good wine. Wine 

 is too rich a juice to be made from a barren foil, or by lazy 

 idle flovens. iSuch men fliould never undertake a vine-- 

 yard. They not only hurt themfelvcs, and bring the thing 

 into difcredit, but hinder others, who are fit for the under- 

 taking, from making the attempt. Ifa vineyard does not fuc- 

 ceed, the fault is in the man, not in the vine. It will flourifli 

 and profper under a careful diligent hand ; but it will de- 

 generate and run wild under the hand of lloth and idlenefs. 

 A gentleman of Rome, who took great delight in vineyards, 

 fome of which he had raifed with his own hands, wrote a 

 very elegant piece upon the culture of vines, and in the 

 moil pathetic terms recommends it to the people of Italy, 

 as the moft profitable, as well as agreeable amufing under 



taking 



Among many other encouragements, he tells 





them this ftory : " Pavidius Veterenfis, a neighbour of my 

 uncle, had a vineyard and two daughters. Upon the mar- 

 riage of one of them, he gave with her as her dowry, one third 

 ofhis vineyard; and then doubled his diligence, and cul- 

 tivated the remainder fo well, that it yielded him as much 

 as the whole had done before: Upon the marriage of the 

 other daughter, he gave with herone otherthird ofhis vine- 

 yard ; and now having but one third part of the whole left; 

 he fo manured and cultivated it, that it yielded him full as 

 much as the whole had done at firft," 



This ingenious author accufes many ofhis countrymen 

 of having begun this work with feeming refolution, and of 

 having carried it on for fome time with afliduitA^, but be- 

 fore they had brought it to perfedion,they flagged, and for 

 want of fteadinefs and a little longer perfeverance, lofi: their 

 money, their labour, and all their profpeds. At the time 

 he proves to a demonftration, from exad and minute cal- 

 culations, the great advantages of vineyards notw?thftandin^^ 

 the great expence tlie Romans were at in buildings, inclo- 



fures, 



