228 THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



makes the best, or Muscadel raisin. The grape from 

 which the Bloom raisin is made, is an inferior kind, and 

 the grape of commerce a still more ordinary one ; these 

 are grown in the interior, and the vines are allowed to 

 ripen from ten to twenty-five pounds. - 



Near Perpignan, in France, the vine is trimmed at 

 about six inches from the ground ; from the spurs, at this 

 height, the bearing shoots proceed, and are not support- 

 ed at all ; the close spur-pruning is followed ; from three 

 to eight spurs are allowed on a vine, according to its ago 

 and strength. 



Near Marseilles, they sometimes prune to three eyes 

 on a spur, and each vine is allowed to bear from eight 

 to twelve bunches, or from twelve to twenty pounds. 



At the vineyards that produce the fine wine called 

 Hermitage, the plants are only two and a half feet apart, 

 and are two feet high, supported with stakes five feet 

 long ; only one branch is allowed to fruit, and this is 

 pruned back to from three to eight eyes, and from eight 

 to ten bunches is the average crop. 



At the vineyards which produce the Burgundy wine, 

 the plants are grown yet closer together. The rows of 

 vines are only two and a half feet apart, and the plants 

 in the rows are only twelve or fifteen inches. After the 

 vines have been three years planted, the space between 

 the rows is filled up with vines, making the distance be- 

 tween the plants only fifteen inches. 



At the vineyards of Epernay and Ay, where the 

 Champaigne wine is made, the vines are, in the rows, 

 planted as near together as six or seven inches, and the 

 distance between the rows is only eight or nine. Oi 



