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OBSERVATIONS
ON THE: ‘CHARACTER AND CULTURE OF ne
EUROPEAN VINE,
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d and recommended. by the Agricultural Socie ;
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bas MONS. BRUN CHAPPUIS.
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PREFACE.
In submitting to the agricultural communi-
‘ty the following pages, Tam incited by a deep
conviction of the importance ofthe subject. Hav-
ing long entertained a predilection for the Vine, I
have been naturally led to an investigation of the
habits of the plant, and an observation of the dif-
ferent methods of vine dressing in those coun-
_ tries where fortune has thrown me.
o, During a residence of five years in the vine
- pig icts et laut Switzerland, and Italy, I had
to inquire of intelligent. proprietors the results of
their operations and investments; to mix with the
vine dressers in the several deesrieas of labour;
and to compare with the agriculture of our coun-
try the expenses and returns of the land holder
and farmer, under their peculiar circumstances
and different cultivation. The result is, a deci-
ded conviction of the profits of vine growing, and
___ asettled belief, that by adopting the system of
' Swiss algiameicnt set we shall in time succeed in
the difficult task of acclimating to our country,
the foreign vine. There is perhaps no vine
country of Europe—certainly none which I have
seen—where the cultivation of the Grapehasattain-
ed so great a perfection, and where the results of
the vintage are so mediocre; where the vine-
¥
iv PREFACE.
yard blooms in vernal luxuriancy, the summer
cheers with flattering hopes, and a treacherous
autumn so illy redeems the deceptive promises of
the seasons.
_-7 With few exceptions, I consider the wines of
~ Switzerland to be the most inferior productions
of the European Vine; and it is due to the skill
and perseverance of the Swiss proprietor, and to
the unwearied industry of the vigneron of the
Cantons, that the sterile hills of their romantic
country have attained their present value, and a
culture formerly unknown, arrived at such per-
fection as to support the dense population with
which the.country teems.
Switzerland has but little commerce, and pro- —
duces nothing to exchange for foreign luxuries.
The government of the Cantons, aware of the deep
stake at issue, and sensible of the importance of
extending to this cultivation a fostering protec- |
tion, has given to the members of it every possi-
ble facility at their command. Patriotic and
public spirited individuals have associated in agri- |
cultural societies, inviting to their membership
such practical vine-dressers, as can promote
the objects of the cultivation, and improve by
their writings, their experience, and their coun-
sel, the system of Swiss vine-dressing; awarding
to such as require it, pecuniary aid, and to others
of more propitious circumstances, honorary testi-
monials, where skill and experiment have thrown
new light on the subject, and improved the condi-
tion of the Swiss vine-dresser. .
The Canton of Geneva has done much for the
cultivation, by encouraging such societies, and
i
PREFACE. i Vv
eliciting important information from practical
vine growers. Among the best of these may be
cited the little Manual of Mr. Brun Chappuis,
adopted and recommended by the Agricultural
Society of Geneva, and that of Mr. Reymondin.
The first of these isa treasure to the vine grower.
’Tis a breviary of practical instructions on the
duties of the vineyard, and contains such plain
and concise directions, as can scarcely fail, if pro-
perly attended to, of resulting in the establishment
of a successful vineyard.
This little pamphlet—now-out of print—was
difficult of access; but through the influence of
my friend Mr. Charles de Bonstetten, of Geneva
and’ Valeyres, I procured it—and having transla-
, ted, t ve annexed it to this work. One chap-
_ terof Mr. Reymondin I have also translated, that
the aericulturalist may compare in part the sys-
tem of each. Though containing a fund of prac-
tical instruction, his work is encumbered. with
much irrelevant matter. In giving the chapter
here annexed, I have husked the chestnut, retain-
ing the kernel, and rejecting the useless burr.
Wine making is better understood in France
than in Switzerland. Many valuable works have
been written on the subject by the French masters.
The treatise of Chaptal is pre-eminent, and such
as was to be expected from the pen of that distin-
guished chemist. It is however too elaborate for
our purpose, and fit only for the advanced state
of wine making.
The little work of Mr. Bulos isan epitome, pre-
senting a condensed view of practical wine mak-
ing, and is of the same character with the Man-
ee
v1 PREFACE.
ual of Brun Chappuis. I have translated it care-
fully and annexed it also to this volume. Both
deserve the attention of the agricultural commu-
nity; and if, in following the directions they give,
- the American farmer shall succeed in domestica-
ting among us the foreign vine, subduing by cul-
tivation the savage character of the native plant,
there is reason to believe that an ample reward
will await on the experiment.
To the authorities of our country, whether State
or Federal, may it not in this age of internal im-
provement be worth the inquiry, why the different
governments of Europe, both absolute and liberal,
have so long considered the Vine an object of
national protection, and whether the introduc-
tion of it amongst ourselves as a staple of agri-
culture, be not deserving the formal and serious
attention of legislative enactment. Europe fears
it andI have often heard the sentiment expressed
among pelitical economists, that it is incumbent
on them to make a change, and to adopt some
meansto counteract a loss of the American market
as an outlet for their wines. Sooner or later they
anticipate such a change; and the only surprize
among them is, that.it has not yet arrived.
Among the vine growing countries of Italy,
the grand duchy of Tuscany is unquestionably
the most prosperous. Though her government
is absolute, a just and forbearing prince sways the
sceptre of the Medici, and Tuscany blooms under
the civil code of the Leopolds. The chief source
of the wealth of this State is in her agriculture.
The most productive of her cultivations are, the
olive, the silk worm, the vine and the Leghorn
ie
_ PREFACE. Vil
straw. The first of these may be probably culti-
vated toadvantage in Georgia and the Floridas.
The silk worm is already in promising favour
among us, and little doubt, I believe, is enter-
tained of the ultimate success of this branch of
industry. From the Leghorn straw we have less
perhaps to hope, as the labour required in the
manufacture of the article is too heavy a compo-
nent, to promise an advantageous result in our
Sparse population. Itisa cultivation moreover
which has resisted the efforts of France, and foil-
ed the skill of her judicious agriculturalists.. The
patrimony of St. Peter haslong abandoned the hope
of introducing it into the States of the Church,
as it is a plant, it would seem, peculiar to the Ap.
-penines. But the vine is found through most of
the countries of Europe, from the thirty-sixth to
the fiftieth degree of latitude, in the .various
grades and qualities springing from their va-
rious climates, soils, exposures, and positions,
affording the flattering expectations that the paral-
lel advantages of our own country will even-
tually produce their similar results, both as to the
plant and the vintage.
We have greater reasons to indulge in such ©
hopes than they who have preceded us, as we
have the benelit of their skill and experience,
their observations and writings. Let us, there-
fore, at least make the experiment, in the confi-
dence that though gathered into the service at
the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard will
smile on the work, and crown our efforts with
the like rewards, so liberally extended to those
who have borne the heat and burden of the day.
INTRODUCTION.
In the wide range of political economy, there
is perhaps no subject exciting so deep an interest
as the unexampled prosperity of the United
States. The theory of self-government, so ob-
noxious to the advocates of legitimate rule, seems
destined to shake to its centre the established
dynasty of Europe, where systems, which for
centuries have mingled with every relation be-
tween the ruler and the governed, seem fading
before a Liberty that at no distant day shall es-
tablish her fane on the ruins of the sceptre and
the throne.
The experience of fifty years has confirmed
in the history of the Republic the predictions of
the warmest friends of freedom, which, like the
types and shadows of ancient prophecy, year —
after year unfolds to view; as in the civil and
political institutions of the country, we see the
‘happiest wah RR at the promised bless-
ings.
Religion, the corner stone of the social fabric,
unfettered by protecting legislation, dispenses
around us the blessings which attend in her train;
14 INTRODUCTION.
and a perfect security of liberty and possessions
springs from her just and salutary laws. Whilst
the decayed and exhausted monarchies of the
old world are plunged in embarrassment and
debt—taxing, by every indirection, an indus-
trious and oppressed population, circumscri-
bing their liberties, and drawing from the ©
sweat of their brows the means which minister
to the vices of pageantry, it is reserved to these
States to exhibit to the world the anomalous
spectacle of a treasury embarrassed in its opera-
tions from excess of revenue, and a people delvy-
ing amid the mysteries of finance,—not to
devise the ways and means of supplying a defi-
cient income, but to shape their course with the
swelling tide of national prosperity, and so to
adapt under auspicious circumstances their sys-
tem of import, as to lessen the requirements of
government on the resources of the nation, with-
out a formal surrender of the right inherent to
the social compact, to call on the citizen in the
hour of emergency, for his just and equitable pro-
portion of the public burdens.
Such is the paradox presented to the world,
by the condition of the United States. The in-
trepid firmness of our ancestors wrested from the
iron gripe of oppression the fairest portion of
the globe, and the rich inheritance blooms in
the delegated administration of constitutional
laws.
: The onward march of the country to power
and distinction is unchecked by foreign broils,
and vexatious collisions, and though, as we have
seen, the stormy passions inseparable from hu-
INTRODUCTION. ~ 15
manity, may cast a momentary shade on our
domestic harmony, it only proves the extent of |
individual liberty among us, and the wisdom
and foresight of those who originated the politi-
cal machinery with which our Republic is di-
rected.
_ Prosperity on every side invites to action.
Within the last few years the commerce of the
country has increased beyond the most sanguine
anticipations, and throughout the civilized world -
there is hardly to be found a haven where tae
genius of traffic, and the enterprising spirit of
our people have not displayed the constellation
of the Union. Every quarter of the globe is
‘tributary to our advancement, and the tropics
and the zones have swelled with their richest
productions, the growing wealth of the land.
Our navy is respected abroad, and the Ameri-
can seaman pursues in the remotest region a
hazardous duty, under the protecting shadow of
its wing.
Individual prosperity is national wealth, and
pours into the coffers of the State, a reuaaaet
harvest, through every inlet of commercial en-
terprise. The genius of the country is the pro-
tection of trade. Our geographical position re-
moves us, in a great degree, from the hazards of
collision with other nations, and little appears
left us, but to improve the advantages, and bring
into action the abundant resources, which Provi-
dence, as it were in wasteful bounty, has scat-
tered throughout the land. Nor have these been
neglected.. If we look to the internal improve-
ment of the different sections of the country, it
16 INTRODUCTION.
will be seen that_they have proceeded, pari
passu, with our commercial relations. Railways,
canals, turnpikes, and steam navigation, have
combined in the great work of developing the
resources of the nation, and mountains and floods,
where but a few years since, solitude maintained
her undisputed sway, have, like the wise men of
other days, beheld the star of the east, and roll
in their fragrant offerings through a thousand
tributary streams.
It is difficult to conceive a contrast more im-
pressive than that presented by the condition of
Europe at the present day, as contra-distinguish-
ed from that of the United States.
Despotism and absolute rule seem fading in
many parts of it before the march of intellect;
and the absurd doctrine of the divine right of
kings, cowers before the spirit of an enlightened
age.
et is impossible, however, that nations should
pass from a condition so servile, or shake off the
chains with which time and long habit have
trammelled, not less the mind, than the body,
but by the moral and physical suffering incident
to the convulsion.
In every part, therefore, of that continent, we
see the people bending under the weight of evils,
the concomitants of a strife for freedom; a want °
of sufficient co-operation to direct and control
their patriotic struggle ; disunion amongst them-
selves, the thirst of personal aggrandizement, op-
posed to settled governments; treasuries to
meet the exigency of military preparation, and a
systematic league of oppression against liberty ;
INTRODUCTION. 17
and the coalition of kings against the inherent
rights of the people. The contrast for us is in-
deed most happy. Happy for our country, that
her people are sovereign, and their rulers the de-
legated agents of the nation, dependent on a
public opinion they dare not oppose, and con-
trolled by constitutional restraints they cannot
infringe.
The picture of national prosperity would be
complete, could we see the agriculturalist parti-
cipating the general happiness. To the extent
we could wish, such is unfortunately not the case. .
Europe is at peace. Her sword is transformed
to the ploughshare. Her camps broken up and
her warriors scattered over the face of the earth.
The fields of Waterloo, so late the theatre of
mortal strife, now make glad with their golden
harvest, the heart of the husbandman, and like
the vallies of Israel, stand so thick with corn,
that they laugh and sing. In this situation the
interests of agriculture appeal to our patriotism,
and call on us to adopt the remedy which may
avert the impending evil, and by a new culture,
supply the place of a staple production, which we
were wont to exchange for the produce and
manufactures of Kurope, but for which, in a spirit
of improvidence we now send abroad the specie,
essential to a sound circulating medium at home,
and necessary to support the operative members
of our own political household.
A cultivation hitherto neglected or overlook-
ed, invites the attention of the agriculturist, and
promises to restore to his operations a recupera-
tive energy which shall situs the paralysis
B 2
.
18 INTRODUCTION.
that now checks the spirit of that important
branch of the community, and repair the waste °
under which cultivation languishes, im a loss of
the European market for her flour and her bread
stuffs.
To an attainment of the object we have every
variety of soil, and all the different shades of ex-
posure and position. A long line of territory:
from the twenty-fifth to the forty-eighth degree of
north latitude, from Key West to Canada, affordsus
every vicissitude of temperature and climate, and
the belief can hardly be resisted, that by a judi-
cious availing of the manifold advantages within
our reach, we shall ultimately succeed perhaps
beyond the hope of the most sanguine, in the cul-
tivation of the vine.
I have passed the last five years principally
in the vine growing districts of France, Switzer-
land, and Italy; have been in each during the
different stages of the cultivation and the vintage,
and from a strong attachment to the subject,
have given to the varied progress of the work,
from the incipient state of the vineyard, to the
operations of the wine press, the faculties of the
mind and the feelings of the heart. Under the
influence of such motives, I have mixed in the
labours of the vine grounds, broken with the in-
dustrious vigneron of the Cantons his oaten loaf,
and accepted his freely offered wine cup, and in
the interchange of courtesy and kindness, melted
the frost which separated the European peasant
from his fellow man, which unlike the liberal
habit of our country, confines each professiom
within its peculiar orbit. |
: b
INTRODUCTION. 19
The theory of the vineyard, and many of the
. important principles of it, may be gathered from
books and the intelligent proprietor; but the
practical details of the cultivation must be sought
_from another source.
To arrive at these we must drink at the foun-
tain, and, with proper feelings, ’tis of saben ac-
cess.
There is, perhaps, no being of a more kindly
nature than the poor vigneron of Switzerland.
I never approached the vine grounds of the poor-
est without meeting the smile of welcome. To
manifest an interest in the subject by which he
is wholly absorbed, creates at once a point of
meeting, and calls up his warmest feelings. The
vineyard is his home; and though small as is ‘the
space he occupies among his fellow men, there
his empire is undisputed, and he presides over his
little domain with a sovereign’s sway. Even
his proprietor seldom interferes with his opera-
tions, but, in a spirit of confiding security, com~
mits his interest to his industry and skill.
To inquire, therefore, into the mysteries of the
cultivation to which his life is devoted, is to flatter
his pride, and gratify his self-love—placing himat
once on a favourable ground towards him he ad-
_ dresses. He feels the superior, imparting in-
struction to an attendant pupil, and in a spirit of
self-satisfaction, opens to him the store house of
his knowledge, not unfrequently the rich accu-
mulation of half a century’s practical expe-
rience.
In no part of Europe of which I have the least
knowledge, i is there a crop, which, in pecuniary’
20 INTRODUCTION.
profit, will compare with the cultivation of the |
vine. Commerce in France is an auxiliary,
rather than a principal of fiscal resource. Agri-
culture and manufactures are the leading objects
of nafional protection, and the cultivation of the
vine is the main artery through which the agri-
culture of France conveys her tribute to the na-
tional exchequer. |
The heavy imposts levied on the vine pro-
prietor by the late, as well-as actual government
of France, as a direct assessment in the first in-
stance on the vine grounds, and subsequently in
the various ramifications of the trade, from the
wholesale purchaser at the wine press, to the
vendor of the single flask to the consumer, proves
how heavily the hand of power presses on this
branch of French agriculture, and the productive
returns of the crop that can sustain without sink -
ing under the unrighteous exactions.
Though France may justly claim to be among
the finest of the European States, much of her
soil is barren to the last degree, and it is in such
soil, so unfavourable to the cultivation of grain,
that the vine is found a flourishing staple of the
country. Such, for example, is the case with
Burgundy, one of her celebrated wine making
districts, when we find the soil in the neighbour-
hood of Dijon, her capital, a loose gravel that
will scarcely produce a crop of grain, sufficient
even in that country, where labour does not ex-
ceed the half of our prices, and wheat is double
the value of that article in Pennsylvania, to de-
fray the cost of producing, without any calcula-
tion of interest on the capital invested in the land.
INTRODUCTION. 21
Yet there, as is well known, the barrens
around the city producetheir wines, which though —
exceeded by many other wine grounds in quan-
tity, are rarely equalled, it will be admitted, in
quality, by the lover of Burgundy.
It is the misfortune of the cultivator of Bur-
gundy that his wines deteriorate by transporta-
tion, and lose the exquisite flavour for which at
at Dijon they are so deservedly famed. To be
enjoyed in perfection, they should be drunk at
the birth place. They are held as inferior, even
at Paris, to the wines of the department.
