I 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 257 
the rivers and the marshes, 'which consist of a stiff black 
alluvial, containing sufficient sand, you reach the hills 
which do not rise more than 50 to 70 feet above the river. 
They stretch in long swells with level tops from the 
I marshes to the Landes, a distance of from 3 to 8 miles, 
i They are the drift formation, lying on the tertiary lime- 
j stone — sandy and filled with quartz pebbles worn smooth 
and round, from the size of your fist to that of a pea ; in- 
• deed the best vineyards, such as the Chateau Lafitte, look 
like piles of stones. The prevailing color is a dark grey, 
admitting innumerable shades. For Lafitte I find this 
I among my notes : “soil black, strong, about 15 inches 
! deep; subsoil yellow gravel and stony, about 16 feet in 
i depth ; in many places the subsoil consists of a congloni- 
i erate formed of yellow gravel and stones, as hard as tock. 
I It is called a Hois and is found at the depth of from one 
foot to five. The stony grounds are esteemed the best. 
I While the quantity of the produce is less the quality is 
' superior. The soil is everywhere, except where the sand 
j renders it worthless, of an extreme hardness so that the 
i pick and the plow enter with difficulty ; but it is not ten- 
I acious, for when broken it crumbles readily.” I extract 
I tlie following figures from a report made on an attempt to 
I construct an artesian well at the Chateau of Beycheville : 
I “ 1 to 22 feet, soil, sand and gravel ; 22 to 28 feet marine 
calcareous stones, shelly, color grey, ochraceous in spots, 
'with blackish points, texture unequal, grained, sandy ; 
28 to 33 feet, marl, grey and brown, with atoms of mica, 
soft ; 33 to 35 feet, calcareous stone, aspect marly, medi- 
um hardness; 35 to 43 feet marl ; 43 to 45 feet, limestone, 
grey, slightly fetid and very hard.” 
They found continued alternations of these formations, 
, with, now and then, clay, mixed with mica and lignite, 
until they reached a depth of 300 fhet, without finding 
■water in sufficient abundance, when the work was given 
«P- 
' The soil changes wdth astonishing rapidity as you pass 
‘ from one spot to another. Within a few hundred yards 
; of Lafitte, whose wine sells for 4000 francs the tun, I saw a 
' fellow hoeing up his vineyards to make wine at 160 francs 
the ton. I jumped out of the carriage and took his hoe in 
my hand, and with the first stroke it penetrated the soil 
: with a facility which at once discovered the mj^stery. 
I Flis soil was sand and deprived of that hardness which I 
j suppose in the good vineyards marks the presence ofee- 
I ment, such as lime. 
Let no one suppose that the fine, high priced wines of 
the Medoc are grown upon strong beds of barren land, as 
some travellers have stated. Quite the contrary. At Leo- 
ville, whose wines are classed among the second class, and 
whose reputation it was necessary to maintain, I observ- 
ed the immense pains taken by the proprietors. On two 
or three acies the vine had faded at the age of 18 years 
from an exhausted soil. To remedy this, the ground was 
cov'ered during two or diree years with a stratum of grey- 
ish green clay 5 inches thick, on the top of wdiich was 
again placed from 1 to 3 inches of black swampmud. *Idie 
ground was then dug up to the depth of twenty inches 
and six inches of this avtificial surface soil placed at the 
, bottom. The lands which I have mentioned are extensive 
i sandy pine barrens, reaching from the hills to the sea. 
The swamps or marshes produce wine in great abundance, 
are strongly tenacious, of a black color, and yield about 6 
tuns to the acre. It dues not sell for more than 160 francs 
to 500 francs the tun, and is called “rm ordinaire.'’ 1 he 
hills produce from a 1 to 3 tuns per acre which sell from 
1000 to 4000 francs the tun; the quality advancing as the 
quantity decreases and these changing with soils ; the high- 
est quality and least quantity coming from vineyards where 
the soil is most strong and driest. The last property, that 
of dryness, is very highly esteemed. Until 'within the 
lost lew years, drainage was not practiced here, and even 
now when they have commenced to employ pipes and 
covered ditches, the subsoil at 3 feet is found everywhere 
moist and in ditches 4 feet deep the water runs all the 
year. Perhaps it is owing to this fact and to the reflec- 
tion of heat from the stones which assists the grape to 
mature, that the elevated strong lands are so highly valued. 
