MAY. 149 
tion, before the vinous one has time to be matured, so that in the 
plains of all very warm countries, such as Malaga, in Spain, the Vine 
is dried, and, as the well-known raisin, becomes an article of extensive 
commerce ; while on the adjoining mountains of the Sierra Morena the 
finest sherry is produced. ‘The climate essential to the growth of the 
wine-producing Grape must neither be liable to the late frosts of spring 
nor the excessive heat of autumn; for which reason France, the Rhine, 
parts of Germany, northern Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are all 
localities in which it flourishes. Professor Mulder informs us that wine 
is also made in Holland; but, owing to the damp and cold of the 
climate, is sometimes attended with difficulties. The cultivation of the 
Vine, however, in most places, assumes the appearance of a currant or 
raspberry bush, and is neither a pleasing nor striking object, and only so 
when we meet it in the sunny and luxuriant land of Italy, where its 
trellised and graceful foliage gives shelter from heat in summer, and 
adds a charm to the surrounding scenery. 
The slopes of hills, face of crags and rocks, and dry, undulating 
grounds, sheltered from the cold winds, reflecting the heat, and where 
the soil is favourable—such as on the banks of the Rhine—are the best 
sites for a vineyard, yield the most valuable harvests, and are always 
selected where available. It is remarkable what a trifling change in 
aspect or soil affects the quality of the Vine Grape, even in adjoining 
vineyards. 
The vineyards of England occupied the best and richest soil, to the 
injury and detriment of the Grape; and when civilization made land 
valuable for improved husbandry, they gave place to cereal and other 
crops. Now, in the site pointed out by nature on the unproductive 
portions of mountains in the south-west of England, where the flora is 
similar to that of France, we should have had to this day valuable 
vineyards on what is now unproductive waste mountain—not a crag 
that would not have been as available as those of the Rhine. ©The object 
of this paper is not to induce a party to apply to the purposes of a vine- 
yard any land which may be converted to or used for tillage or pasture, 
but to make productive that which is already worthless, and which 
nature points out as the site for the produce of the Vine. I now beg 
to call your attention to some of the most important features of this 
paper, having reference to the culture of the Grape in the south of 
Ireland and south of England, bearing on the temperature and climate. 
On the south-west of England and south of Ireland, coloured red on 
the map, the flora includes a number of species not elsewhere seen in 
the British islands, and is intimately related to the Channel islands 
and the northern half of France. The theory that the presence of this 
flora is due to the probability that at some remote epoch of time, England, 
Ireland, and France were one continent may be true, and if true, does 
not take from the inference to be drawn, namely, evidence of a climate 
similar to France, and, therefore, suited to the Vine. The limit of this 
flora has not extended beyond its original boundary, proving that 
climate and temperature must have considerable influence on it. This 
of itself would go some way with the botanist in agreeing with my 
views. The boundary of the Vine-producing district is about the 50th 
