92 Bush/s Journal of a recent Visit 



truncheons of from 8 ft. to 10 ft. in length, and from 2 in. to 3 in. 

 in diameter. " They are sunk about 4 ft. or 5 ft. into the 

 ground; and the part of the truncheon above ground is covered, 

 during the first summer, with a cone of earth or clay, to the 

 height of from 2 ft. to 3 ft.," doubtless to prevent the sun from 

 drying up the sap of the truncheon. Vines, in some places, are 

 trained with single stems to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., and then 

 allowed to branch out like gooseberry bushes ; they are manui'ed 

 with recent stable dung when it can be got, and the fruit is 

 never found to be injured by it. The prickly pear and aloe, 

 planted on the top of high banks, make a fence that would con- 

 siderably impede the march of any ai-my. The prickly pear 

 (Opuntia), even on a level surface, and raised from short cut- 

 tings put in where they are to remain, makes a tolerable fence 

 in two years. " If there is any part of the rural economy of 

 the Andalusians," says Mr. Busby, " which the settler in New 

 South Wales could adopt with advantage, it is the hedge of 

 prickly pears. It is not possible to imagine a more effectual 

 fence, nor one which it would take less trouble to plant or to 

 keep in order." Mr. Busby recommends " a spadeful of ma- 

 nure" to each " leaf or part of a leaf;" that is, to each cutting, 

 for the plant has no leaves (VIII. 616.) ; but this he will find to 

 be altogether unnecessary. The aloe (Agave) is also much 

 used for fences in Spain ; but it is considered inferior to the 

 prickly pear, as it does not produce an edible fruit, and it dies 

 off as soon as it has flowered. Xeres is supplied with water by 

 individuals who possess draw wells, several of which are at the 

 distance of a mile or more from the town. The water is raised 

 by a noria turned by a mule, to a cistern of sufficient height to 

 send it to the town in wooden pipes ; where it is received in 

 another cistern, under cover in a shop or shed, from which it 

 is retailed out to the inhabitants. Every vineyard of any con- 

 siderable extent near Xeres has its watchtower; and the cellars 

 in the vineyards are generally surrounded by verandas. All 

 the 267 varieties of grape described by Roxas Clemente [Encyc. 

 of Gard., new edit., § 5222.) ai'e grown in the vineyards of 

 Xeres ; but there are three sorts more common than all the 

 rest : these are the Pedro Ximenes and Uva de rey, black ; and 

 the Tintilla, black. The food of the vine-dressers throughout 

 the greater part of the year is a watery soup, garlic, prickly 

 pears, grapes, or other fruit, and bread. Bread and garlic, with 

 some kind of fruit, constitute, indeed, the chief food of the 

 labouring classes all over Spain. No farmer lives upon his 

 farm in Andalusia. At seedtime he comes with a sufficient 

 number of people to plough up and sow the land, and then 

 returns to the town till the season of harvest again calls him 

 forth. The corn is collected to a convenient spot, where the 



