5 
of Champagne in France . 
is a difference of one third in the quality and value be- 
tween vines situated in east and west exposures. 
IV. Describe the JV* dture of the Ground or Soil which 
produces the best Wine. 
Next to exposure, the nature of the soil and of the 
ground influences the quality of the wine. It must be 
admitted, however, that grounds with a northern expo- 
sure produce wines of a generous and spirituous descrip- 
tion ; while another exposure, perhaps to the south, 
yields a poor and common sort of wine. It is therefore 
to the salts and the juices of the earth, combined with 
the influence of the atmosphere, that we must ascribe the 
goodness and qualities of soils adapted for vineyards. 
The most proper soil for vines is a sandy granitic 
earth, neither compact, nor too thick, nor clayey : fre- 
quently in the best exposures, we meet with stony soils, 
which give very strong wines ; but warm and dry sea- 
sons are requisite in these cases, and a necessary matu- 
rity : beneath these stony soils, there are clayey and 
unctuous parts, and plenty of springs, which conduce to 
the elaboration of the juice. 
In general throughout Champagne the soils proper for 
vines rest upon banks of chalk. The vine, indeed, 
comes up slowly in this kind of soil, but when it has 
fairly taken root it grows to perfection : the heat of the 
atmosphere is tempered and modified by the coolness of 
the chalky beds, the moisture of which is constantly 
sucked up by the vegetative channels of the vine-plant, 
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 
V. How is the Vine planted P 
In November or December, when the season admits of 
it, the vine is planted by making an oblong hole or fur 
