412 THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
their fruits upon the crumbling débris of granitic rocks; those 
of Chateauneuf upon a siliceous soil. An unctuous sandy soil 
produces the wines of Graves and Medoc; while a schistose soil 
produces the wines of Lamalgue, near Toulon. 
It is very important to choose the suitable pasture on which to 
feed the Vine, which is essentially a coarse-feeding plant. Soils 
which are too energetic produce quantity at the expense of 
quality. Where the grape is high-flavoured, it alters the aroma 
of the wine. The nourishment most appropriate to the vine is 
without smell and of slow decomposition, such as woollen rags, 
clippings of horn, and such refuse. Its own ashes constitute an 
excellent manure, restoring to the vine the salts of potash which 
were drawn from it in the previous year’s growth. 
The composition of the grape is sufficiently complex. It con- 
sists of the following substances, viz.: water, lignine, saccha- 
rine, pectine, tannin, albumen, the germs of fermentation, in azote, 
essential oils, glycerine, colouring matter (yellow, blue, and red, 
the first occurring only in white grapes), fatty matter, salts of 
lime and of potash—viz. pectin and tartrates—oxides of iron and 
silica. Amongst these various substances the saccharine matter, 
or glycose, which produces alcohol by its fermentation or chemical 
decomposition, plays the most important part in the act of con- 
verting the juice of the grape into wine. 
It is only when the grape is thoroughly ripe that the vintage 
should take place, if it is desired to have wine’of good quality. 
Where the properties are enclosed, perfect ripening can be waited 
for; but in most vineyards of France the harvest is pushed on by 
the ban de vendange, which is fixed by the local authorities acting 
under a council of vine-dressers. 
The various operations which follow the vintage are reduced to 
four. 1. Fullage of the grapes. 2. Fermentation of the must. 
3. Decuivage. 4. Pressurage. : 
Fullage is the art of dividing and crushing the fruit; exposNg 
the juice momentarily to the action of the air and bringing the 
fermenting principle into contact with the saccharine matters. 
Formerly the operation of crushing the grapes was performed by 
the vine-dresser stamping upon them with the feet; now the 
grapes are crushed at a price proportioned to the vintage by , 
