258 
SOUTHEEN CULTIYATOE. 
the cuttings ate not planted until it is completely finished, 
and then they are placed together with manure in the 
holes, made first with an iron rod and afterwards enlarged 
with a square wooden stake. The distance and depth are 
the same. When a vine stalk is found wanting there are 
two ways of renewing it. The first and the one general- 
ly performed when practicable, is by provinage or laying. 
A branch is left on the vine nearest the naked spot. In 
March it is hurried and the extremity is brought out where 
the new vine is wanted. About the 3rd year the branch 
is severed half in two, and in the 5th the separation of the 
new and old vine is completed. In very poor lands, how- 
ever, I saw them which were not severed at all, but when 
allowed to grow so. When the layering cannot be practiced 
from want of vines near enough or of suitable branches, 
they plant what is called a “barbot.” Thebarbot is form- 
ed of the cuttings, of which I have spoken, taken in April, 
at the period when the plantation is formed and planted 
at the depth of a foot in rich damp soil well manured and 
spaded up for one foot. They are placed in rows one foot 
apart and stand 6 inches in the rows. Soon after planting 
they are trimmed to two or three eyes and kept so until 
used, which is in their 2nd or 3rd year, after which age they 
are not employed. They are veritable viYies with roots. 
The layers produce the first year, which the plants with 
roots do not, besides the latter are not so certain of taking. 
But to resume the history of the young plant. 
In the second year the man who trims, called the ^^Pre- 
fecture des vignes,” watches for shoots to fashion into the 
two Mas or arms which are allowed to each vine, and se- 
lects those which grow nearest the ground. At the end 
of the 5th year the plant is fashioned with a trunk from 3 
to 6 inches high, and varying according to age from 1 to 3 
inches in diameter, and furnished with two branches from 
a half to an inch and a half thick and from 3 to 8 inches 
long. On the extremity of these branches a shoot of last 
year is suffered to remain, having 3 to 8 buds, according 
to the strength of the soil and vigor of the plant. These 
shoots form the producing portion of the vine, and are at- 
tached to the espalier with withes of willow. These arms 
or thighs arc renewed every 5 or 6 years either by a new 
shoot from tlie trunk, called “tiret” — the lowest are always 
selected so as to keep the vine as near the ground as pos- 
sible — or by a shoot on the branch itself, but near the 
stalk. This is called “cot."’ In order to train the 
“tiret,"’ or young branch to the espalier, they -leave it the 
requisite length, but to prevent it from overshooting itself, 
cut off all but the lowest bud. Besides the “tiret” and 
‘Tot” all the shoots from the trunk, saving the bearing 
shoots are carefully stripped off. They bear the name of 
•^‘bois gowomand” — glutton wood — and the operation of re- 
moving them is called ebomgenonraent or dis budding. 
The trunk itself is usually kept at about 16 inches in 
height. In the Medoc that is the invariable rule. 
And now I have arrived at the annual culture of the 
vine. The first operation and that which is esteemed by 
far the most important, is the trimming, “la iaille.’’ It 
commences after the vintage at the “tons, saint” in No- 
vember and continues until ilie end of February. The 
instrument with which it is performed is our cleaver, call- 
ed “la serpe.” So important is the trimming considered 
that it is intrusted to none but the most skillful hands. 
They are called “des Prefectures des vignes.” Five acres 
are allotted to each pirefectufe, and he is paid -dOO francs 
a year. He continues to trim the same vines' year after 
year and frequently as mentioned in the case of Casteret 
the Fatijer leaves his office and the vines to ins son, who 
has accompanied him from infancy into the fields. The 
■good Castfret told me that he would take his oldest son, 
a boy of twelve years, out w'ith him the next fall, to com- 
mence hi.s education. I have described what is left on the 
vine and you have only to imagine the rhst as cut off. 
much does this amount to that the trimmings form a very 
considerable portion of the fire wood used by the peasants. 
The vine receives four plowings annually. The plow is 
drawn by two large oxen, and at thnes they are put to 
their mettle to make their way. The yoke which these 
oxen wear is well worthy of notice. It consists simply of 
a light wooden arc fitted immediately behind the horns, 
and without any other collar for the throat, as with us, 
while altogther it is much lighter than ours. There is 
another oval piece which covers the forehead and is attach- 
ed to the yoke behind by strong leather thongs. The 
strain thus falls on the back of the head and horns and in 
pulling principally on the forehead. I should think it 
much less likely to produce galling than our plan. The 
plows ai'e altogether peculiar. They are of two kinds 
That used at the first and thix'd which take place in March 
and May, respectively, is called La cafbot and is used for 
uncovering the vines. The other, called la combe, is used 
at the 2nd and 4th workings in April and June for cover- 
ing the i-oots of the vines. Their genei'al structure is the 
same, consisting of a flat cutting plowshare, attached to a 
heavy wooden beam, a lai’ge wooden wing with an im- 
mense pole and a single handle. The difference lies prin- 
cipally in the curving of the pole, in the cabot where the 
beam runs close to the vines the pole is curved towards 
the wing which runs in the middle of the row. In la 
courbe we have it exactly different. By means of these 
workings the vines are alternately covered and uncovered 
to the depth of six indies, in such a manner that all the 
supei'ficicial roots are destroyed. At the time of the 2nd 
and 4th workings the plows are followed by women with 
wooden shovels, which they interpose between the vine 
and the wing of the plows to prevent it from being entire- 
ly covered with dirtf Besides this the vines receive work- 
ing with the hoe to chop out the grass left by the 2nd and 
4th workings between the stalks and as further occasion 
demands. Besides these there is the training of the young 
shoots to the espalier ; and in the Medoc I saw crowds of 
women walking through the vineyai’ds with small tin 
pans containing soap suds into which they threw the in- 
sects and snails which they picked or brushed from the 
vines. The insects are two small species of green beetles 
exactly like our June bugs only much smaller. The 
snails were unknown until the last three years, since 
which time they have appeared in legions and made ter- 
rible ravages among the young buds of the vide. The 
people eat them aixd consider them great delicacies. 
I stayed at the Chateau of Beycheville two days. On 
the morning of the third day, as I was issuing from the 
gate for the pui’pose of taking my seat in the diligence 
for the village of Margaux, I W'as surprised to find all the 
Vy’omen of the Chateau standing around a neat little table 
placed at the entrance of the gate on which iay a crucifix 
with a small saucer of hol]^ water, flanked on each side 
by a wax taper and a large bouquet of flowers. I asked 
M. Martin what was the meaning of this, and with a 
smile*he pointed in the distance to a long procession of 
about one hundred woman preceding a priest in his robes, 
followed by six boys in wlxite gbws, with red caps and 
red sashes. It was the day of the dedication of the vines 
and the good c-ure was making his tour tlircugh the com- 
mune, excommunicating the snails and the in.yects and 
blessing the vines and their produce. He sang as ha 
passed along, and the boys ansvrered in chant, wifile at 
certain indicated spots, as the gate of the Chateau, the 
vvhole procession knelt down and pra;veis were said. 
There was something supremely touching in this re- 
ligious solemnity in the open fields is the t-'-ig)?c spr'ng 
morning. It was the creature standing in the gveat 
temple of the Creator and calling oix him for aid ar. i pro- 
tectma. Ifiv/as man standing befoi’e the first iask w-hich 
Heaven had alloted to him, and calling upon ihm h.eaveu 
Sol 