Here is an extract that I made from the books at Beyche- 
ville, relating to two pieces of ground in the same vine- 
yard. The wine is of the 4th class, and brings now about 
2000 francs the tun. In 1831 it was sold at 1000 francs 
the tun. 
“Cut called lamps — soil dry and large stones — ufrage 
carbonet sanvignon — extent 3 hectares, 79 acres, 69 cen- 
tiares (nearly 9.4 acres), price 59,774 francs.” “Cut call- 
ed Robin, soil moveable, stones small, extent 1 hectare, 11 
acres 65 centiares (nearly 2? acres), value 25,678 francs.”" 
But to proceed to the culture. When the plants have 
obtained a certain age, varying from 60 to 100 years, or- 
dinaiily, and are found to be exhausted, they are removed 
in this manner: — At the trimming in the fall, the requis- 
ite number of twigs are selected, and taken from the vines 
in the months of November to January, to form the new 
plants. They are cut about a yard long and r inch in 
thickness. They are kept during winter buried in the 
ground in some sheltei'ed spot. The 1st of April they are 
brought to the place where the laborers are preparing the 
ground for the plantation, and if they are found ver}' dry 
they are placed in water 10 or 15 days, or, as is most usual, 
they are placed in a ditch and covered with dirt for about 
1 foot, where they rest till planted. The ring called the 
’■'talon,” formed by the junction of the old and new wood, 
is not considered indispensable here as in the Orleanais. 
It is left, or not, as it suits, and is sometimes cut off when 
they are setting out the cuttings. The preparation of the 
soil for the plantation is an immense labor. They com- 
mence in the winter by pulling up the old vine stalks, 
after which they pass a harrow over the ground to efface 
the old forrows in the beginning of April they commence 
the plantation, v. 1 ieh is done by opening a ditch the length 
of the field to be planted 20 inches deep, and three feet 
wide. Men, with picks, go ahead grubbing into the hard 
stone soil, an operation frequently ejuite difficult. They 
arc followed by others with the ’’pwchc,” who complete 
what the picks have begun, and were followed in their 
turn by men with shovels, v.-- ho throw up the dirt which 
has been loosened, and mould the sides of the ditch This 
ditch which reaches across the vineyard receives the cut- 
tings which are placed upright in it, 3 feet apart, and is 
im.mediately filled up by another ditch of the same width 
and depth, cut parallel to it, the soil of which is reversed- 
into the first, and so on, until the whole vineyard is ditched 
or trenched and planted. A half bushel of stable manure 
is usually placed around each cutting when set in the 
trench. 
I saw 11 workmen engaged in pjanling and I was told 
that 294 yards in length was their daily task. The plan- 
tation is finished about the beginning of May. The young 
plants are cut off at from 3 to 4 buds above the ground, 
espaliers constructed, and they receive their first work- 
ing in May with the plow and are afterwards tended like 
other vines. espalier to which the vines are trained i& 
formed of stakes 25 inches in length, which are driven 10 
inches into the ground. Along the top of these stakes are 
attached rods, called by means of wjthesof willow. 
There are 3 stakes to a vine, one for the trunk and one for 
each thigh. They have recently commenced the practice 
of soaking these stakes in sulphate of copper before using 
them, in order to make them last longer, the wood being 
an item of considerable importance here. 
There are other modes of planting, but not in gene- 
ral use, such as ’’la, plantation a la barre,” when the 
ground is turned up as in the case I have described, bufe 
