Choice of a Situation for a Vineyard, 



This is what occurs in vines cultivated below the 35th 

 degree of latitude. 



As we approach too near the equator this cultivation 

 often meets with another difficulty, namely : the unin- 

 terrupted growth of the vine, which produces on the 

 same stock blossoms, green fruits, and ripe fruits ; each 

 bunch displaying the same phenomenon ; wine making 

 is therefore impracticable. 



It is, then, between the 35th and 50th degrees of 

 latitude that the vine can be cultivated to advantage. 

 It is also between these two limits that we find the 

 richest wine countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, 

 Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Hungary, Transylvania, and 

 especially France, which is celebrated for the variety 

 and quality of its vines. 



Latitude^ however, is not the only condition on which 

 success depends ; we must also take into account the 

 elevation of the soil above the level of the sea, for that 

 circumstance exercises no small influence on the cli- 

 mate of a country. This explains why certain locali- 

 ties in France, otherwise situated in a latitude favorable 

 to the vine, but too elevated above the level of the sea, 

 do not admit of this cultivation. In Hungary, the cul- 

 tivation of the vine ceases at an elevation of about 980 

 feet; in the north of Switzerland at 180 feet, while it 

 reaches to 2,130 feet on the southern slope of the Alps, 

 and may reach 3,150 feet in the southern Apennines. 

 Thus we see that this limit of elevation varies as we 

 approach or recede from the equator. 



The exposure of the land, and its natural shelter, also 

 modify the condition of climate : the southern expo- 

 sure being warmer than the northern, the limit of ele- 