A deep interest in the cultivation and wine
making took me-to Dijon during the vintage of
1826, and a similar feeling induced me to visit
that capital in the spring of 1827, and autumn of
1829, and of that of 1832, and I should violate the
grateful sense I feel, of the reception accorded to
an entire stranger, if I did not here acknowledge
the patient politeness with which they replied to
my inquiries at the vineyard, and the character-
istic urbanity which admitted me without re-
serve to the operations of the wine press. I
passed an entire vintage at the press of an affluent
proprietor at Dijon. He wasan intelligent man,
and had devoted years of observation to the im-
provement of his vine grounds. Cultivation was
his idol, and to preserve the high fame abroad,
which an unwearied industry had secured to his
wines at home; the acme of an ambition to which
his ceaseless efforts were directed.
He had, a few years before, pressed from se-
lected grapes, a quarter cask for a friend at New
Orleans, on which it appeared he had bestowed
22 INTRODUCTION.
unusual care. The fruit was all carefully exam-
ined. Every bunch ascertained to be ripe, and.
in the proper state for the press. The grapes were
all detached from the stems, which, together with
the small and imperfect fruit, were rejected.
The process of fermentation, so delicate a feature
in the arcana of wine making, was conducted un-
der his immediate observation, and when finish-
ed, the wine was, at proper intervals, several
times transvased, to purify it from extraneous
matter. In this state it was put up for exporta-
tion. The quarter cask carefully closed, was
placed in the middle of a hogshead, and secured
in its central position by iron stanchions; when
thus secured, the hogshead was filled with brandy.
The wine, hermitically sealed from the action
of the air, was sent by land to Marseilles, whence
it was shipped to New Orleans, where, on arrival,
it was so changed, that the purchaser, for whom
it had been so carefully prepared, and who was
at Dijon at the vintage, could not recognise it as
the same wine. The vintner who directed the
operation, had been sanguine as to the result of
his theory, and was chagrined at the failure of
the experiment. His proprietor believed it the
effect of agitation, and notascribable tothe voyage
by sea, or the climate of Louisiana; but he admits
that his opinion was mere hypothesis.
Both the white and the black grape are exten-
sively cultivated at Burgundy, though the culti-
vation of the latter predominates. There is a
strong resemblance in the black grape of that dis-
trict to the small chicken grape (vzt7s sylvestris)
of our own country. The difference between
iy
INTRODUCTION. 23
them is chiefly in the size of the berry and the
flavour of the fruit, as the grape of Burgundy
possesses an agreeable sweetness, which ifsuffered
to wilt a little on the vine, deprives it of the acid
character, and renders it palatable as a desert for
the table. The appearance of the different fruits
is so much the same, that it is easy to believe the
superiority of that of Burgundy, over the little
indigenous grape of Pennsylvania, may not be be-
yond the effect of cultivation, judicious pruning,
a soil congenial to its habits, and the favourable
inclination of the ground, on which in that, coun-
try the vine is generally found. The acidity be-
longing to our native grape will be so changed
by cultivation that we may reasonably expect
from it a fair wine, as it is perfectly understood
by the European cultivator, that the fruit most
highly esteemed for the table, affords in general
an inferior wine, and is seldom cultivated oh
that object.
The mode of vine growing in general use in
Burgundy, appears objectionable on some points,
_ and is considered so, I believe, by many practi-
cal cultivators of that country, who, nevertheless
continue to tread in the footsteps of their ances-
tors, as the result perhaps of long habit, and in-
fluenced, it may be, by present pecuniary circum-
stances.
A century has elapsed since the establishment
of many of their present vinegrounds, and during
that time the vineyard hasassumed a different as-
pect, as new lights have opened on the cultivator.
The late plantations bear the evidence of an im-
provement in the cultivation, but to avail of these
24 INTRODUCTION.
the proprietor of the ancient vineyard must of
- necessity break up his vine grounds, and eradi-
cate his plants, commencing de novo, a cultiva-
tion costing an immediate heavy outlay, and the
sacrifice of eight or ten years of present produc-
tive revenue. Such considerations check the
spirit of improvement, and tend strongly to af-
fix on Burgundy the appearance of a slothful
and negligent agriculture, foreign to the character
of the department, an impression which will
probably continue, as the vine has been so long
established in the country, and may be said to be
immortal, the life of the plant, under judicious
management, being interminable.
On a superficial view of the vine grounds, it
appears that their cultivation has for its object,
the quantity rather than the quality of the pro-
duct, as in, most of the plantations of forty or fif-
ty years growth, and of such, much of that wine
district is composed, the vines are crowded to-
gether in such a confused mass, as to neutralize
the advantages derived from a judicious exposure,
so favourably conducive to a ripening of the
fruit. ‘T'o this disadvantage may be added, the
actual injury inflicted on the young and tender
branches, during the periods of weeding, an ope-
ration necessary three or four times in the season,
as belonging to the system of vine dressing, and
forming a feature of thrifty agriculture, not to be
disregarded by the prudent vine grower, who
performs at the same time the twofold operation
of ridding his plants of a superfluous vegetation,
and collecting the bountiful tribute which the
luxuriant growth of the vine returns to the com-
&
INTRODUCTION. 25
post of the barn yard. The general cultivation
of the vine in northern France appears the same.
When such a situation can be commanded, the
vineyard occupies the inclination of a_ hill.
From such selection, two ‘advantages are deriv-~
ed. An increased degree of temperature from
the reflected heat of the declining aspect, and a
correspondent dryness from the openness of the
soil, and precipitous descent of the position;
desiderata contributing greatly to the prosperity,
and, in some countries, essential to the existence
of the vine. Though important, certainly, to the
results of vine growing, I do not consider such a
position asindispensable tothe cultivationin Penn-
sylvania. The climate of the State affordsa tempe-
rature favourable to a production of the delicate
winesof France. Thelatteris a consequence of the
evaporation from our summer sun, by which we
may reasonably expect sufficient dryness, when
the soil be not argillaceous, and the position af-
ford the necessary descent to carry off the heavy
rains as they fall. The flank of the hill may be
esteemed then in general as the favourable posi-
tion for the vine ground; but that it is not ex-
clusively so, and that good wines, nay fine wines,
_are derived from the vineyard of the plain, can
be demonstrated by many instances in the histo-
ry of French cultivation. The district, for ex-
ample, of Medoc, department of the Gironde, is
a plain, and we know that there are found the
vineyards of Lafitte, Chateau, Margaux, Leo-
ville, La Rose, and Brane Mouton, the excellence
of whose productions are as well known in our
country as in France.
C
Tee °
26 INTRODUCTION.
The wines of St. Denis, and of Shadillon, m
the department of Loiret, are also from the plain;
so are the best wines of Orleans. The like
position in the department of Sonne, through
which I have frequently observed the cultivation,
as well as on the banks of the Rhone, afford also
superior wines; and we may further observe that
the wines of Languedoc are from the vineyards
of the plain. In my intercourse with the Kuro-
pean vine dressers, I have often been struck with
the capricious nature of the vine, and the utter
impossibility of a knowledge, @ priort, of the re-
sults of a new cultivation. Neither the French
nor the Swiss vignerons, have the least confi- .
dence in their foresight as to the results of a new
plantation, and anxiously await till the first vin-
tage, and first wine making, shall determine the
character of the young vineyard. '
One of the strongest illustrations of this fact is
related by Mr. Thicabout, adistinguished French
agriculturalist. He says, that in the little vine-
yard of Mont Rachet, in the department of the
Coté d’or, there are three distinct and separate
- divisions and qualities of the wine from the
same species of.the vine—the same plant—a result
of which the proprietor, atthe time of planting, had
not the least idea or anticipation. He describes
the position, soil, and exposure of the entire vine-
yard to be to all appearance precisely the same,
but yet the quality of the wines so different, that
they are well known through France, and sold
at different rates, according to their different
- character and reputation. This little vineyard,
originally intended as one plantation, is staked
\
INTRODUCTION. } 27
off and partitioned into three divisions. The
first of these is called the Canton de [’ Ainé; the
second, the Canton Chevalier; the third, Canton
Batard.
The wines of these divisions, though all sub-
mitted to the same cultivation and making, are
essentially different; nor does it appear within
the scope of agricultural skill to fathom the mys-
tery, or assign any tenable hypothesis for the
erratic deviation.
The vine is the staple of the country from
Dijon to Lyons, and, with few exceptions, the
cultivation is similar, and the appearance of the
vine grounds the same. The rows of the vine-
yard are about two feet asunder, and the plants
cut down to the height of four feet, supported in
some cases by two upright props placed on each
. Side, at the distance of a foot from the vine. In
most of the plantations, however, there is but one
prop to each; arising probably from motives of
economy where, from the scarcity of timber, the
expense isby no means tobe disregarded. Itis the
. general practice in Switzerland to take up these
stalksin the autumn immediately after the vintage.
They are usually kept in the barn, or some dry
building, protected from the snows and rains of
winter, and though the labour of so doing, and that
of replacing them in the ensuing spring, would
probably prevent with us such a measure, it is in
that country considered that the preservation of
them thereby gained for three or four years
longer fully indemnifies the vigneron for the la-
bour of the operation.
As I haye not, in France, been farther south
#
28 INTRODUCTION.
than Lyons, I cannot from personal observation
speak of the vine districts of that quarter, cele-
brated as they are for the superiority of their
productions. It is but seldom that the best
wines of France are to be met with in the United
States; though I have been told that one of the
fine vineyards of the south has been leased for
ten years by a commercial house in New York.
The vintage of their prime grounds is in ge-
neral forestalled by the agents of English com-
mercial houses, who pay for it, good or other-
wise, as the case may prove, an exhorbitant price,
supplying at a correspondent rate the wine loving
portion of the British community, from the
presses of Chateau, Margaux, Cote Rotie, or La-
fitte.
There is a small town in France, at the foot of
the Jura, called Poligny, but a small distance
from the Swiss frontier. A wine esteemed for
the delicacy of its flavouris produced there; but
such is the extreme sensibility of the wines of
Poligny, that they do not bear a transportation,
consequently are but little known, except to the
traveller in the neighbourhood. ‘The best pro-
duction of that district is the Vin de P Etovle, a
delicate light wine, of exquisite flavour, approach-
ing more nearly in character to a fine champaigne,
as I thought, than to any other wine of France.
It is cultivated on the side of the Jura, on a
stony barren, and on the plain extending about
a hundred yards from the foot of the mountain,
the soil of which is a mixture of stone and gravel.
Both these positions are famed for the excellence
_ of their wines, possessing, however, a marked
dissimilarity of character. They are white and
INTRODUCTION. | 29
red, and it is generally conceded that the moun-
tain production is the superior wine. Whenever
these wines are sent out of the district which
produces them, they are, of necessity, so highly
reinforced, as to destroy, in a great degree, the
delicacy of their flavour, and change their origi-
nal character. No correct idea can, under these —
circumstances, be formed of the primitive wine.
Both are highly esteemed at Poligny, and cost
there a high price.
There can hardly be a greater dissimilarity
than that existing between the wines of Poligny
and of Switzerland, distant but a day’sjourney on
the southern side of the Jura. The wines of the
Canton of Geneva are, in general, light, weak,
and of little flavour; and if we except those from
the coast, taking, from their position on the shores
of the lake, the name of Vin de la Cote, are
for the most part difficult of long conservation,
becoming hard and sour when but three years:
old. The district producing the Vin de la Cote,
stretches along the shore of the lake Leman,
near the town of Nyon, and that which gives to
this wine the character it bears, of superiority
among Swiss wines, isnot an intrinsic excellence,
but because it is better than the other Swiss wines
of the neighbourhood, which, by any one unac-
customed to the hard and sour wines of that
Canton, would be pronounced as inferior, and, in
any other country, not worth the labour of produ-
cing them. From these remarks as to the lake
wines, may be excepted the wines of Neufchatel,
in the Canton of that name; and those of Vevey,
PM
30 INTRODUCTION.
in the Canton of Vaud, on the distant extremity”
of the lake of Geneva.
In a favourable season, both these wines,
though essentially different in character, are
good; but yet I believe few of the Swiss pro-
prietors profess that their quality is equal to the
wines of Malaga, which, with us, unquestionably
rank as médiocre productions of the vine.
The proportion of red wines made in the
Canton of Geneva is small. The white grape
prospers more generally in their unequal climate.
Both, however, are of a quality so inferior, that
the slender resources of that beautiful country
can alone account for the cultivation of the vine,
to the extent to which it exists among them.
In the family of the Swiss peasant, wine is es-
sential, and supercedes the use of tea, coffee, or
other stimulating beverage. Inferior, ‘therefore,
in quality as their wines unquestionably are,
they are sold at a price, giving in many parts of
the country a value to the lands, which, but for
the vine, would be a waste, unfit for cultivation.
It is the absence of foreign commerce, pro-
ducing a system of exchange betwixt neighbour-
ing nations, which alone may explain why the
Swiss do not import the fine wines of France on
one side of their country, and of Italy on their
southern border, in preference to drinking the
meagre productions of their own vine grounds.
Their country produces nothing to give in ex-
change, and they have not in general the means
to pay for them. But they have in a great de-
gree the virtue of contentment; and if they do
not offer to the stranger as good wines as their
INTRODUCTION. 31
neighbours, they give him the best of their own
production, give it with a kindness far exceeding
their limited resources, and commensurate only
with the warmth of their feelings, and the frank
and open-hearted character of their national
hospitality.
Adjoining the Canton of Geneva is the Canton
of Vaud, one of the most extensive of the vine
growing districts of Switzerland, supplying their
neighbours of Berne, Fribourg, and the Grisons,
with their inferior wines, considered by them asa
necessary of life,and which in general would hardly
be esteemed equal to the good cider of our coun-
try.
tt is doubtful if, indeed, it would command in
the markets of Philadelphia and New York,
where superior foreign wines are abundant, as
good a price, unless purchased for the purposes
of adulteration, by the American brewer of
wines.
Among the vines of the Canton of Vaud, the
best may be considered as that of La Vauaz,
near Vevey, and the Vin d’ Yvorne. It is proba-
bly in the district of La Vaux, between Lausanne
and Vevey, that the vine lands of that country
have attained the maximum of their value. So
profitable in the agriculture of the Cantons is
the vine, that in the capricious inconstancy of
his climate, the Swiss Vigneron considers him-
self indemnified for his excessive labour, by one
good crop in five years. This, to be sure, is an
unfavorable calculation, but ’tis by no means unu-
sual for three successive years together to in-
tervene between what they consider as their fa-
S32 INTRODUCTION.
yourable seasons of wine making. Before I had
been a month in the country, I was accidentally
apprized of this fact. Mr. Correvon, the Syndic
of Yverdon, whose urbanity of manner and frank
hospitality, have made him favorably known to
most strangers visiting that ancient city, and
whose active and efficient participation as a mem-
ber of the ‘‘ Grand Conseil,’ has distinguished
him in the political economy of the confedera-
tion, is among the intelligent and successful cul-
tivators of the Canton of Vaud. An amateur,
curious in the process of wine making, his cellars
contain a collection of wines, the productions of
his own vine grounds at La Vaux, the most
recherché, and surpassed in quality by that of
no other proprietor of that Canton.
In showing me his wines, I was impressed by
inference with the belief, that the climate of
‘Switzerland, or at least that of Vaud, does not
afford in a given time, more than one-third of
the seasons which are favourable to the wine
making.
The first he offered me as of a superior vintage,
was that of the year 1791; then, 1795; then,
1801 ; then, 1805; and so on, up to 1826; and I
found that the intervention of time between the
seasons which had given a character tothe vintage,
was seldom less, and frequently exceeded three
years. Yet, under all the multiform disadvanta-
ges, the Swiss Vigneron finds a better return for
his labour, and the land holder a better interest
for his capital, than in the cultivation of grain,
even though the price of labour seldom exceeds
twenty four cents per day; and the guartron of
INTRODUCTION. 33
wheat, the Vaudois grain measure, now com-
mands in the market of Yverdon (April 1832)
about ninety cents of our money.
The guartron of that Canton appeared to me
about one-third of the bushel of Pennsy]vania, mak-
ing the wheat of Vaud equal to two dollars and
seventy-five cents per bushel. Other objections
combine, which, if fairly considered, operate
against the Swiss vine dresser, and incline the
balance toward the side of American cultiva-
tion. The unfavourable influence of the climate
of Switzerland, from the proximity of the Jura,
the line of separation between France and that
country on the one side, and the chain of Alps,
with their eternal snows, which skirt the south-
ern boundary on the side of Savoy, expose the
cultivator of Vaud to the various injuries sustain-
ed from the late frosts, which frequently nip the
blossom of the vine, and the equally dreaded
destruction of the young fruit, from the violent
hail storms of the months of July and August,
by which, in many cases, the whole crop is total-
ly destroyed. I have more than once seen this
mischief inflicted on the vineyard,'and heard the
poor Vigneron of the Cantons lament the reverse
to which a capricious climate so peculiarly ex-:
poses his profession.
The district of Granson, on the lake of Neuf-
chatel, but half a league distant from Yverdon, is
a vine growing country, and on either side of
the ancient chateau, whose lofty turrets and stern
defences still exist, the rude memorial of their
iron age, the peaceful labours of the vine dresser
are in unhappy contrast with those “by gone
34 INTRODUCTION.
days,’ when the feudal barons of Granson sway-
ed an arbitrary rule over the tributary depend-
ants of the Fief, and levied their unrighteous ex-
actions on the defenceless trader, who visited, in
the prosecution of his craft, their limited do-
mains.
