THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERT. 415 



- 



Low Double Espalier, and Mode of Protecting 

 .the Vines. 



An account of the grape growing at this place from the pen 



of M. Rose-Charmeux is likely to convey the most practical 



information on the 



subject, and the fol- Ere. 229. 



lowing is translated 



from his " Culture 



de Chasselas :" — 

 "At Thomery the 



soil is of a sandy and 



clayey nature, and 



mixed with pebbles 



in those parts which 



are near the river. 



The soil is at all 



times easy to work. 



Near the Seine it 



lacks depth — so much 



so, indeed, that be- 

 fore cultivation it has 



to be dug and trenched so as to remove some of the stony 



subsoil. Everywhere else the layer of vegetable mould 



measures from four feet 

 ■ FlG - 23 °- six inches to six feet in 



thickness. This layer 

 lies on a reddish clay of 

 about the same thickness, 

 and beneath the clay is a 

 broken - up stratum of 

 building stone filled with 

 fissures. This building 

 stone is easily extracted. 

 The grapes ripen a fort- 

 night earlier in the flinty 

 districts than in those 

 parts in which the soil 

 is deeper and richer. 

 "The gardens at Thomery, taken altogether, present 

 ::much the appearance of those of Montreuil-sur-Bois. 

 "There is nothing but walls in all directions, distant from 



Section of top of wall at Thomery, showing 

 the projection of the temporary coping. 



