286 Vineyard Culture. 



3d. Hail. — This scourge is all the more to be 

 dreaded, as it can neither be prevented, nor its effect 

 remedied. A few moments suffice for a locality to be 

 completely ravaged, so great is the violence and rap- 

 idity of its action. Fortunately, it acts, generally, 

 within quite narrow limits. But there are certain lo- 

 calities, which, owing to the situation of mountains in 

 their neighborhood, are much oftener ravaged than 

 others. When hail strikes a vineyard, not only is the 

 actual crop lost, but even that of the following year is 

 endangered, for the buds are so mangled that they can 

 only produce weak and barren wood for the following 

 year's crop. Nevertheless, if this misfortune happens to 

 a vineyard in the beginning of June, we may still hope 

 for a tolerable crop the following year, provided effec- 

 tual means are at once employed. In this connection 

 we can not do better than quote here the answer we 

 addressed, in 1861, to the Departmental Administration 

 of the Aude, by whom we had been requested to state 

 what was best to be done for the vineyards of that re- 

 gion which had just been smitten with hail : 



" If I have properly understood your letter, the vines 

 of the districts ravaged by hail, now consist of stocks 

 bearing the year's shoots, but the latter completely de- 

 prived of leaves and berries, and mangled on one side 

 by hail-stones. 



" This year's crop is lost : the point now is to save 

 that of next year. This can only be done, provided 

 healthy and vigorous wood is obtained for next winter. 



" If the vines be left in their present state, the little 

 sap that will be drawn into the leafless and mangled 

 vines will cause a few weak and sickly shoots to be de- 