Luxuriant vineyards crown the heights where
the gallant countrymen of Tell opposed the dar-
ing inroads of Charles, and sheltered by their
mountain fastnesses, overthrew, with a handful of
‘determined men, the disciplined legions of Bur-
gundy’s powerful Duke.
The interest of the story is deepened by the
popular tale of “ Anne of Gierstein.”? Granson
is classic ground from the pen of the master spi-
rit who has so happily interwoven her fictions
-and her facts, and spun from them a web, which
rivals in grace the fairy woof of Arachné.
But such scenes are passed at Granson, where
now the patient Vigneron pursues his daily round,
heedless of the dream of fancy which recalls to
life the chivalry that time has quenched, or mar-
tial deeds consigned to oblivion by the magi-
elan’s wand. The dull realities of life excite his —
active energies; and his physical powers are tax-
ed to repair the ravages of the tempest. I have
kriown on these hills, the entire product of ex-
tensive vine grounds, ‘bou nding beneath the pro-
mises of exuberant vintage, totally annihilated
by a sudden hail storm, of half an hour’s dura-
tion, sweeping, with destructive fury, the line
over which it ; passed, -and which did not, per-
haps, exceed the breadth of half a mile, leaving
the country on either side of its path entirely
~
INTRODUCTION. 35
free from the calamitous desolation. The un-
sparing element levelled in its passage the sheds
and corn ricks of the barn yard, uprooted the
majestic oak which for centuries had opposed its
fury, and prostrated a long line of vineyards with
their ripening clusters, leaving the poor Vigne-
ron to mourn over the sad mutation which a
_ single hour had shed on his promised fortunes.
It is fortunate for the Swiss cultivator, that
such visitations are practical in their mischievous
effects; the governments of the Canton of Vaud,
and I believe of some of the other vine growing»
Cantons, have established a system of insurance,
from which the prudent proprietor seeks indem-
nity from the losses arising from this danger, the
premiums paid being fully equal to the partial
damage sustained. It isthe poor V igneron who
is in general the sufferer; as from the want of a
prudent thrift, or an inability to afford the re-
quired premium, he assumes himself the risk, and
frequently neglects to insure against it. The
danger from this source, it is true, is diminished
by the custom prevailing in that Canton, of erect-
ing in different quarters of the vineyard, metallic
conductors supported by high poles, which tend
to discharge of the electric fluid the clouds over-
hanging the vineyard, and so raising the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere, as to liquify the hail be-
fore it reaches the surface of the earth.
_ Without such protection from the vicissitudes
of climate, afforded to the proprietor by the in-
surance of government, the vine could not exist
in the Canton of Vaud to the extent to which it
is cultivated. From such obligations we are
ag INTRODUCTION.
happily exempt, by a genial climate, as the late-
ness of the season at which with us the vine un-
folds its blossom to the vernal sun, is a guarantee
from the first; the latter being of such rare oc-
currence among us as scarcely deserving to be
considered among the objections to the cultiva-
tion.
Now, apart from these sources of drawback,
the Swiss vine dresser considers his crop a mini-
mum, when the Pose of land produces but three
chars of wine, and the vintage of La Vauz has
been known in a favourable season to yield to
the proprietor the surprising return of eight chars
of pure wine to the Pose.
This, to be sure, is an extraordinary: product,
occurring probably but once in seven or eight
seasons. Let us suppose, however, in the esti-
mate, a calculation justified, I think, by the facts
as they exist, and assume as the medium that the
Pose of land produced an average of five chars of
wine.
The land measure of the Canton de Vaud is
decimal, the foot being ten inches, and the Pose
Vaudois forty thousand square feet. By a re-
duction of the foot Vaudoise to the measure of
Pennsylvania, it results that the Pose of that
Canton contains 33,333 and a fraction square feet
of land, our measure. The char of Vaud, like
the pound sterling of England, is imaginary, con-
_ taining four hundred Pots, the Pot of the Can-
ton being about equal to two bottles, as the
wine bottle is rated in America.
On this estimate, therefore, it appears that the
_ cultivator of that Canton derives from his vine-
INTRODUCTION. 37
yard, an annual average of four thousand bottles
of wine to the Pose of land. The price at which
this wine is taxed by the municipality of each
commune, varies with the concurrent circumstan-
ces, and is such as has but little influence, in ge-
neral, on the actual sales of the vintage. The
object of the official tariff, is to establish between
the vigneron and the proprietor the price to be
paid as the compensation of the services of the
former, who though labouring in the vineyard
for a stipulated proportion of the vintage, is paid
in money the amount of his dues from the land
holder, who, by the municipal law, is compelled
to take on himself, the trouble and risque of dis-
posing of the wines. ‘This is a measure absolute-
ly necessary, from the poverty and improvidence
of that class of the community, constituting the
larger portion ofthe vigneronsofthatcountry. Ge-
nerally, during the summer, they draw, from time
to time, from the proprietor, as much for their daily
_ support as amounts to their full proportion of the
vintage. Ihave known in the Canton of Vaud,
as a consequence of three successive unpropitious
seasons, the poor vigneron deeply embarrassed by
the necessary advances made by his proprietor,
and which in an unproductive vintage has great-,
ly exceeded the amount of his proportion, as af-
fixed by the municipal tariff. Such misfortune,
occurring for two or three successive seasons, ac-
cumulate on the vine dresser a long list of arrears,
involving him in difficulties from which a long
life of toil and secon can hardly extricate
him.
But in that dunn property does not ex-
: D *
38 INTRODUCTION.
change masters as with us, and the inheritance
of a good vineyard is considered the best pos-
session which a prudent father can transmit to his
children. Equally stable isthe profession of the
vinedresser, who generally toils his life time in
the grounds cultivated by his fathers before him ;
and educates his son to the same walk of life,
from which he rarely dreams of departing. In
such circumstances an unfortunate vigneron is
sure to experience the sympathy of his proprie-
tor. They have passed the days of their child-
hood together, and an association of juvenile re-
collections establishes the happiest feelings be-
tween them. It is a rare occurrence to find a
Swiss proprietor pressing with undue rigor his
unfortunate vigneron. This is a feature of their
_ system of agriculture which will not bear on the
cultivation in America, as no such class of ope-
ratives exists among us. The vine will be in -
the hands of the owner of the soil, and prosper
only under his personal care.
Though the municipal tariff is general, it is
not in force throughout the whole of the Canton
of Vaud. The wines, for example, of La Vaux
are too valuable to be the subject of such inter-
ference, and the proprietor of that district usu-
ally employs his vigneron at a stipulated pecu-
niary price. The tariff of the neighbouring
communes has, nevertheless, an important in-
fluence on the profits of his vintage, asin a season
when the product of the vine is abundant, the
wines of La Vaux, though superior in quality,
command, when new, a price not generally ex-
ceeding fifty per cent. beyond that of the best
¢
INTRODUCTION. 39
productions of the adjoining districts. This ad-
vance, however, is considered sufficient to ex-
empt them from municipal interference.
_ The wines of the communes of Orbe, Valey-
res, and Montcherand, were, by the tariff of 1831,
assessed at four batz* the Pot. If we assume as
the value of the vintage of La Vaux for that year,
the rate of six batz the Pot, at which price,
however, I have no idea it could have been
bought of the proprietor, it will result that the
Pose of that district produced to the cultivator
the sum of three hundred and sixty dollars, our
money. ‘This calculation is made on the assump-
tion that the Pose produced an average of two
thousand Pots of wine, which I believe was fully
within the product of the vintage of that year.
To arrive at the net amount which a similar
cultivation would with us return. to the vine
dresser, the expense must of course be deducted;
and this is a problem, the solving of which falls
necessarily within the purview of the practical
agriculturalist, acquainted with the results of
labour in Pennsylvania. If in the estimate there
be error, | incline to the belief that it will not
be found against the American cultivation. The
amount of duty in our country, paid by the con-
sumer of foreign wines; the expenses of trans-
portation abroad to the port of shipment; the
charges of freight, insurance, commission of
factors, with the various items which swell the
cost of the foreign article by the time it reaches
our market, operate as a bounty on the domestic
_ * The batz is equal in value to three cents, our money.
40 INTRODUCTION.
cultivation, and if fairly set against the low rate
of foreign labour, will tend, I think, to equalize
ug with the European vine grower. If to such
considerations be superadded the cost of.an acre
of land in the vine districts of Europe, as com- —
pared with the value of the same ground from
which in the United States we may reasonably
expect success, it seems hardly possible to doubt
the issue of the experiment, or to close one’s
reyes against the tide of advantages to flow from
the successful attainment of such an auxiliary to
our suffering agriculture. ne
In reflecting on the cultivation, of Switzer-
land, where in an unequal climate it often oc-
curs for several successive seasons, that a tem-
perature of seventy degrees of Fahrenheit, does
not continue for more than three or four weeks
of their precarious summer, during the greater
part of which they have an obscured or overcast
sky, we must be strongly impressed with the fa-
vourable difference afforded by our climate, to a
cultivation, the success of which so much depends
ona temperature of seventy-five or eighty de-
grees, for at least a fair portion of the summer,
and a continuation of sunshine for three or four
months of the season. The point, I remarked, of
difference in their favour, and ’tis certainly of
great importance, is, that the month of September
in the Cantons is usually dry, having in general
a clear unclouded sky, and but little rain. Heavy
fogs prevail in many districts of the country, but
it is generally conceded that the ripening of the
fruit is promoted rather than retarded by that
circumstance, the influence of the sun usually
s +
INTRODUCTION. 41
dispersing the mist, which at meridian is suc-
ceeded by a warm, invigorating sunshine, con-
tinuing through the day at a temperature of 65
or 70 degrees. Our month of September is in
general the reverse of this, and the rains which
characterize with us the autumnal equinox, may
be deprecated as the greatest difficulty opposed
to the cultivation. It is at this moment of its
progress towards maturity, that the grape re-
quires an arid soil, and dry atmosphere, and no-
thing, perhaps, in every stage of the cultivation,
exercises so strong an influence on its ultimate
success, as the absence of heavy or continuous
rains at this critical moment. The deleterious
effects of such rains are dangerous to the pros-
perity of the wine making, whilst on the contra-
ry the mild and softening dews of the nightfall,
and the gentle evaporations of a neighhouring
river or lake, impart to the grape a life giving,
vigour, equally salutary in its influence on the
quality and abundance of the harvest.
The injurious effects of our September rains,
though pernicious to the European vine, not ful-
ly acclimated, may be less dangerous to the
native grape, the hardy constitution of which,
will resist the damps of our autumnal season, af-
fecting so unfavourably the stranger plant. Yet
I cannot withstand the belief, that notwithstand-
ing this feature of our September, we possess a
climate more auspicious than that of Switzerland,
and that in adopting the cultivation which has
been so eminently successful in the Cantons, we
shall arrive at the same result, and acclimate in
our souhtry, the foreign vine. ‘“ Necessity,’’
D2
42 INTRODUCTION.
says the adage, “‘is the mother of invention;?’ -
and to this stern parent is the vigneron of the
Cantons indebted for the series of experiments
which has established on his hills those delicate
vines, that require but little comparative labour
in the more genial climate of the neighbouring
States. | }
The process by which the vigneron of Swit-
zerland, acclimates to his country the southern
vine, draws heavily on the patience of the culti-
vator, and taxes his industry for a period of eight
or ten years. It is unknown to the cultivator of
France or Italy, because neither France nor Italy
requires the adoption of it. It is the peculiar
cultivation of Swiss industry, and I shall speak
of it at large in its proper place.
It cannot be denied that much labour is given
in the Cantons to the cultivation of the vine, and
this fact is urged as objectionable with us against
the system of vine growing.
A little reflection on the comparative situation
of the two countries, and the mode of culture
growing necessarily out of the peculiar situation
of each, may be sufficient, I think, to satisfy those
whose honest doubts are opposed to the measure.
The high rate of labour, is constantly urged as
objectionable with us against the introduction of
the vine. ! |
I readily admit the extravagant price of labour
among us. It is greater, perhaps, than in any
other settled country. But while the dispropor- -
tion of labour in the United States and many
parts of Europe, is as three to one against us,
an equal if not greater disparity in our favour is
INTRODUCTION. 43
to be found in the price of wine. On this point,
however, important as it is to the question, I lay
no stress. We live in an age when mind is suc-
cessfully opposed to matter, anda country where
thews and sinews are supplanted by the powers
of labour-saving machinery. It is on the differ-
ent mode, therefore, of applying the remedy, as
suited to the sparse population of our country,
that we must rely to overcome the objection.
In many parts of the wine countries of Europe,
(and it ,is peculiarly so in Switzerland) a dense:
population is crowded into such narrow limits,
that the agriculture of the country but barely af-
fords them the plainest necessaries of life. The
price of grain, corresponding with the demand
for it, is high; and as a consequence, the labour
of man is cheaper than the labour of beast.
As itis a settled principle of agricultural tacties
with the Swiss farmer, to keep no animals not
necessary to the business of his farm, resource is
had to every means to avoid the support of such
expensive members of the agricultural family.
Nor in fact is it necessary. The revolutions of
the country have broken up the ancient feudal
tenures, and divided the lands of the great seig-
niories among the people. In a country where
no right of primogeniture exists, and where an
equal division of property of the parent among
his children, forms, as with us, the basis of here-
ditary descent, the natural sub-division of pro-
perty supersedes the necessity of an agrarian law.
‘The possessor, therefore, of twenty acres, is an
important member of the commune of which he
is the bourgeois, and courtesy not unfrequently
44 INTRODUCTION.
assigns to him the appellation of his domiciliary
village. Few among them are so rich, as to
possess great estates in land; and there are but
few families having prudence and industry, that
do not own an acre of ground. In this situation
of the country, much of the farm work is by the
hand.
Except their mountains, the Swiss have but
little pasture grounds. The cattle are driven
into the Jura in May, and returned thence in
October, when from heavy frosts they can no
longer be sustained by the herbage of the moun-
tain. The value of the vine ground is such, that
they have crowded on to the acre more plants
than should be given to it, a mistaken economy,
which is yielding progressively to the experience
of time, as it is found in such plantations, that
from a dense foliage the rays of the sun are so
shut out, that they do not derive the full advan-
tage to be attained from a more judicious plant-
ing. It is easily perceived when such is the
case, that all tillage and weeding must of neces-
sity be the work of the hand. ‘This is generally
performed by the women and children, as being
the lighter part of the labour, though the men
also, at times of less pressing requirement, are to
be seen in the vine grounds in the seasons of
weeding. The profession of vine dressing in
Switzerland, forms a distinct and separate branch
of agriculture ; and I have seldom observed the
_ vigneron mixing in the ordinary business of the
farm, nor, in fact, has he time at command for
such employ. The regular system of labour re-
quired in a well ordered vineyard, affords but
\
INTRODUCTION. _ 45
little dekesicel ofabstraction from the main bist |
- of his occupation, as each day brings with ita
peculiar duty, and the Swiss vine dresser, from
the commencement to the termination of the
season, is pressed by the business which a rapid
vegetation accumulates on his hands.
Proprietors in the Canton de Vaud give usu-
ally to an experienced vine dresser, a moiety of
the vintage, as the remuneration of his labour.
At the season of wine making, the proprietor, as
I have before mentioned, is obliged by law to take
the whole of the wine made, and in money pay to
the vigneron the amount of his portionof the crop.
No misunderstanding on thissubject takes place, as
the law of the municipality establishes the value
of the wine measure, and from the municipal
_ tariff there is no appeal. . The valuation thus de-
cided is affected by several circumstances, as the
stock of wines remaining on hand from a previous
vintage, the quality and quantity of wine made,
the demand from a neighbouring encampment
of troops, and the spirit of speculation among
the capitalists, many of whom, from want of con-
fidence, have withdrawn of late from the public
debt of the neighbouring States, and who, ina
country so barren of resource, seek out such an
investment of their unemployed funds.
It is the duty of the municipal convention of
the different communes to ascertain the several
causes which thus exercise an influence on the
value of the vintage, and when known they are
called together, usually in the month of January,
to fix by their official the value of the wine mea-
sure of the preceding crop. I passed in Switzer-
46 INTRODUCTION.
land some time at the chateau de Montcherand,
the vigneron of which cultivated five acres of
inferior vine land, half the produce of this was
his whole support though he had a family. .
It will not, I presume, be supposed that a vine
dresser in any of the good vine districts of
France, the neighbourhood, for example, of Bor-
deaux, receives a moiety of the crop as a remu-
neration of his labour in the vineyard. ‘The
wines of that country are in great demand for
European consumption, and are sold at an ex-
travagant price. The vigneron of those districts
is employed ata stipulated consideration. Go-
vernment in France mixes with the business of |
the wine making, and appoints in the different
departments, the day on which the work shall
be commenced, and the duration also of the ope-
rations of the wine press. It must all be per-
* formed within the given time, as, for example,
/
three or more certain days. In France, where
they have no fences, and where frequently the
only mark of demarcation between neighbouring
vineyards is a small footpath, of the width about
eighteen inches, the protecting influence of such
a measure, is one of the reasons assigned for the
adoption of it, as on those certain days (and on
no other) the grapes are all gathered.
