98 Notes on Market-gardening and Vine-culture 
districts of France within the limits at my disposal. Further, 
most of the French wine-growing districts possess a climate so 
entirely different from our own, that little would be gained by 
writing such a treatise for English readers. As, however, there 
are certain very important vine-growing districts in the north- 
western portion of France, some notice of the peculiarities in 
the cultivation of the vine, which distinguish them from each 
other, may fitly be added to the notes on market-gardening given 
in the preceding pages. 
There are some apparently anomalous facts in reference to 
vine-culture which may be enumerated at the outset. (1) The 
poorer the land the better the quality of the produce of the grape, 
whether wine or brandy ; and, inversely, the richer the land 
in the same district the larger the quantity of the produce. 
(2) The best grapes are grown on hill-sides or elevated ground 
with a southern aspect. (3) Grapes grown in valleys are of 
bad quality, and in some districts absolutely worthless for wine- 
making. The difference of a foot or two in the elevation of the 
land has a marked effect on the quality of the grape for wine- 
making purposes. (4) The number of vines planted per acre 
in the best districts varies enormously. Thus in the Medoc, 
from which are obtained the splendid wines of Chateau Lafite, 
Chateau Margaux, and many other clai-ets of less note, not more 
than 2500 vines are planted per acre ; while in the equally cele- 
brated district of Champagne about nine times the number of 
vines are planted on the same space of ground. More curious 
still, in the Saumur district, where also sparkling wine is made, 
not more than one-tenth of the number of vines are planted per 
acre as compared with the practice in Champagne. 
ChamjMgne. — It is unnecessary to state that vines have been 
cultivated in this district from a very remote period ; and, 
although it is one of the most northern vine-regions of France, 
it is certainly one of the most renowned for its product ; and to 
those who are connoisseurs of sparkling wine it stands second 
to none. During the last sixty years many improvements have 
been made in the cultivation of the vine and the manufacture of 
its produce, and probably every inch of suitable ground in the 
district is now turned into a vineyard. The following notes 
have been for the most part obtained from MM. Ayala, of Ay, 
near Epernay, to whom I am very much indebted for infor- 
mation and hospitality. 
The kind of grape almost exclusively grown is the black 
Burgundian sort known as Pinot, but in certain vineyards, on 
the left bank of the Marne, different varieties of a white grape 
are grown, and the wine from them is much sought after by the 
merchants for the purpose of giving to the produce of the black 
