96 



ON THE MANAGEMENT 



requiring a constant supply of that element, and 

 especially at the time they are loaded with fruit. 



Walks of about five or six feet wide intersect each vineyard, 

 and are included by stone walls two feet high. Along these 

 walks, which are arched over with laths about seven feet high, 

 they erect wooden pillars at regular distances, to support a 

 lattice-work of bamboos, (a sort of cane) which slopes down 

 from both sides of the walk, till it is only a foot and a half, or 

 two feet high, in which elevation it extends over the whole 

 vineyard. The Vines are, in this manner, supported from the 

 ground, and the people have room to root out the weeds which 

 spring up between them. In the season of the vintage they 

 creep under this lattice-work, cut off the grapes, and put them 

 jnto baskets : some bunches of these grapes I saw, which 

 weighed six pounds and upwards. This method of keeping the 

 ground clean and moist, and ripening the grapes in the shade, 

 contributes to give the Madeira wines that excellent flavour 

 and body for which they are remarkable. 



" The water is conducted by weirs and channels into the 

 vineyards, where each proprietor has the use of it for a certain 

 stime ; some being allowed to keep a constant supply of it, some 

 to use it thrice, others twice, and others only once a week. 

 As the heat of the climate renders this supply of water to the 

 vineyards absolutely necessary, it is not without great expence 

 that a new vineyard can be planted ; for the maintenance of 

 which, the owners must purchase water at a high price." 



Forsters Account of Cook's Voyage, vol. i. page 23. 



A frequent supply of water is not only profitable to the Vine, 

 but also equally beneficial to other kinds of fruit-trees growing 

 in warm climates, as is evinced by the following extract from 

 Sir William Hamilton's elegant account of the late earthquakes 

 jn Italy, communicated to the Royal Society in the year 1783. 



" From this place * to Reggio the road on each side is 



* Torre del Pezzolo. 