Every proprietor is in the field, and takes care
that his neighbour respects the line of partition, —
The spirit of freedom existing among us, and
which causes us to revolt at the interference of
authority with our pecuniary or personal con-
cerns, will always prevent such a controlling re-
gulation. But it is the theory of many of the
INTRODUCTION. hy 47
governments of Europe, so to shackle and im-
pede the free operations of the people, as to in-
duce a belief that they are incapable of protecting
their interests, and like infants who have not cast
aside the swaddling clothes of dependence, re-
‘quire the salutary restraints of discipline and
guardianship. ‘This is even the case in republi-
ean Switzerland, where in many of the towns of
the Canton of Vaud, the farmer does not open
his sack of grain to expose it for sale until a cer-
tain hour at which the municipality have decided
he shall be at liberty to treat with the purchaser.
He must also close it at another fixed hour, after
which no public sales of grain, or other produce,
can be made in the market place on that day.
Such regulations do not, however, affect his
private transactions, as beyond the jurisdiction of
the municipality of a market town, he may act
at pleasure in the disposal of his produce. We
adopt the wiser course, which leaves every one
free to direct his business as he may deem most
conducive to his interest. Commerce, like the
flowing stream,’always finds its level, and pros-
pers most when least fettered by the hand of
protective legislation.
~The interference of France in the affairs of the
vintage, may be ascribed in part to her system
of finance; as the amount in which the proprietor
of the French vineyard is annually mulcted,
forms no inconsiderable item in the revenues of
the public exchequer. To retard the period till.
the grapes are fully ripe and fit for the press, is
one of the professed objects of the interdict, as
though the cultivator of the vine could not as
‘
48 INTRODUCTION. \
well discriminate in his operations, as the grower
of a field of corn, on whom no such restriction is
imposed. The period of the gathering varies, of
course, with the season and situation, allowing
thereby the vine dresser of the south, where the
vintage is generally fifteen or twenty days ear-
lier in the season, to migrate northwardly, to aid
in the gathering of the late districts. The go-
vernment of France has a property to sustain
abroad in the character of her wines, and the
measure may resemble the law of Pennsylvania,
which prohibits the exportation of the flour of
the State, previously to an inspection as to its -
quality. This regulation prevails in Switzerland,
and produces, it appears to me, all the inconve-
nience arising from the measure in France, with-
out the redeeming point which mitigates in some
degree the odium of the French law. Switzer-
land has but little, if any, export for her wines,
and the law which compels the proprietor to
gather his crop within a specific or given pe-
riod, greatly increases the expense of the vintage,
as well as that of the wine making establish-
ment. |
I passed the summer, and vintage of 1831,
among the vine covered hills of Valeyres, in the
Canton of Vaud. My adjoining neighbour, Mr.
Charles de Bonstetten, son of the celebrated au-
thor of Geneva, is among the most intelligent
and successful cultivators of the Canton of Vaud.
To accomplish the work of his vintage, he is
obliged from the circumstance of being thus
limited by the municipal restriction, to employ
seven presses to perform the work of fifty acres.
INTRODUCTION. 49
These presses are beautiful specimens of me-
chanical power, and cost in that country one
hundred and fifty dollars each. The whole bu-
siness of his wine grounds could easily be effected
by two presses, perhaps by a single one, where,
by a change of workmen, the pressing is con-
tinued day and night, if he were allowed to
gather his fruit at discretion ; for in 1831, three
weeks of fine weather succeeded the termination
of the time fixed by the municipal law for the
gathering of the crop, during which time the
grapes would have improved if they had been
permitted to remain on the vine.
The seasons in that country, it is true; are ca-
pricious, and no reliance can be had, that the
fruit, after the coming in of October, would be
safe in the field for any length of time. We,
however, consider that the determination of
such matters is the exclusive right of the cultiva-
tor, whose labour has been given to the produc-
tion of his crop, and whose interest in its manage-
ment and preservation is a stronger guarantee
than rulers and laws can impose.
But it should be remarked, that this restriction
may be evaded in the Canten de Vaud, by the
proprietor who chooses to do so, by enclosing
his entire vineyard within a stone wall. But,
though the Canton is alive with population, and
materials are scattered in great abundance, over
the surface of the whole country, labour is not
so cheap there as is the case generally through
continental Europe; and the proprietor who en-
closes his grounds by a wall of circumyallation,
50 INTRODUCTION.
is never perhaps fully indemnified for the pre-
cautionary measure.
_The municipal regulation though not de jure,
is de facto imperative, and produces all the in-
covenience of a positive law. .
I am of opinion that in Pennsylvania, where
the season is so warm as to allow the gathering
of the fruit during the entire period of a month,
that one good press would be sufficient to per-
form the work of a vineyard of fifty acres. Such
too would be the case in France, if the proprie-
tor were not required to gather his fruit within
the time specified by the law; and the fruit being
thus gathered must immediately be subjected to
the operations of the press, or the whole would
be lost.
A dry soil and climate are both favourable to
the prosperity of the vine. This fact is so well
understood by the Swiss vigneron, that every
advantage within his reach is availed to the attain-.
ment of these desiderata. I have known in the
Canton de Vaud, in vine grounds occupying the
side of a mountain, the soil of which was a mix-
ture of stone and gravel, where, from the preci-
pitous position, the descent was rapid, and the
soil so loose, that it might fairly be supposed
that the least moisture from springs or rain would
not remain an hour. Deep trenches, or artificial
drains, crossing in oblique angles at intersection of
about fifty feet, the whole area of a hundred acres.
The subterraneous conduits were about three feet
square, the superior surface being probably four
feet below that of the vineyard, and entire-
'. INTRODUCTION. 51
ly beneath the roots of the plant. Whether or
not they have been adopted in draining our wet
lands, I am unable to say; but they are effective
to that purpose; and in a country where land
bears so high a value as the vinegrounds of
Switzerland, the soil preserved forms no incon-
siderable feature in a calculation of the expense
of sinking them. The trenches are filled with
large broken stones, the angles of which prevent
too close a contact, affording a passage for the
water from above, and the moisture of the springs,
if any, from the soil, percolate till they are dis-
charged at the outlet into the public highway, or
some neighbouring brook. On the surface of the
soil they are not seen, as a deep covering of earth
~ conceals them from superficial observation, form-
ing thereby no interruption to the profitable cul-
tivation of the ground.
By these means the superabundant moisture is
discharged, and the land, which in our country
is lost from ditches cut for the draining of wet
soils, is preserved to the Swiss proprietor. The
humidity of the climate of Switzerland induces
cultivation, which greatly increases the expense
of the vigneron, and which may not be found
necessary or even advantageous with us.
Were I to cultivate the vine in Pennsylvania,
with no more light than I at present possess on
the subject, I should not, as in Switzerland, se-
lect as absolutely necessary (though I admit
that a decided preference should be given it) the
inclination of a hill as the site of my vineyard.
I should seek to unite an arid soil and a dry at-
mosphere, and, with this view, when the choice
52 INTRODUCTION.
were at command, should certainly prefer a
sandy soil, or a soil of stone and gravel. I
should by all means avoid a close argillaceous
loam, as the rains accumulating on a stiff clay
bottom, are, of all sources of injury, most to be
deprecated, as hostile to the prosperity of the ©
vineyard. It is on account of the reflected heat
of the southern declination, that the inclination
of a hill is chosen by the Swiss vigneron, as he
obtains thereby an increase of temperature of se-
veral degrees, not afforded by the natural climate
of the country, and gets rid at the same time of a
superabundant moisture, from the rains which
dispute with his efforts the artificial advantages
he has thus obtained.
In considering the state of the vine cultivation
of that country, we should always bear in mind
that the climate is so essentially different in many
important points from that of Pennsylvania, as
to induce a rational belief that the system adopt-
ed there, though protected by the fostering hand
of government, as well as the active support and
influence of private associations, confirmed as it
is by long experience, may not be found the best
for the American cultivator. Such, on a close
observation of the comparative advantages of
the two countries, is my decided opinion.
The Swiss cultivator finds it necessary by
every means available to his art, to counteract
the injurious effects, to which a proximity to the
Jura exposes’ the vine of that country. It is
quite a common feature of the Canton of Vaud,
to have the mercury of Fahrenheit ranging be-
tween seventy andeighty degrees at the meridian,
INTRODUCTION. 53
and be chilled by a temperature of fifty at mid-
night. Such a transition, and especially where,
as in Switzerland, it is almost as regular as the
succession of day and night, requires all the ad-
vantages which art can bring to the relief of the
cultivation, and accordingly the vigneron of the
Cantons has found, that the most effectual way to
equalize these variations; is to give his vines that
heat absorbed by the ground during day, and
transmitted after nightfall. It is with this view
that the pruning is directed in Switzerland,
where at the spring cutting, the vine is reduced
to the height of three feet, which brings, of
course, the fruit within a short distance of the
soil. In fact it would be impossible in that cold
country to ripen the grape in any other manner;
whilst on the contrary, such a system, if pursued
in Italy, would scorch the fruit and induce a
premature decay. The like result would pro-
bably attend a similar system in Pennsylvania,
where the summer temperature is sufficiently
elevated to allow the vine to be trailed as in
Italy, and ripen the fruit at the distance of a
dozen feet from the ground.
It is to the interest of the liberal and public
spirited cultivator, that we shall be indebted for
much of our knowledge of American vine grow-
ing. To that feeling which regards the ultimate
object, rather than the immediate effects of the
system, which shall induce those intelligent and
useful experiments, that are the strong charac-
teristics of Swiss cultivation, and which constant-
ly ee new lights and establish new facts, of
E 2
yi
54 INTRODUCTION.
which, even the practical vigneron can have no
anticipation:
Though delighting ina warm and invigorating
sunshine, the vine suffers from an elevated tem-
perature, and hence it may be found that with
us the reflected heat of the southern declination
may prove unfavourable to the cultivation.
Another objection to such a position with us
may possibly be, that the spring vegetation will
be premature, and the blossoms endangered by
the late frosts of the season. These are facts to
be deduced only from experience. The scorch-
ing heats of the torrid zone, and the chilling »
climates of the north, are both unfavourable to
the prospérity of the vine. The best are un-
questionably those of a temperate climate, and
the soils in which we find the richest productions
of the vine, are those of a light sand, and a soil
of stone andgravel. In the latter, the absorp-
tion of heat during the day, and transmission of
it, when the rays of the sun are oblique, tend to
maintain an equilibrium of temperature highly
favourable to the ripening of the fruit, and a
concentration of the sacharine principle, which
imparts to the vine its most delicious flavour.
The rains as well as the atmosphere insinuate
most freely into such soils, and contribute, and
contrive to expand and develop the principle of
vegetation. The wines of a close and loamy
soil are always inferior, and though the plant
shows in such ground, a vigorous vegetation, the
product of the vintage is always médiocre. The
European planter, north of Milan, prefers the
inclination of a hill, and the neighbourhood of a
—
INTRODUCTION. 55
river or lake. The country of the Rhine and
Danube produce the most récherché of wines.
The vineyards from which we have the Tokay,
are in the vicinity of the Tesse. Those of the
Hermitage, Cote, Rotie, with other fine wines, are
on the banks of the Rhone. The best wines of
Switzerland, those of La Vaux, and La Cote, are
on the shores of the Lake of Geneva, and the red
wines of Cortaillod, in the Canton of Neufchatel,
are on the banks of the lake of that name.
Whilst, therefore, the European planter depre-
cates as an evil the heavy and continued rains,
he invites as we perceive for his vineyard the
gentle dews of the mountain, and evaporations of
the lake. But little can be positively assumed
as to the precise period at which the vine was
first introduced into Switzerland. Tradition af-
firms that the first vineyards of that country
were planted, by a monastery of Friars, between
the towns of Lausanne and Vevey, ona steep
hill on the borders of the lake of Geneva, in the
district of La Vaux, where at this day the best
wines of the Canton of Vaud are produced, and
where the vine lands of Switzerland have attain-
ed their maximum of value.
I have examined the soil of these positions,
which is porous and stony, and so precipitous is
the descent, even to the margin of the lake, that
to prevent the wash of the torrent, it has been
found necessary to cut the mountain into terraces,
a custom which, in such situations, is general in
that country. These terraces rise above each
other like steps, and when viewed from the
deck of a steamer on the lake, form a pleasing
56 INTRODUCTION.
relief to the natural wildness of the perspective.
With some slight variations from curvatures and
sinuosities, the whole line of these hills presents
a southern aspect, the feature constituting so im-
portant a desideratum in the establishment of the
Swiss vineyard. There are not wanting, how- /
ever, even in that capricious climate, instances
where an eastern exposure produces a tolerably
good wine; and it appears a question of some
difficulty, to which of these advantageous cir-
cumstances the superiority of the vines of La
Vaux is to be ascribed. It may be a combina-
tion of all, though it is believed by many intelli-
gent vine growers, that to each vineyard, nay, to
each particular plant, there is a soil peculiarly .
favourable, which promotes beyond all others its
prosperity and advancement. Someamong them
reject this theory, and profess to consider the
earth as the nursing mother of the vine, from
which, according to a distinguished Swiss culti-
vator “it derives its flowers, its foliage, and its
fruit,’ but that the quality of its production,
“its vinous essence, its sacharine properties and
flavour,’’ are imparted by the rays of the sun,
the etherial principle of the atmosphere, and the
dews of nightfall.
From the conflicting opinions of experienced
cultivators, in a country where for centuries the
vine has formed a prominent feature of agricul-
ture, it may be fairly inferred how difficult it is
to establish positive rules for the cultivation, or
to form any definite conclusion on a subject,
where the masters of the art are so much at va-
riance. For my own part, contradictory as they
INTRODUCTION. 57
appear, I think them so in appearance only, and
that the discrepancy of testimony is capable of a
satisfactory solution. In my opinion, it is the
vine which is itself capricious, misleading, like
the 7gnis fatuus, the inquirer but just entered
upon a consideration of the subject, and that the
Swiss proprietor has given the results of his ex-
perience, and which may have been decidedly
opposite in the vineyard of his neighbour, pos-
sessing a different exposure, though at the dis-
tance of a hundred yards from each other.
-. From allthese considerations, the American
cultivator may infer, that enough is already known
to encourage and stimulate him in the cultivation,
but that years will probably pass away before
the capabilities of his vineyard shall be fully de-
veloped. Some will succeed even beyond ex-
aggerated hope; and where the product of others
shall fall short, it may yet be equal to an ample
remuneration for their expense and labour.
Should even their wines be inferior, the reflec-
tion naturally arises, what is the proportion in
the consumption of ordinary and superior wines.
The answer will be greatly in favour of the for-
mer, and they will probably be swept off by an
active demand, whilst the finer vintage will ripen
in the vaults of the factor, and slowly, though
surely be required, by increasing wealth, or in-
creasing prodigality. Vo the cultivator of our
country it therefore appears, that the site of the
vineyard is a consideration which well deserves
a judicious attention. We have reason to deem
it less imperative than in the colder regions of
the Swiss mountains; but we should not disre-
58 INTRODUCTION.
gard such advantages when fairly at command ;
and though in adopting the different systems of
European cultivation, no certain reliance can be
had that results in our climate and soils will be
the same; prudence will dictate the selection
of such a position, in the establishment of
_the vineyard, as shall afford to the new plan-
tation, a combination of the different adyan-
tages of which we have spoken. These are
at last experiments, and should not deter those
from the cultivation whose farms do not com-
bine all these points. In the Canton of Vaud,
the districts not possessing all’ the advantages
found at La Vaux, produce in their vine grounds,
(the soil of many of which is as barren as steri-
lity itself) their different wines, which inferior
as they may be, are yet the staple of the country,
and give to. such waste lands a value exceeding
that of their richest grass.
The ‘ Vin de la Cote,”’ produced on the bor-,
ders of the lake, between Morges and Geneva,
is the production of that part of the country,
next in estimation to those of La Vaux, which,
though not so spirituous as those of the latter,
appears to suffer less from foreign transportation,
and is exported to Holland, England, and occa-
sionally to France.
We find the vineyards producing the best
white wines of La Vaux, to be those of Cully, |
Reiz, Epress, and Le Dessalay. The red wines
of the district maintaining the highest reputation
to be those of Treytorens, and St. Saphorin.
The wine district of the coast is more limited
than that of La Vaux, the best coast wines being
INTRODUCTION. 59
those of Tarteguin, Mont, and Fechy. I found,
on examining these vineyards, that the soil, like
that of La Vaux, was a stoney gravel, and before
seeing them, had been at some loss to under-
stand, whence arose the great difference in the
quality of the different wines, the situation of
both, having been represented to me as similar,
and the soils alike. On visiting the vine grounds
of La Vaux, the cause of difference was at once
apparent. The vineyards of the coast occupy a
range of hills, stretching along the shores of the
lake, in a slight variation from the straight line,
whilst the shores of La Vaux are marked by
bold headlands and deep indentations, forming
the most picturesque and romantic glens. In
these protected recesses, the planter has judi-
ciously established his vineyard, and seized and
appropriated the immense advantage of a triple
reflection of the rays of the summer sun.
The wines of La Vaux are generally good,
but it is almost impossible for the stranger to be-
lieve that a difference so striking in quality
could exist, as that between the wines: of such
a position, ‘and those of the same neighbourhood,
when the vineyard does not not possess the like
advantage.
