CHAPTER V. 



oj\ the selection a.xd setting out of :slips. 



It must be already evident, from what has been previously stated; 

 that every Vineyard is not planted with the same species ; some even 

 are composed of as many as twelve or twenty hap-hazard sorts, from 

 which it results, that in the vintage season, very few of the bunches 

 collected are at the same seasonable point of ripeness ; all others, each 

 with the mixture of tartar peculiar to their kinds, give to the wine 

 as many different degrees of tartness ; which can only be overcome 

 by adding to the must the saccharine matter that is wantintr. A 

 selection of several kinds should be planted ; not to do so, is wantonly 

 to run the chance of a failure of the whole crop. And, there should 

 not be more than five or six kinds chosen, but these should be of the 

 best species for wine ; and all sorts should be rigidly rejected that 

 are subject to the Blight, or Damping off of the blossom ; as well as 

 those that cannot stand drought, and also such as are hable to rot in 

 rainy seasons. By thus setting out from five to six varieties of the 

 Vine, there is some one kind that Avill bear, when meteoric changes 

 of the weather have been unfavorable to all others ; and the wine 

 from such a mixture is always preferable. 



As each variety has a date for ripening, the utmost variation of 

 which is from twelve days to a fortnight between the several kinds, 

 the intelKgent vinedresser will study to give them such an aspect as 

 will equalize this difference as much as possible. The early kinds 

 should be planted in the liigher parts of the Vineyard, and the later 

 in the middle, especially if the Vineyard is on the side of a hill. 



Many planters look out for varieties that are great bearers ; this is 

 not good policy, for it is well known that the more fruitful the Vine, 

 the less excellent the wine ; the grapes are too crowded, not enjoying 

 the free contact of the air : they camiot ripen so generally as is need- 

 ed, and not having the full benefit of the sun, their juices are coarse, 

 and not sufficiently eUminated. In consequence of this false calcula- 

 tion many a Vine-dresser has become reduced in circumstances ; and 

 the Vines of Argenteuil, near Paris, that enjoj'-ed a very high reputa 

 tion in the fifteenth century, are latterly of an inferior cliaracter 

 especiallv since 1750, in consequence of this false policv. 



