68 



VINEYARDS AND WINES 



caused a hole to be dug for each plant 18 inches deep, by 

 18 inches long, and 12 wide, and had laid the cuttings 

 horizontally into this trench, bending up the extremity 

 where the plant was to grow. This, he said, accounted 

 for the greater number of shoots from the greater quantity 

 of roots. The produce, he said, was double what the 

 ordinary vineyards yielded. The stocks are all extremely 

 low, not more, in general, than six inches from theground; 

 but so well has the pruning been managed, that all the 

 shoots are nearly vertical — stakes or props are thus quite 

 unnecessary, and are never used. Indeed, their use seems 

 to be quite unknown throughout this district. The num- 

 ber of the buds or knots left in pruning was from three to 

 six, according to the strength of the plant. They are uni- 

 versally pruned in the spur fashion. Having mentioned 

 the system of alternate long and spur shoots, Mr. Durand's 

 steward, who seemed to be a very respectable and well- 

 informed man, said that it would sooner wear out the 

 plants. I told him of the precaution Mr. Domecq, of 

 Xeres, intended to adopt in order to prevent the attacks of 

 worms. He said, that however close the branch might be 

 pruned, there was no danger of these worms finding their 

 way to the heart of the stock unless the stock itself were 

 bruised or broken. It was, he said, by wounds or splits 

 in the stock itself that the worms found access to it, and 

 not by close pruning of the new wood. In this opinion I 

 perfectly coincide with him. There are no worms in any 

 of their vines, which are, indeed, all in the highest pos- 

 sible order. 



The average produce of these vines is six barriques 

 (hogsheads) per hectare; this is about 140 gallons per 

 English acre ; a much smaller produce than I would have 

 expected from the general health and vigour of the vine?, 