The district of Paleyres, in the neighbourhood
of Lausanne, produces a fair wine, which has
the advantage of improving by time, (a fea-
ture by no means characteristic of the Swiss
Wines) and is recommended by the physi-
cians of the country, as salutary and invigo-
rating to the feebleness of fage. I remarked
in this district no peculiarity in the treatment or
cultivation. The vines occupy the inclination
60 INTRODUCTION.
of a hill, and the labour and pruning appeared
the same as those of the Canton generally. A
perfect neatness was the prominent feature of
those vineyards, and order and arrangement
were conspicuous among them in a high degree.
The plants were free of moss, that noxious para-
sitic, with which, under a negligent culture, the
vineyard is infested and the grounds were clean,
regularly staked, and free of weeds. The wines
of Montreux are esteemed, and,those of Yyorne,
particularly the red, are considered among the
fine productions of the Canton of Vaud. I found
in the Canton of La Vallais, between Brieg and
St. Maurice, the soil and cultivation not unlike
those of La Vaux. The wines of La Vallais are
esteemed. A fine Muscat is produced there,
bearing, for a Swiss wine, a high reputation, and
which I thought inferior to the same wine of
France. The two principal wines of that Can-
ton, are the “ Coguempin’’ and “ La Marque,”
the latter of which, a strong wine, is the produce
of vineyards which occupy an exceedingly steep
hill, part of which has an eastern exposure and
part facing south. :
The wines of La Valtaline, and Chiavenne,
are also esteemed, among which is a sweet wine,
of a strong body for a wine of that country.
These are the principal wines of Switzerland,
except those of Neufchatel, of these I shall have
occasion to speak hereafter.
There are other districts producing inferior
wines, which I did not consider as worth the
trouble of visiting, and of which I can say no-
thing; as I wish to confine my remarks to such
INTRODUCTION. 61
as came within the range of a personal observa-
tion. Inferior, as they certainly are, to the wines
of that country, they demonstrate, in a greater or
less degree, the triumph of cultivation over the
obstacles of nature, and prove how successfully
a skilful agriculture may oppose a barren soil,
_and unpropitious climate.
There is a feature in the history of Swiss cul-
tivation, for which I am obliged to Mr. Cordey,
an intelligent proprietor of Valeyres, in whose
well ordered vineyards I passed the vintage of
183]. This feature appears peculiar to that
country, and does not, so far as I have learned,
characterize that of either in France or’ Italy;
holding out to the American cultivator a strong
incentive to untiring perseverance, and calculat-
ed, during the progress of an experimental culti-
vation, to stimulate his exertions and sustain his
hopes.
Nature is progressive in her operations, not
less in the vegetable than animal kingdom; and
her usual consistency has attended the experi-
ments of the Swiss vine dresser. The vine, as
is well known, is not indigenous to Switzerland,
and consequently the vigneron of that country
_has not escaped the various disappointments in-
cident to exotic cultivation. In the introduction
therefore, into that country ‘of different vines
from abroad, it has been frequently found that
the plants of foreign cuttingshave refused (though
arrived at the proper age, and possessing a vigo-
rous maturity) to unfold a solitary flower. Cut-
tings from such plants have been tried, which
have blossomed, and the flowering been sueceed-
i
s
62 INTRODUCTION.
ed by abortion. . From the plants of succeeding,
cuttings, other cuttings have been cultivated,
following up the system for several seasons, till
‘In the end, a complete success has crowned the
experiment; and it has been found, that the pro-
cess of acclimating the stranger plant has not
reached its full accomplishment, until it has pas-
sed through four, and sometimes five generations .
of the vine.
Instead, therefore, of expecting direct success
from the foreign slips, the Swiss vigneron does .
not look for it. His first plantation is but the
nursery to supply his future operations; and he
goes on from season to season, cultivating his
cuttings from the plants of the preceding year,
without attempting to form his vineyard of the
foreign’ fruit he designs to introduce into his
grounds, until the fourth, and sometimes the
fifth year from the exotic cultivation. In one
corner of the grounds, some half dozen vines,
from cuttings of the fourth or fifth year are
placed, the position of each of which is distinetly
marked, and which, like the fugleman of the
rifle corps, whose evolutions regulate in the drill
the movements of a new recruit, serve as the in-
dicators of the cultivation.. When these vines
produce their first fruit, then is the signal that
nature has completed her work of acclimation to
the new locale. From the plants, therefore, of
that year, the vigneron commences the business
of the new cultivation, and prepares to establish
from the exotic vine his regular vineyard.
Such is the process by which the cultivator of |
the Cantons naturalizes to his climate the foreign
INTRODUCTION. 63
vine. To see the barren source of a prolific
vineyard shooting its luxuriant branches through
the Trellis which shades,and adorns the cottage
of the Swiss vine dresser, reminds us of the curse.
on our race, which visits the sins of the father on
his unborn children, to the third and fourth ge-
neration.
The foreign vine inherits in Switzerland the
like entail, and, by its sterility, mourns for an
equal period’ a country and a home. But here
the malediction ends, and the unprofitable vine,
which has never cheered with a solitary blossom
the toils of cultivation, sees the patient vigneron
rewarded by a wide spreading posterity, whose
purple treasures redeem the debt justly due to
perseverance, and so “fill the garner with
plenty, that the presses burst forth with new
wine.’’ This tardy process illy suits the mercu-
rial temperature of many of our agricultural
community, who prefer for the most part a har-
vest varying with the capabilities of their differ.
ent soils, to ‘‘ some thirty, some sixty, and some
an hundred fold.”’ But for such, unfortunately,
nature will not reverse her laws, nor change the
undeviating course prescribed to her by nature’s
God. If therefore, we be not content to wait
with patience, the issue of her march, availing of
results which has cost the European~ planter
thuch labour and expense, and years of patient
eultivation, we realize the story of the silly boy
in the fable, who, in thrusting his hand into the
jar of filberts, grasped more than he could carry,
and lost the object of his avaricious desires. To
most of us, the prospect of immediate gain is the
——— ll oO
64 INTRODUCTION.
strong incentive to action. It is the lever of
Archimedes which turns the world, the passion
that most easily besets us, and occupies each >
avenue of the heart. The several members of
the community may find in a fostering protection
of the vine, the gratification of this pervading
influence. ‘To the farmer, it will supersede the
crops that now, from season to season, accumu-
late in the warehouses of the factor, and reduce
to iis minimum the harvest of his labours. The
landholder will understand the effect on his in-
terest, when he shall reflect that in the Canton
' of Vaud, where but for the vine, much of the
ground appropriated to that culture would be
a barren waste, commands in the sale a better
price than the richest grass bottoms. The low-
est rate at which we may estimate the value of a
pose of land in that part of the Canton least fa-
vourable to the cultivation, is perhaps fifty
pounds sterling. In the district of La Vaux, the
best vine lands readily command eighteen thou-
sand francs of France per pose, about three
thousand five hundred dollars our money, and,
as may be readily supposed, from such a value,
is generally in the hands of the capitalist, by
whom it is seldom sold, and rarely to be found
in the market, except in case of the death of a
proprietor, where a sale of it may be necessary
to a division among his heirs. I am confident
that no other cultivation of Switzerland would
give to these lands a value of fifty dollars the
pose; and we have in this fact alone an argu--
ment paramount to the objections raised against
an introduction of the vine amongst us, calling
INTRODUCTION. 65
) x
on us as members of a community, in which
agriculture affords an important resource, to adopt
a cultivation, promising: such important results.
Many years ago the raising of the grape was at-
tempted in Pennsylvania. & 4 \ E
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CULTIVATION, Wc.
“Caw the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots,’”’ is the energetic language of
holy writ, from which we feel the full force of
the law established for the government of ani-
mal nature. Whether in the deepest recesses of
his native forest, or the circumvented captive of
man, the ferocious being referred to, is still the
same. An intelligence more effective than phy-
sical strength dooms him to a life of durance,
which violates the strongest principle of his
nature; and his indomitable spirit is trained to
obedience by hunger and stripes. But a thirst
of blood shows him controlled, not changed ; and
bolts and bars are the strong assurance we feel of
safety in his presence. Death, the great scene
shifter, confirms, rather than changes his attri-
butes, and carnage follows in his train, as the
brindled housing adorns the war horse, and in-
flames the spirit of his martial rider.
Sufferance, saith Shylock, is the badge of our
tribe; and the patient son of Africa, long the sport
of cupidity and violence, hath a prescriptive
title to appropriate the axiom. (apt
Though the broad wave of ocean rolls betwixt
76 CULTIVATION OF THE
him and his native fields, and generations have
faded since his forefathers were spirited from
their homes, he still bears on his front the burn-
ing memorial of the equator’s sun.
Not so with the vegetable world. The russet
brown of the Swiss vine is changed in the neigh-
bouring state for the yellow skin. The same
plant shows there another foilage ; vegetation is
more active; and another hue, and different cul-
tivation, are induced by a fertile soil and more
genial climate. Italy is justly styled the garden
of Europe. The rich exuberance of her olive
yards and vine grounds indicate the strength of
her soil and mildness of her climate, and the
rank luxuriance of vegetable life, is in striking
contrast with the wan cheek and enervate frame
of the cultivator of the modern Eden. Nature
has been prodigal of her bounty to this favoured
land, and where such is the case, man is in gene-
ral studious of ease.
In passing from Switzerland, it is impossible
to overlook the effect which a difference of cli-
mate has exercised on the appearance of the two
countries. The agriculture of Switzerland isa
system of patient and persevering labour, and
the soil yields ungraciously her stinted crops.
The appearance of the Swiss peasant corresponds
with the bold and rugged outlines of his country,
and his robust and hardy bearing manifests a
contempt of forbearance, and a familiarity with
exposure. That this difference should be a fea-
ture in the agriculture of the countries, is a natu-
ral consequence, and accordingly we find that
though the cultivation of the vine in Italy, from
VINE IN ITALY. 77
the great difference of the climate, varies essen-
tially: from that of Switzerland, it has not receiv-
ed the same care, nor attained the same perfec-
tion in the former, as in the latter country.
Notwithstanding this, the wines of Italy are far
superior to those of Switzerland; and it would be
difficult to imagine, to what an exquisite perfec-
tion they might attain under the judicious atten-
tion of Swiss industry. But they are good
enough as it is, and some of them are not sur-
passed, if indeed they are equalled, by the pro-
ductions of any other part of vine growing
Europe.
In quitting Switzerland for the south, two
principal roads cross the Alps, that ‘of Simplon,
by Milan, and that of Mont Cenis, by Turin.
‘Both these roads traverse a country luxuriant of
vines ; and though I have twice passed each, the
passing of the latter was early in spring, whilst
both passages in going south were made during
the vintage, thus affording a better opportunity
of observing the character and cultivation of the
vine in Italy.
We find on the Cenis road, on approaching
Chamberry, (the capital of Savoy) a country
fertile of wines, presenting to the eye the most
beautiful undulations of vine covered hills and
vales.
Though the vine constitutes in Savoy a pro-
minent feature of the agriculture of the country,
the vineyards around Chamberry afford no pe-
culiarity in the history of the grape, the cultiva-
tion of which differs entirely from that of Swit-
zerland, and here, for the first time since quitting
G 2
78 CULTIVATION OF THE
that country, assumes the appearance, which a
difference of climate and treatment have given
to, the Italian vineyard. One of the most re-
.markable of the vine growing districts on this.
route, is at the village of St. Julien, the singular
aspect of which can hardly fail to arrest the at-
tention of the traveller at all curious in the
study of the vine. The vineyards of St. Julien
occupy the sides of the most barren rocks of
that country ; and I was at a loss to discover the
necessary soil for the support of the plants.
The vines were not more than six inches in
height; of short stunted growth, and crowded
together in a confused mass, without order, the
Space intervening being scarcely sufficient to
allow the weeding them. The weeding, if any,
- must of course be the work of the hand, though
I could not perceive enough of soil to presup-
pose the necessity of that operation. It is to the
peculiarity of this stony /ocale, the reflected heat
of the sun, and the absence of humidity from
Springs in the vine grounds, that the delicate
flavour of the wines of St Julien is to be ascribed.
The extreme sterility of soil, which checks in the
plant that tendency to florid vegetation which is
so strongly characteristic of ‘the vine, is regarded
by the vigneron of that district, as conducing in.
no small degree to the reputation of his vintage.
But the delicacy of these wines is such, that
they do not bear a foreign transportation, and
when drunk abroad, they are of necessity so
highly reinforced, that they bear an inferior and
different character.. Both red and white wines
are produced at St. Julien. I consider the latter
VINE IN ITALY. 79
to be the pleasanter wine, being free from the
astringency common to the red wines of Italy..
It is the cultivation of that part of the country
traversed by the Simplon road, with which I am
more familiar. The village of Domo d’Ossola,
the first Italian hamlet at the foot of the Alps on
entering the Milanese, is the threshold of that
vine growing country, though, from a proximity
to the mountain, the seasons of the district are
irregular, and therefore the vine can hardly be
expected to possess the superiority belonging so
generally to the southern climate. The plain,
at the commencement of which this village is
situated, is fertile to an extraordinary degree, and
in passing the road thence, on approaching the
little town of Baveno, on the Lago Maggiore, the
whole country may be termed a vineyard, as in
all the cultivations, whether of corn or grass,
the vine is introduced, forming a prominent
feature of agriculture.
From this point to Milan the vine abounds,
and to wander at leisure through the country, in
the height of the vintage, is to riot in pleasure,
realizing all that the most ardent imagination can
conceive of the festival of Pomona.
I have seen at noon a number of donkeys re-
leased at the vineyard from the labours of trans-
portation, each with his head half buried in the ~
embouchure of a cask, sureharged with the de-
licious fruit, devouring with avidity the newly
gathered grapes, and a stream of sweets flowing
from either side of hismouth. I cannot recur to
the incident, without an active sympathy in the
:
:
.
~
80 CULTIVATION OF THE
delights of the laborious little operative of the
Italian vineyard. ne |
The road between Milanand Bologna, traverses
the plains of Lombardy, a country of luxuriant
fertility, from which the husbandman receives
four, and sometimes five crops in the year. The-
intervening space, as far as Lodi, is a perfect
plain, in which extensive crops of rice are cul-
tivated. Here also the vine flourishes with a
luxuriance corresponding with the fertility of the
soil. Their wines however are not of long du-
ration, and their quality confirms the theory,
that a close argillaceous bottom, though giving to
the plant an exuberant foliage, is not the source
from which we derive the finest wines.
From this point, as far south as Naples, the
cultivation is similar, differing from that of ©
Switzerland, both as to pruning and exposure.
The vines are planted in rows, about twenty
feet apart, and the plants in the row at the dis-
tance of six feet from each other. Instead of
being, as in Switzerland, cut down to the height
of four feet, they are suffered to shoot forth their
branches to the extent to which nature limits
them, and the fruit may be seen in ripening clus-
ters, frequently twenty feet from the ground.
The support is the mulberry tree, the branches
of which are reduced to the length of five or six
feet from the trunk at the point of diverging, the
inner shoots being so cut as to form a frame re-
sembling in shape the cone of a wine glass, The
branehes of the vine are trailed in graceful
festoons from tree to tree, the tendrils insinuat-
ing through the frame, form tops in such a man-
VINE IN ITALY. 8i
ner that the broad leaf of the mulberry effectually
shelters the fruit from the scorching heats of the
Italian sun. I consider this mode of supporting
the vine, as decidedly objectionable. The roots
of the living tree cannot fail greatly to check the
growth of the plant, choking the fibrous radicles
which, like so many feelers, the vine puts forth in
every direction, in search of nutrition and ali-
ment. Every vine dresser is aware of the im-
portance of keeping his grounds free of weeds,
and especially the vine itself, from the noxious
parasitic with which, under a negligent culture,
the vineyard is infested. This remark applies
also to any extraneous cultivation among the
vines; and it is in cupidity, not ignorance, that
the Italian cultivator gives to his vines the sup-.
port of the living tree. Of the four cardinal
sources, of the wealth, for example, of Tuscany,
the silk worm is not the least; and the leaf of
the mulberry, as is well OE is. the favourite
food of that industrious little minister to the
vanity of their fairer portion of the civil commu-
nity. With the Italian community, the cultiyva-
tion, therefore, is of interest, as he derives from
the labours of the silk worm a more than full
indemnity for the injury inflicted on the vine-
yard. Such motive cannot influence ws in the
cultivation, as our country affords sufficient space
to allot to each a distinct establishment; whilst in
Italy they have been crowded together, by the
necessities of a dense population, and the conse-
- quent high price of land.
‘It does not appear to me that it will be found
necessary in our country, to leave so great a space
82 - CULTIVATION OF THE
between the rows of the vineyard as in Italy,
where the Italian husbandman cultivates his crops
of grass and grain, greatly, asI think, to the pre-
judice of the vineyard. ‘The vines are planted
in a line of cultivated ground, the breadth of
which is about three feet, showing a careful dig-
ging, which keeps it soft and mellow, and gene-
rally free of weeds. On the same plain is the
Duchy of Parma, exhibiting a similar cultivation
and production, in which little peculiarity is
found. | |
In the Duchy of Modena, the state adjoining
to Parma, where the soil and cultivation are the
same, there is little variety as to the fruit culti-
vated.
The Malvoisie, a delicate fruit, is found at
Modena in great perfection; and to those seeing
it for the first time, presents a striking peculiarity.
The bunch is large, weighing from one and a
half to two pounds.
The fruit is so small that it does not exceed
the size of the elder berry, and without seed.
On each buneh may be found.some half dozen
grapes, as large as the native black cherry of
Pennsylvania, having the usual number of seeds,
a peculiarity, as I observed, of the Malvoisie.
The grapes possess a luscious sacharine flavour,
affording a delicious wine, in great estimation
among the Italian ladies, and bought with eager-
ness by Courts and Kings.
The situation of Parma and Modena, is at
variance with the Swiss doctrine, that the ineli-
nation of a hill is essential to the prosperity of
the vine. In fact, it’ is not so in a country
‘VINE IN ITALY.- 83
where the natural heat of the climate is equal to
a temperature of seventy degrees, during a
considerable part of summer. The wines of
these districts, though delicious when new, will
hardly support the keeping of three years; and
dt will be recollected, that but little attention is
given to the conservation of them, as the vintage,
unlike that of Switzerland, which is'exposed to
injury from a capricious climate, is uniform, and
abundant, affording each season, a product more -
than sufficient for the requirements of the coun-
try, though consumed with a liberality, charac-
teristic of excessive abundance. ‘The cultivation
of Italy affords the strongest encouragement in
favour of an introduction of the vine amongst us.
I have before adverted to the great labour be-
stowed on the vine in Switzerland. Such is the
forced state of vine growing in that country,
that it appears as though a constant warfare,
on the part of the Swiss vigneron, was waged
against the capricious inconstancy of his cli-
mate. But the cultivation of Italy is widely
different. Ceres and Pomona have vied in scat-
tering the treasures of autumn before a favoured
people, and the full horn of plenty, is exhausted
in diffusing the richest abundance through the
classic land. The success of the vine, with but
little labour, is almost miraculous, when compar-
‘ed with the cultivation of their Trans Alpine
neighbours; and the superiority of the wines of
Italy, over those of the narrow region between
the Alps and the Jura, is a convincing proof
how greatly the quality of the vintage is indebt-
ed to a genial soil and propitious climate.
84 CULTIVATION OF THE
In the Italian mode of cultivation, which, from
different motives, will probably be that adopted
in Pennsylvania, we shall avoid mueh of the la-
bour given to the vine, even in Italy, because, |
though in that country, the rows of the vineyard
are at best twenty feet asunder, the instrument of
dressing is, in almost all cases, the spade or the
hoe. Ido not remember once to have seen the
plough amongst their vines, whereas with us, |
when labour is so important a feature in the cal-
culation, it may be advantageously introduced,
and in careful hands, safely used in the cultiva-
tion.
Many of the most delicate wines of that coun-
try do not bear a foreign transportation; and it
is but natural to suppose, that their system of
wine making has not received the same attention
which, but for that circumstance, would other-
wise be given to it.
That from such a variety of circumstances,
affecting, in a greater or less degree, the prospe- —
rity of the vine, will naturally spring a wide dif-
ference in the treatment and cultivation, is mani-
fest at the glance, and it is by the study of a
character so curious, forming a subject of fruitful
theory and endless experiment, that the judicious
cultivator will avail to seize the fugitive traits
as they are elicited and give toita permanency
which shall arrest and control its cameleon hues.
To the American cultivator, this forms a pri-
mary object. He will soon be convinced that
the previous history of his foreign vine has but
little influence on the future cultivation, and
furnishes no data on which to build his hopes of
VINE IN ITALY. 85
success. It is an actual regeneration, accompa-
nied by its own peculiar character; and to these
traits successively developed by the difference of
soil, climate, and treatment, must he look, for-
getting the circumstances by which it was affect-
ed at its European home.
If this should excite the incredulity of the
agriculturalist, or raise in his mind the idea of a
discrepancy in our testimony, we refer him to
the vine growing district of Naples, where he
may see a striking difference existing in the ,
vine, from cuttings of the same plant, though
standing within fifty yards of each other. The
locale, known by celebrity, is on the side of Ve-
suvius, descending as far as the point to which
by the famous eruption of the seventy-ninth year
of the Christian era, the ashes were thrown, and
which forms the line of demarkation, between the
volcanic and natural soils. Here the vines are
totally dissimilar, and to an unpractised observa-
tion, would hardly be recognised. The first af-
fording a wine, the fame of which has inflamed
in every part of the globe the appetite of the
gourmand, while that of the natural soil is an
ordinary, if not inferior beverage. A like dif-
ference is observed in the plant which shows
another foliage, pushes its branches with a dimin-
ished vigour, the stock assuming a different
colour, and having, to a superficial observation,
such distinctive points, as to induce the belief
that it was a different member of the family.
This, however, is a digression. In crossing
the Appenines, on entering the dominions of
Tuscany, vineyards from the base almost to the
aa ee ee ee ee ee
86. CULTIVATION OF THE
summit of the mountain, occupy the line of road,
affording vines almost as various as their nume-.
rous positions, and differing from each other ac-
cording to their several exposures and culti-
vation.
As I passed the last time, I found at the sum-
mit the vines loaded with ripe fruit, though a
heavy fall of snow was at that moment covering
the ground.
The premature frosts to which a position so
elevated is naturally exposed, are manifestly in-
jurious to the vintage. The wines of such situa-
tions are unequal, and no reliance can be had on
their quality, though it sometimes happens in a
favourable season that they are peculiarly fine,
and in such seasons, from an uncertainty of the
mountain climate, the wines bear a correspondent
value.
On descending the southern side of the Appe-
nines, a more genial climate affords a better cul-
tivation, and here the olive shares with the vine
the attention of the husbandman. In general
they are found on the same ground, the olive
being here, as the mulberry in Lombardy, the sup-
port of the vine. In some of these positions the
soil isa red gravel, which, from its loose and
open character, parts freely with the rains inci-
dent to a mountain climate. ,
Among the wines, both white and red; of
Tuscany, but few will bear a foreign transporta-
tion without a reinforcement, which destroys the
delicacy of their flavour, and neutralizes the fine
properties of the wine.
A favourite wine of that country is the “ Alia-
VINE IN ITALY. 87
tica,’? which is a compound of rich and luscious
flavour, rather cloying the appetite. It is in
high favour with the Tuscan ladies, and should
be considered as acordial rather than a wine.
The country around the capital is mountainous,
and the soil a stony barren. The plain on which
the city stands is extremely fertile. Yet such is
’ the temperature of the summer climate that the
pruning is the same in the vineyard of the hills,
as in that of the valley of the Arno, the extend-
ed level immediately circumjacent to Florence.
The labour of the vineyard is principally by
the hand, the daily wages given to a workman
being from one and a half to two Tuscan pauls.
The paul is worth about eleven cents, our
money.
It is almost incredible how Tittle work a la-
bourer of the vineyard of that country performs,
when compared with the Swiss operative. But
fortunately for the Italian proprietor, his vines
require less labour; his wines are infinitely supe-
rior, andof greater variety. Finer wines ripen in
his genial climate, and it does not cost him more
than half the price which a Swiss proprietor is oblig-
ed to pay for the daily labour of the vineyard,
though, as I have before said, the work of both
countries is by the hand. It is, unquestionably,
a safer cultivation, and exposes the roots of the
plant to fewer chances of injury.
The ox and horse devour with avidity the
young foliage, and unless muzzled, inflict a se-
rious mischief on the young and tender branches.
From Florence, southwardly, the country on
both sides, is studded with olive yards and vine
88 CULTIVATION OF THE
grounds. The wines are in general like those
produced in the vicinity of the capital, and little
variety appears until arriving at the village of
Chiuse, the ancient Clusium and capital of Por-
_ Senna, which, on account of its noxious atmos-
phere, has a sparse population, and makes but
little wine.
At Radicofani, the frontier town, we leave
Tuscany, and on entering the Roman territory,
the first vineyards in estimation are at Bolsena,
on the pretty little lake of that name, the ancient
Lacus Vulsenus.
Although the vineyards commence at Bolsena,
the wine is known as the Orvieto, from a small
town of that name in the neighbourhood. The
vineyards produce an excellent light wine, of a
pale transparent amber colour, and when drunk
in its purity, is of a highly delicate flavour, but
little inferior to the famed production of Vesu-
vius, without possessing so much body. The
wines of Orvieto, so extremely delicate, are sen-
sitive to injury by the slightest deviation from
the ordinary method of conservation. Trans-
portation to a distant country, or even the adja-
cent provinces, being out of the question, it is
only known in perfection in the Roman State.
The next wine on the road which deserves at-
tention, is at Montefiascone, a fortified town,
surrounded by highly cultivated vineyards, where
a greater care appears to have been given to the
vineyard than at any point of the road leaving
Florence. The wines of Montefiascone are de-
servedly considered among the finest of the
wines of Italy. Tradition tells us of a German
‘VINE IN ITALY. 89
ecclesiastic, who was arrested on his journey by
the seductive attractions of this place, and lost
his life in an undue indulgence of the pleasures
of the wine cup. These wines are both white ©
and red, possessing more body than the Orvieto,
though, to my taste, a less delicate flavour.
They certainly maintain in the country a
higher reputation than is conceded to the other
wine. I understand that these wines have been
imported into the United States, but from what
I saw of them, am of opinion, that to bear the
foreign transportation, they must be so highly
reinforced as to destroy, in a great degree, their
delicious flavour. There is in these wines a pe-
- culiar delicacy, the loss of which would be im-
mediately detected by such as have drunk them
» in purity. |
On leaving the States of the Church, and en-
tering at Fondi, the dominions of the two Sici-
lies, new varieties are found springing from other
soils, and different exposures. ‘The wine most
celebrated at Naples, if not throughout Europe,
is the ‘* Lachryme Christi,’ a name regarded
by us as a profanation of all that is held sacred,
and exposing the people of that country to the
anathema of our Protestant community. How
far we are borne out in such opinions, may be
referred to that Christian charity ‘¢ which think-
eth no evil.”?’ A more intimate acquaintance
with their religious community changed the
feelings of prejudice conceived against this peo-
ple. If we admit that the principle of right con-
sists in the purity of intention, the sweeping
censure in which we sometimes hear them jn-
H 2
1 an a
|
90 CULTIVATION OF THE
discriminately condemned, may argue but little
acquaintance with their true character. I have
met amongst the Catholic clergy of that country,
those whose erudition and attainment make
them conspicuous among the votaries of learning.
Many of their order furnish an example of prac-
tical charity, calculated to cool our sectarian.
pride, and leave but little room for an indulgence
of that gratitude which thanks heaven that we
are not as others.
In visiting the vineyards producing the La-
chryme Christi, we are again forcibly reminded
of the changeful influence of soil, exposure, and
position, on the productions of the vine. In
reasoning from analogy it would be supposed,
that a hint favourable to this branch of agricul- —
ture might be availed by the intelligent cultiva-
tor, to arrive at the same results, and that by the
adaptation of a similar soil, a like exposure, with
due attention to other attendant circumstances,
he might produce a wine, resembling in some
degree at least, that which he designed to per-
petuate. It does not appear, however, that such is
the case. ‘The Lachryme is produced in the ashes
deposited by the famous eruption of Vesuvius,
which in the seventy-ninth year of the Christian
era, entombed the cities of Herculaneam and
Pompeii, whose site was lost to the world for
seventeen centuries, and around whose history,
the mist of fable had gathered in dusky shadow,
resembling the feeble light of antediluvian story.
The soil by which Pompeii is covered is loose
and porous, and so light as to be blown into
heaps in the direction of every strong wind.
‘VINE IN ITALY. 91
To this circumstance was the discovery due, as
in one of the Sirroccos, common to the Bay of
Naples, the ashes were so blown away as to ex-
pose to view the top of a chimney, leaving ita
foot or two above the circumjacent ground. It
does not belong to our subject'to enter on a de-
tail of the curious incidents unfolded in the un-
covering of the forgotten city; the feverish ex-
citement on the subject is inflamed rather than
allayed by the disentombing of Pompeii, as the
antiquary wanders amongst her majestic ruins, or
pauses to ‘admire the exquisite touches of the
chisel, with which “by gone days,’? have in-
flated ephemeral dignity, or patrician pride.
To our present purpose, her chief importance
arises from the circumstance that she lies beneath
the ashes’ producing the Lachryme Christi.
The two wines, the white and the red, differ con-
siderably in character, though each is esteemed
‘ among the cherished productions of the Italian
vine. I consider the former as possessing the
more delicate flavour, being free from the astrin-
gency common to the red wines of Italy, and
bearing a slight resemblance to a light old Ma-
deira, though with less body. I found the red
Lachrymez so slightly imbued with the astrin-
gency spoken of, as scarcely to be detected on
drinking the first glass. The best specimen of
that wine available to the stranger visiting that
country is probably at the Hermitage, a monas-
try of Friars, inhabiting a position about midway
as you ascend to the crater of Vesuvius, and in
the centre of the extensive vinegrounds. It is
there that it is to be drunk in the highest perfec-
92 CULTIVATION OF THE
tion, as one of the most judiciously cultivated
vineyards is‘ possessed by their order.
The Hermitage is the hospitable rest, at which
the curious traveller usually halts for an hour’s
repose, on his toilsome ascent to the crater.
Whilst the lover of classic lore is drinking
deeply at the springs of ancient knowledge that
issue from the opening of the long lost city,
the cultivator of the vine looks sadly on to see
the yearly inroad of his favourite domain, and
the destruction of the modern nectar. The Fo-
rum of Nundinarium with its dependencies, cost
the owner a vineyard of the Lachrymez. Ano-
ther fell as the Temple of Isis appeared, and per-
haps the incense of a sacrifice more costly never
rose from her altar, in the zenith of her heathen
glory. The resurrection of the ancient city is
the grave of new wine. It is the passing of the
Rubicon, which admits of noreturn. Knowledge
triumphs over the grosser appetite, and the lover
of good cheer sighs to see the foot of Minerva
on the neck of the rosy god. It must not how-
ever be supposed, that the victory is opposed
without a strenuous conflict to avert the threat-.
ened calamity. Efforts are constantly made by
the cultivators of that country, to perpetuate the
wine by a removal to other positions of the
ashes; but the wine is no longer the same, and
confirms the history of that versatile plant, which °
admits of no reasoning, and baffles all analogy,
leaving to the vinegrower no star to direct his
course, but the knowledge of facts as they un-
fold to his practical observation, and furnishing
VINE IN ITALY. 93
when thus disclosed but little information to his
neighbour half a mile distant.
“To judge the future by the past of man,”’ is
the fruit of experience in the study of human
character. This capricious member of the ve-
getable family sets at nought.such reasoning;
and the only explanation we can give of its
habits, is in the reply of the blind man of the
parable, “one thing I know, that whereas I was
blind, now I see.’?’ The moral of the sentiment
applies in all cases to a new cultivation of the
vine, and its application is direct and palpable to
the introduction of it into the United States. It
is in fact an alien amongst us, as the limited ex-
tent to which it exists in our country, though
sufficient to demonstrate the practicability of the
cultivation, has not developed the rich resources,
which judicious experiment may disclose to in-
dustry and skill.
I have before expressed the opinion, that we
shall know, @ priori, the details, which in a few
years hence may be familiar to the American
vine grower; but availing of the practical know-
ledge which long experience has shed around
the operations of the most successful European _
cultivators, we may commence with but little
fear of the result, the establishment of vine plan-
tations in those sections of the country, where
the summer affords a sufficient temperature, and
learn for ourselves the elements of a system,
which shall probably unite with our agriculture
a staple, the cultivation of which may soon be as
well understood as that of an ordinary crop of
grain. In deciding on adopting the culture of
}
94 CULTIVATION OF THE
the vine, it becomes an interesting question at
the outset of the experiment to consider, what
are the particular species of the plant, on which
may reasonably rest our strongest hopes of suc-
cess? It is a question involved in doubt, and
susceptible of as much speculation as there are
different aspects of position and varieties of
soil. /
We have at command three several points at
which we may commence an experimental culti-
vation, namely the foreign vine (vitis vinifera,)
the domestic grape (vitis sylvestris) and the seed-
ling plant.
Preliminary to an introduction of the first, the
foreign vine,+two considerations deserve atten-
tion, to wit: the experience of the few cultivators
who opened, as pioneers, the untravelled path,
and form at-this day the vanguard of the cultiva-
tion, and that deducible from the parallel cireum-
stances of the same soil, a like exposure and
climate, in the different vine countries of Europe.
In the former, affording information so limited,
we have yet the important fact that the vine can
be successfully cultivated in the United States,
and though I readily admit the slender reliance
due to a source of information so doubtful as that
of the latter, I consider it important to an experi-
mental course, and that a race of facts shall be
the peculiar offspring of American soil and cul-
tivation. In reflecting on the character of the
foreign vine and its productions, it cannot have
escaped our observation, that of the various wines
imported into the United States, those produced
near the ocean, whether at the Cape of Good
VINE IN ITALY. 95
Hope, the island of Madeira, the Canaries,
the Azores, and islands of the Levant, as well
as the shores of the Mediterranean, maintain
in general a fair and often superior charac-
ter. Ifa proximity to the oceanshall be found
favourable to the cultivation, it will open to
our industry a long line of sea coast, in a great
degree barren of profitable agriculture, many
of the inhabitants of which derive a consi-
derable portion of their support from the natural
privileges of the ocean.
My observations of European vine growing
confirm the opinion, that a strong hope may be
reasonably entertained of a successful cultivation
near the sea. A sandy soil, it is well known, is
favourable to the habits of the plant, and equally
so to the results of the vintage. Then there are
parts of the coast where the rains of September
are less frequent, and of shorter duration, and
where the sandy character of the soil does not
retain the moisture at the surface, or near the
roots of the plant.
My knowledge of the sea coast of our country
is limited to the county of Cape May, in the
State of New Jersey, and having passed there
some of the early part of my life, I have a partial
acquaintance with the agriculture of the country.
In the remarks here made on the capability of
that district to the cultivation of the vine, no
motives of self-interest can be ascribed to me, as
I do not possess an acre of land in New Jersey,
which, directly or otherwise, can be benefitted
by the introduction of the vine into that country.
They are dictated by a belief strongly impress-
ed on my mind, that there exist facts sufficiently
e
96 CULTIVATION OF THE
established to justify the attempt in that part of
the State, with more than the mere hope of a
fortunate result. The soil, a light sand, has as
much fertility as is required by the wants and
habits of the plant, and so open in its nature as
to carry off the superabundant moisture, and
allow at the same time the vine freely to push
its roots, both superficially and in depth, in
search of the nutritive aliment congenial to its
prosperity and advancement. The climate du-
ring the summer has a temperature equal to the
‘production of the finest wines, and the general
character of the month of September, as is well
known, is remarkably dry, insomuch that the
crops of the country are frequently much injur-
ed, and sometimes entirely cut off by the exces-
sive drought. Agriculture at Cape May has
perhaps received less attention than in many
other parts ofthe country. The extensive forests
of the southern section of New Jersey, and the
facilities afforded by the various navigable waters,
intersecting the country and so communicating
with the Bay of Delaware, have opened to the
inhabitants the profitable market of Philadelphia;
and it has heretofore been found that in the
rapid growth of their woods, and the increas-
ing price from an increased consumption of
fuel, that a better return has been made to the
proprietor from the trade in timber, than from
the cultivation of the land.
The introduction of the anthracite as a fuel
and the diminished price of that article from th,
opening of new mines, in almost every part of
Pennsylvania, within reach of the city, threa en
VINE IN ITALY. 97
to the inhabitants of Cape May, the entire extinc-
tion of that profitable branch of industry.
There are perhaps few parts of the country
that would be less sensibly affected by an inroad
so sweeping of a staple production. No public
highway from city to city, makes a thoroughfare
of the country, and it may be questioned if any
part of the Union has, from generation to genera-
tion, preserved, since the early settlement of the
country, a more primitive character. Luxury,
comparatively speaking, is but little known
among them, and there are but few parts of the
country, remote from a populous capital, enjoy-
ing, in such profuse abundance, the solid com-
forts of life. A pure, undefiled republicanism
exists in their society ; and though there are still
-among them many landed proprietors, who yet
possess the extensive grants of the original settlers,
and whose descendants, like the Swiss, consider
it a sacrilege to alienate the freehold of their
progenitors, it appears as though the distance be-
twixt man and man, which in Europe springs so
frequently from a capricious blindness of fortune,
prevails there to a less extent than in any coun-
_try Ihave seen. The mutual dependence of the
land holder on his poorer fellow citizen, in a
country.where slavery has been long abolished,
and of the labourer on his employer for direc-
tion and friendly sympathy, have so knit together
the several branches of their community, that
this feeling is transmitted to succeeding genera-
tions, and establishes between them an interest
beneficial to both parties. The reduction at Phi-
_ladelphia of the value of their staple, and the di-
I
i i el a We i
98 CULTIVATION OF THE
minished quantity of wood now annually sent
from Cape May to our market, have affected the
southern section of New Jersey, and interest
each member of her community in the adoption
of a substitute which may avert the evils of such
a change. Her land has fallen in value, labour
diminished in price, and the operative, not less
than the proprietor, suffers a correspondent re-
duction of revenue. The remedy however is at
hand, and in the cultivation of the vine, the peo-
ple of that country may find an indemnity for
the loss of the market of Philadelphia, for the ~
productions of their forests, nay,more. From
what I have seen in Europe of the profits of the
vintage, it would not excite in me the least sur-
prise, if in the successful cultivation of the vine,
the inhabitants of that country shall find not
merely an indemnity for the depreciation in the
value of their timber, but an annual revenue
from each’acre of vineland which shall equal the
capital, for which in their prosperous day they
sold the fee simple. of an acre of woodland.
A strong argument in favour of the introduc-
tion of the vine in that country is, that it has al-
ready been tried there, and ripened its fruit. It
is true it was to a limited extent, but I well re-
collect that some twenty years ago, I sent to
that country the cuttings of several varieties of
the foreign grape, which ripened their fruit as
well as in the protected atmosphere of Philadel-
phia. Some of these were the black Hamburg,
a most delicate fruit, and the complete success
which attended the whole progress to maturity
of this sensitive exotic, cannot fail to infuse into
VINE IN ITALY. 99
our cultivation the most auspicious and flattering
hopes. These remarks as to the capability of
Cape May for the cultivation, may be applicable
to other sections of our sea board, many of which,
I doubt not, possess a soil and climate equally
favourable to the requirements of the plant..
_ The sandy character of the State of New Jer-
sey, south of the capital, Trenton, fully justifies
the belief, that the vine will one day consti- |
tute an important feature in the agriculture of
the country. .
Along that part of the coast of New Jersey,
of which we have spoken, there are several
islands, destined, I fully believe, at some future
. day to be vine growing countries. Those most
familiar to my recollection are, the “seven mile
beach,” and the “ five mile beach.’’? They are
about two miles from the main land, and nearly
in a state of nature. These islands produce a
native grape, and may probably be cultivated
with success as well there as in other parts of
the country, anda great improvement may be
expected in this native vine, the fruit of which
will doubtless be favourably changed by careful
cultivation and judicious pruning. Indigenous
to the soil, nothing is to be feared, and much to
be hoped from a system of cultivation, by which
the savage propensities of the plant will be sub-
dued, and the qualities of its productions ame-
liorated. One of these islands is so covered by
the native vine, that it appears as though nature
intended it as the home of the grape. From
this the inference appears irresistible, that the
100 CULTIVATION OF THE
experiment to civilize this vine, and bring it
into cultivation, can hardly fail of success.
I understand that a small grape (which, how-
ever, I have not seen) is produced on one of —
these islands, possessing a rich sacharine flavour,
remarkable for a savage fruit, and which, so far
as I heard, has never been cultivated by an in-
habitant of the main. I have twice sent thither
for the cuttings of this vine, but in both cases
the proper season was suffered to elapse before’
they were taken from the plant, and J found that
the moral inculcated by the instructive fable of
the lark and her young, afforded me the strongest
reliance for the accomplishment of my wish.
Through the whole of our vast country, it is pro-
-bable, may be found varieties of the native vine,
worthy of introduction into our grounds. The
little white grape from Schuylkill county, in our
own State, known as the Orwigsburg, and the
Scuppernon of Virginia, may both be cited as de-
serving the notice of thecultivator. The former
has been tried on a limited scale, and it must be
admitted with but partial suecess. That success
at the outset of the experiment was but partial,
would be considered by the Swiss vine dresser
as strongly favourable to the issue of the theory,
as such partial success is the first development
of the powers of the plant, the first advance to a
new /ocale, and indicates the commencement of
a contest which nature is generally compelled to
wage, with an opposition to her love of conquest,
and the extension of her vegetable kingdom.
It is to be regretted that the cultivation of the
Orwigsburg was abandoned, and the want of
+
VINE IN ITALY. 101
complete success from her first cuttings should
have induced a belief that the experiment had
failed. The Swiss vine dresser knows better,
and the surprise with him in sucha case would
have been, that his plants had at all produced
fruit. It is true that the grape of Schuylkill
county had been taken, in the first instance, from
the woods, (so says tradition); but it has been
questioned by some, whose opinion is entitled to
respect, whether this grape be not of foreign ori-
gin, and by some freak of nature found its way
to the forests of the western world. Be that as
it may, the change of habit from a savage to a
civilized home, is not, in the vine, the business of
a day.
Between animal and vegetable life there is a
close analogy. In man, the transition from a
savage to a civilized state is not effected but by
moral and physical. changes, equally painful.
The removal to a distant quarter even of the
same country, frequently induces a distressing
revulsion, and the process of acclimating is gene-
rally effected by slow and gradual suffering.
But the ordeal passed, the elastic energy of the
constitution restores its powers, and nature
asserts her legitimate sway. With the vine, the
parallel is striking, and it has not escaped the
vigilant cultivator, that a removal of the vine to
a foreign country, is succeeded by a sickly repin-
ing which checks the vigor of the plant. The
shooting of the branches appears an effort of
nature. The foliage assumes a less. brilliant
hue. The plant languishes, and the whole ve-
getation indicates a struggle for life. A part of
ft I 2
102 CULTIVATION OF THE
this evil sometimes arises from the want of
knowledge, or neglect in the transplanting. In
a removal of the rooted plant, great care should |
be given to the nature of the soil from which
it was taken, and, as far as in our power, an
adaptation of similar soil and exposure in the
new location. It is important also to observe °
before removal, the aspect of each particular
vine, and to give it the same exposure. If we
afford to the anatomical structure of the plant
the attention it deserves, it will be found on ex-
amination, that the southern side is more porous
and spongy, and the sap vessels more dilated,
than on the side facing the north. The southern
surface is more delicate, less capable of endur-
ance, and easily affected by the rigors of a severe
winter. Hence if, in the replanting, the southern
aspect be changed, the vine droops and lan-
guishes for a season or two, until nature accom-
modates to the change, or asin many cases, the
plant, unable from constitutional debility, to
support the ordeal, lingers in sickly vegetation
to premature decay.
Such is the general history of removing the
rooted plant, and so decidedly in Switzerland
has experience established the inexpediency of
this mode of cultivation, in forming a new plan-
tation, that I do not recollect once to have heard
a skilful vine dresser who did not condemn the
culture as injudicious. There is but one case in
which it is at all justified among them, and then
it is only tolerated. It is when the soil is so ad-
verse to the vegetation of the cutting, that they
VINE IN ITALY. ; 103
are compelled to resort to a planting of the root-
ed vine.
Such soils in general, though defeating, for a
succession of seasons, the persevering efforts of
the planter, have yielded to a cultivation of the
rooted vine, and though it has resulted that the
vineyards of such a source flourish, to all appear-
ance, in healthful vigor, it is generally conceded
that the product is less abundant, and the vine of
shorter .duration, than from the former source.
It is in fact the last resort of the mortified vigne-
ron, defeated by the successful opposition with
which a stubborn soil has disputed his industry.
Amputations are the disgrace of surgery. The
business of the profession is to save, not destroy
the limb, and the hapless subject of the tourni-
quet and scalpel, who drags through life the
‘remnant of a mutilated frame, is a moving monu-
ment of the imperfection of the healing art. It
_ is equally so with the Swiss vine dresser, when
defeated in the attempt to establish from the cut-
ting his new plantation: There is a strong
“esprit du corps,’’ among the cultivators of the
vine in the Cantons, and the whole fraternity
_ feels that a shade is cast over the profession,
when an acknowledged member of their society
abandons the system of cultivating from the cut-
ting, and commences an establishment of his
vineyard from the rooted vine.
To the rooted plant introduced among us from
abroad, it may be difficult to afford an attention so
minute, but the deepest may be obviated by a
practised observation of the habits of the plant,
as the former aspect, where the vine is not old
104 CULTIVATION OF THE 4
is indicated by the appearance of the bark, and
strength, and number of the offsets, which are
generally more vigorous on the southern side. .
If, in considering the aptitude of the different
sections of our country, to the cultivation of the »
foreign vine, any tenable analogy could be de- —
duced, I should believe, that of the vines to be
introduced among us from abroad, those of the
Rhine and of France, north of Lyons, should be
cultivated in Pennsylvania and the States north
of the Hudson. The vines of southern France,
Spain, and Italy, in the Carolinas and the States
south of them.
Such is the summer temperature of Pennsyl-
ania, that there is strong reason to believe we
should also succeed with those less hardy vines
of the south of Kurope, Madeira and the islands
of the Levant. The vinesof Switzerlandstrongly
inducea cultivation in our northern States, where,
from the length and heats of summer, there may
be anticipated great improvement in the produc- _
tions and vintage, as the vine is hardy and rug- |
ged, enduring from habit the vicissitudes of a
capricious climate, and deriving but little benefit
from a cheering summer’s sun.
It is true, that the occasional mid day heats of —
the country are of sufficient temperature whilst
they last, for the habits of the vine, but these are
generally of short duration, and continue during —
a brief period, whilst in their warmest weather |
the nights are uniformly cold, chilling the at-
mosphere. with an inhospitable influence, which —
neutralizes the advantages, which the vine would
otherwise receive from a cheering warmth.
~
VINE IN ITALY. 105
Most of us are probably aware, that among
our South American neighbours, the cultivation
of the vine, until lately, received but little atten-
tion. Spain, in her jealous regard for the inter-
ests of her home dominions, reserved to herself
_, the supply of her colonial subjects, and the vine,
as I understand, was discouraged by the ruling
powers. The fashion of the times, however,
passeth away. South America has changed
masters, and the change has introduced to the
country anew cultivation. The vine has within
a few years received the attention of the agricul-
turalist, and the patronage of government, and
begins already to constitute an important feature
of their agriculture. -It may not be foreign to
our subject to consider the progress of vine grow-
ing in that country. It was my fortune at Paris
in 1833, to meet at that court, the representatives
of Chili and Mexico, from both of whom I re-
ceived the most favourable details of the culture
of the two countries. It appears that in Chili,
the vine produced a full crop in the seventh year,
though the vineyard ripened its fruit to a small
extent before that period. The wines of Chili,
are the Sherry of Spain, and the Bordeaux and
Burgundy of France. Those of Mexico, where
the cultivation is even-better than that of Chili,
are the Sherry also, of Spain, and the Burgundy.
‘The most sanguine anticipations are entertained
in Mexieo of this culture, and as the full eapabi-
lities of the soil are not developed, they are elicit-
ing every season new facts, and suggesting im-
portant theories, and confidently believe that but
few years will elapse before they shall add a
Eee
106 _ CULTIVATION OF THE
new and profitable export to the commercial in-
tercourse with their neighbours. In the culti-
vation of all the stranger plants, it will hardly be
fair for us to expect the same immediate success
that has attended the cultivation of our southern |
neighbours, as they have a better climate for the —
object than we, or at least that may prove the ©
case; though the fact is yet undetermined. If
such should prove the result, it then becomes in-
cumbent on us to take a useful lesson from the
Swiss vigneron, and copy the example of pa-
tience, in which, sure of the issue, he goes on
from season to season, cultivating the shoots of
the preceding year, until they have passed the
proper period, which justifies the introduction of —
them into the vineyard. Both Mexico and
Chili have commenced a cultivation from the
seed. The effect is yet to be determined, though
the highest hopes are entertained of the embryo
cultivation. This is a culture that may open to-
us a fruitful source of experiment. By this
means, almost every vine in the globe is in some
degree at command, and at little cost. The dried
fruits of Spain, the little sweet grape of Smyrna,
are at our doors, and may be procured at almost
every little village of the country, and as such |
fruits are in general dried by the heat of the sun,
the seeds are not injured, or their powers of ve-
getation destroyed. It has been objected against
iy ~~ war
this cultivation, that the seeding requires a long. |
time before it reaches maturity, and a continued
vigilance as it slowly unfolds its powers to the
eye of the anxious planter. But the apple does
the same. I have cultivated to maturity the
VINE IN ITALY. 107
seedling grape, and my own experience confirms
the theory, that a longer time in general does not
interyene between the planting of the seed and
the earliest production of the seedling vine, than
succeeds the planting of the young orchard, and
the period at which it gives to the farmer the
first return for his patient care. It appears,
therefore, but a fair hypothesis, that success may
attend a cultivation from the seed, as the plant
will have birth in the soil, will be nurtured un-
der the influence of a native sky, and advance
towards maturity at a progressive pace with the
sure aptitude which nature gives to her children,
of accommodating to the circumstances by which
they are surrounded. It is objected to the seed-
ling, that reliance cannot be had that it will
produce the same fruit, as that of the plant from
which it was taken. This cannot be controvert-
ed; but it has its favourable view of the counter-
poise. Itis perfectly familiar to us, that the
fruit. thus produced, may be so changed during
the blossoming of the vine, by the mixture of
farina, with that of a neighbouring plant, at the
same time in flower, that the seedling of such
grape may produce a different fruit. This is as-
suredly true. But does it follow that such fruit
shall be inferior? It may produce better fruit,
affording a better wine, and at all rates, a new
variety, an offspring from the fruitful source of
nature, from which we constantly see the exten-
sion of her vegetable dominions. To such acci-
dental source, for example, do we owe the Seckel
Pear, and it may be questioned, whether any
member of the family can surpass in the delicacy
OOo
aa
108 CULTIVATION OF THE
of its flavour the exquisite aroma of this freak
of nature.’ It appears as though she gives us oc-
casionally such an evidence of her exhaustless
resources to cheer the pride of the horticultural-
ist, and cast into the shade the most laboured
efforts of his art. In Europe, where for centu-
ries the vine has constituted a prominent feature
of agriculture, the same necessity for experiment
does not exist. The influence of each climate,
the effects of different exposures, and the vintage,
are in a measure anticipated, and general results
foreseen. Occasionally, however, some amateur,
some enthusiast in the cultivation of the vine, |
produces a new variety, which, if esteemed, is
eagerly sought by the neighbouring vine dresser.
The mass, however, of cultivators, who, from a
want of pecuniary resource, to indulge in untried
experiment, or an absence of that public spirit
which promotes the sacrifice of present interest
to their own, or the public good, prefer to tread
the beaten path, and manage their vines as their
fathers have done before them.
But in every land are aspiring minds, ambi-—
tious of fame or of wealth, who leave the travel-'
led highway, and seek the gratification of their
restless desires in the pursuit of their favourite
theories. Our own country furnishes a striking
illustration of this fact. While we were pursu-—
ing the systems familiar among us, navigating
the waters by the aid of the capricious elements,
one active spirit toiled among theories, rejecting
this asa better suggestion to a comprehensive
mind, labouring amidst models and machines,
successively cast aside to give place to the amend-
|
|
:
:
VINE IN ITALY. 109
ments of a boundless ingenuity, till by the light
of the midnight lamp, was born that offspring of
philosophy and mechanics, which overturns in its
course the wisdom of ages, sets at naught the
elements which so long have controlled us,
laughs at the tide, and derides the opposing
winds.
To a spirit like this, we shall probably owe
much of our knowledge of the vine, as an Ame-
rican cultivation. A half century of indepen-
dence has probably changed the position of our
country. Her aspect is not the same. Her in-
stitutions keep pace with the advancement of
knowledge. Mechanicsare revolutionized; agri-
culture changed. Where, fifty years ago, were
our manufactures? How long is it since, for
the common purposes of domestic life, we have
imported our cotton from a foreign land? With
both how stands now the account? ‘The triumph
of mind over matter, the multiplied powers of
labour-saving.machinery, have extended the do-.
minions of England, and given her an empire
on which her sun knows no decline, where the
last evening ray falls on the plains of Abraham,
as the beam of morning is reflected by the sur-
face of the Ganges. Have we no part in this?
In the transportation of the raw material, the
highway of nations is whitened by the canvass
of our commerce, and the looms of. Manchester
acknowledge a dependence on the labours of our
southern brethren. Every year lessens our de-
pendence on the late mother country ; and in the.
new republics of the south, our cotton fabrics,
which are but of yesterday, exercise a dangerous
K
110 CULTIVATION OF THE
‘
rivalry to the products of British skill. Could
we but look fifty years into futurity, it might be
seen, that of the various wines afforded by our
genial soils, the multiplied aspects available to _
us, many may take a distinguished rank among
the cherished productions of the European vine. _
It may exercise a more salutary influence. In
our land may be seen the substitution of native
wines, in place of those ardent spirits of native
]
and foreign growth, whose deleterious effects _
tend to poison the springs of individual happi-
ness, and dry up the sources of public virtue.
To the agriculturalist who has not given the
subject a practical attention, a deep surprise will
be excited, on learning the profitable results of
the cultivation, and the great returns of a single
acre of well managed vine lands. If we except
the sugar cane of Louisiana, I doubt if any crop
in our country, not the cotton or tobacco of the
south, will so bountifully repay the labours of
the planter as the cultivation of the vine. Should
the attempt be considered, as mere experiment,
be it so. The possible result fully justifies the
exercise of legislative patronage. It offers to, the
former, as a strong inducement, the experience
of most prosperous agricultural states of Europe,
and chides us for pouring into the coffers of the
stranger the wealth which should be more judi-
ciously employed in developing our own internal
resources. It reflects on our national sagacity
‘for swelling the value of the European vine
grounds at the expense of our landed proprietor,
and robbing the American cultivator of a prolific
‘source of profitable agriculture. To the latter
le
VINE IN ITALY. - Ill
an aspect is presented which promises a more
favourable result, than hundreds of speculations
annually afloat, through the enterprize of our
commercial citizens.
It is not the planter alone to whom it is avail-
able; the successful merchant who retreats from
the toilsome hazards of the commercial lottery,
may secure in the cultivation an agreeable occu-
pation of his leisure hours. The landholder will
find that his acres will be greatly enhanced in
value, and attain in the sale a price which no
other cultivation would give them.
These are among the probable advantages pre-
‘sented to us in an individual view of the subject.
How does it appear to the patriot and philanthro-
pist? Intemperance is the vice of this land.
Our hospitals testify it; for drunkenness is fruit-
ful of disease. The records of our prisons prove
it; for ’tis the leprosy whose offspring is crime;
an attainted race, with no inheritance but the poor
house, no refuge but the jail. If we can exclude
from the social compact the host of poisons,
which, in the form of whiskey and rum, and the
interminable variety in which the intoxicating
liquors assail the infirmity of our nature, the pe-
cuniary gain will fade in the calculation before
the moral influence. Hundreds of. families,
whose hard earnings are wasted in vicious excess,
will raise their glad hosannas at the change, and
unconscious innocence bear witness to the im-
provement, which banishes poverty and discord® |
from the dwelling, and restores peace to the
borders, and plenty to the habitation. Our
workmen will be better husbands, fathers, mem-
4
112 CULTIVATION OF THE
bers of the civilcommunity. Thesum of labour |
restored to the national wealth, is worth a states--
man’s study. I have passed three years in) |
France, where I never saw a drunken French- —
man. Eighteen months in Italy, and in that — i
time, not an Italian intoxicated. Nearly two - |
years in Switzerland, of which I cannot say
the same, but I can safely aver, that during that |
period, I did not see twenty drunken men; and
whenever my feelings were pained at beholding
2 prostration so sad over better principles, it was
invariably on an occasion of extraordinary fes-
tivity.
The Swiss are by no means an intemperate
people, nor is it, so far as I have seen, the cha-
racter of any vine growing country. In the ar-
guments, therefore, which may fairly be urged
in favour of a cultivation of the vine, a strongly
inciting motive addresses. our personal interest,
and invites us to adopt a system by which our
revenues will be increased, and agriculture im-
proved. There is yet a more important light in
which it appeals to our public spirit, and our .
better principles as a Christian community—the —
moral improvement of society. That we are not
indifferent to this important view of it, is gnani-
fest from the numerous philanthropic institutions,
both public and private, with which our country:
abounds. Juvenile indiscretion, seduced from
the paths of rectitude, by temptation or inexpe- »
ience, is plucked as a brand from the burning, |
and before it sinks into crime, restored to useful-
ness and virtue, by the system of “refuge”’ The
discipline of our houses of correction, shows that —
— —— —— ——— 7 ——— | —
|
{
|
VINE IN ITALY. 113
_ the reformation of the offender, the prevention
' rather than the punishment of crime, actuates the
benevolent legislator.
Age is robbed of its infirmity by asylums for
| the destitute widow, where the song of gratitude
_ ascends to Him who has promised that -“ the.
_ righteous shall not be forsaken, nor his seed left
to beg their bread.”’
The shafts of disease are averted by our hos-
_ pitals; blindness and deafness are stripped of
half their ills, and a race of unfortunates, doomed
to a life of moral darkness, enjoy the charms of
cultivation.
The happiest commentary on a_ benevolent
precept, is afforded by the orphan asylum; and
on the foundation where the truest benevolence
laid the corner stone, charity has raised her
chaste and beautiful temple, where helpless in-
nocence is reared and protected, and, by a course
of sound instruction, fitted for the duties of life.
Societies for the promotion of that first of vir-
tues, ‘'emperance, are established throughout the
land, but the principal sinew of their operations
is unstrung.
The cultivation of the vine will do more
towards the furtherance of their object, than a
host of non-consuming resolutions. On all ef-
forts, shall legislators look with indifference, and
withhold from the moral improvement of the
community the aid so liberally granted to rail-
ways and canals, and sectional improvements? *
We hope otherwise, and that the fostering hand
of government, in aid of the numerous associa-
j K 2 P *
4
114 CULTIVATION, &c.
tions for ameliorating the condition of man, will
be extended to the cultivation of the vine.
To the system that shall banish intemperance : ;
rank among the improvements of the age. It is”
from our land, will be justly due a conspicuous |
from this cultivation that we can confidently ~
hope such a blessing, a blessing which shall in- '
fuse throughout the land a life giving energy, }
and imbue with the happiest influence the moral |
atmosphere that surrounds us, an influence (to |
borrowthe language of a distinguished historian) —
“more salutary than that which the vestals of —
Numa derived from the sacred fount of Egeria,
}
4
4
{
when they drew from it the mystic waters, with _
which they sprinkled their sanctuary.”’
THE
MANUAL
OF
THE SWISS VIGNERON
AS ADOPTED AND RECOMMENDED BY THE
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
GENEVA AND BERNE.
iif
BY
|
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‘Monsizur BRUN CHAPPUIS.
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ADVERTISEMENT.
Tux same motives that induced the editor of
the “ Bulletin of Agriculture” to insert in his
periodical journal the treatise of Mr. Brun
Chapuis, of Vevay, on the cultivation of the
vine, have induced the “ Committee on agricul-
culture of the Society of Arts,’? to republish the
same, to be distributed among the members of
the class, and those of the three societies for the
cultivation of the vine in our Canton, (Geneva)
with the view tocirculate it, through theiragency,
among our vine dressers generally.
It is not the expectation of the society, that
each different process shall be adopted without
due reflection. They are aware that it contains.
some points on which intelligent cultivators may
differ in opinion. Such, for example, is the im-
portant feature of pruning, the most experienced
vignerons of the coast, and of our Canton, prefer-
ring the “ willow head*,’’ a system which Mr.
Brun utterly condemns. If, like him, every
cultivator should devote a part of his time, how-
ever small, to useful experiment, the question in,
a few years would be decided by the results de-
veloped. !
This little work contains, however, within a
* The. willow head, that is, the method pursued generally
by the vinegrowers of Italy, allowing the branches to shoot to
the extent of twenty feet, or more, and trailing them from tree
to tree.—TRANSLATOR.
118 Bath ADVERTISEMENT.
brief compass, such important and useful instruc-
tions and details on the daily work and care neces-
sary to a successful cultivation, and above all on
the entire importance of preserving the vineyard
constantly free of noxious weeds, that we shall —
consider it a great point in favour of the vine,
should it become the manual, not only of the
practical vine dresser, but of the intelligent pro-
prietor of our Canton, who will find in the un-
adorned directions it contains, the most efficient
practical instructions on the pursuit in which he
is engaged.
Whence indeed should we hope for a better
system of culture than from among the masters
of the art in a small country, which, with an ex-
tent of but four or five leagues in length, and in
some parts of it, even less than the breadth of
half a league, we find that of all the countries of
Europe, the vine has attained the highest degree
of perfection, where a skilful cultivator has pro-
duced on a given space the greatest quantity of
fruit, and when a soil possessing from nature but
little fertility, has acquired for the purposes of
cultivation, the greatest possible value that could
be given to it.
a Bee
NOTE BY THE SOCIETY.
This little Treatise is taken literally from the
excellent ‘“‘Journal of Practical Agriculture’’
of the Canton of Vaud. It is from the pen of
one of the most intelligent practical cultivators of
Vaud, in which Canton, the vine, probably, is
cultivated as successfully, and with as much care,
as in any part of Switzerland. We will add,
moreover, that the vineyard of Mr. Brun is
among all others of the Canton pre-eminent for
its beauty, its perfect cleanliness, and the great
abundance of its product.
This little work appears to us so complete, so
practically efficient, and above all, possessing
such a fund of useful instruction, at a moment
when many of our proprietors are occupied with
the preliminary arrangements of replanting their
vinegrounds, that we think we cannot present to
the public a more acceptable offering than this
republication of a system of vine dressing, tend-
ing so highly to the promotion of individual in-
terest, as well as the advancement of general
prosperity.
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INTRODUCTION
OF
Mr. BRUN CHAPPUIS, or Vevey.
Influenced by an ardent desire to attain a per-
fect knowledge of the cultivation of the vine,
and believing no guide so sure as that of expe-
rience, I have, for several’ years, employed my
time in a succession of experiments on the vine-
yard. I have observed with regret the unfavo-
rable method adopted by many practical vine’
growers of my neighbourhood, and the absence
of system in the arrangement of distributing and
executing the labours of the cultivation. As I
know of no elementary treatise to aid me in the
prosecution of my labours, it has long been my
habit to record the points of interest developed
|e
SS ee
in the suite of cultivation, a reference to which
has frequently assisted me after the incidents
themselves had faded from memory. I have
been frequently solicited by friends, for whom I
have the highest respect, to communicate to them
the results of my experiments; and yielding to
their flattering invitation, I have determined to
retouch the memoranda, and give to the light of
day the notes originally intended solely for the
government and direction of my own yine
grounds. Let it not be forgotten that these re-
marks, the result of many years of patient and un-
tiring investigation, a given by a proprietary
122 INTRODUCTION.
cultivator to his brethren of the same profession, _
who are best able to understand the feelings by —
which they are dictated, and who, in the practical 7 |
details communicated, may find a sufficient com- __
pensation for the unpretending garb in which ©
they are presented. Here they will find neither ©
the language of science, nor the flowers of litera-
ture. Such are unknown to the writer, who in
communicating the result of long experience, has
adopted the terms most familiar tc the vine
dresser, and which he hopes will not be unintel-
ligible to the general reader.
OE STE
TREATISE
ON THE &
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE.
ARTICLE L.
Preparation of the soil for the Vineyard.
Tux cultivator of an old vineyard, whose in-
tention it is to eradicate his vines, with the de-
sign of introducing on-the same site a new plan-
tation, should, the preceding year, prune; with
that view, leaving the branches double the ordi-
nary length, that he may obtain thereby a larger
crop, than it would be safe to allow the vines to
produce under ordinary circumstances. He
must, this season, manure heavily his intended
vine grounds. Previously to taking up the old
plants, he must open a trench of two or three feet
in depth, according to the nature of the soil in’
which he intends to plant, and in the operation
eare must be taken to place the broken or pulve-
rized surface, that in the digging has become
124 / TREATISE ON THE
soft and mellow, and which in the preceding
years has been well manured, at the bottom of the
trench, the sterile earth from which must be
placed on the surface.
The manured rich soil thus deposited at the — i
bottom of the trench, affords to the fibrous roots —
of the plant those nutritious juices, that enter so
Jargely into the principles of vegetation, and
greatly promote the growth of the young vine.
They also contribute to a duration that cannot
be expected without this salutary precaution.
The meagre soil from the bottom of the trench
thus placed on the surface, prevents the vine
from pushing its roots too high, and does not
allow the increase of the numerous parasitic |
plants which spring from too rich a surface, and *
choke the young vine before it has acquired suf-
ficient strength to make head against such a for-
midable competition. This work should be per-
formed during a dry time in autumn; or early in
the spring, in order that the earth should have
time to settle around the roots of the plant. In
replacing the earth from the trench, care should
be taken so to fill it, as to Jeave no vacuum, or
space, which is prejudicial to the roots of the
young plant, as the fibrous radicles, when thus
interrupted, perish in the vacancy from want of
soil. Attention should also be given that no
person walk on the newly worked ground, as it
is necessary to the growth of the young plant,
that the ground on which it stands should be
kept soft and mellow.
plant, so that it shall range uniformly with the
adjacent vines.
Early in the succeeding spring, the buds of
the young vine should be rubbed off with the
thumb and finger, leaving but two or three to
form that year’s heading, and these must be the
highest, or those next to the top of the branch.
When the operation of laying is deferred until — 1
too late in the season, the branch has not time to
take to the ground before vegetation, and attract
the salts of the soil, so important to the nourish-
ment of the former stock plant. I close this ar-
ticle by repeating the importance of great care
in laying the branch. Let it not be buried under
too deep a covering of earth, particularly where
the ground is level or damp.
a alfgo
\
ARTICLE VII.
Of the first Labour.
Axovt the latter end of March, the first labour —
is usually given to the vineyard. Sometimes, —
from the lateness of the season, it is deferred till
the commencement of the month of April. Ite
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CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. . 151
will be easily perceived, that no definite day nor
-even week can possibly be fixed for this opera-
tion, but the skilful vine dresser is never at a
loss on this point. My opinion is, that the
moment most favourable to the performance of
this work, is that at which the vine begins to
burst its buds, and push into foliage; and here I
presume it will be superfluous to remark, that
though I consider this as the most judicious
movement for the performance of the first labour,
it calls for great care on the part of the vine
dresser, as without strict attention in moving
through the grounds, the young and tender buds,
at this moment heavily charged with an active
circulation, and excessively ‘fragile, will be ex-.
' posed to great injury, and perhaps broken. off
and destroyed. In the vineyard of a close and
loamy soil, this is the moment at which the first
labour is attended with the greatest advantage,
asin sucha soil the vines worked at an earlier
period, rarely prosper as well as when the work
is postponed to that which is here recommended,
and for this reason, that the cold rains of the be
ter part of March pack and harden the soil of
the vineyard. A distinction in this respect
should always be made between the vineyard of
such a soil and the sandy or gravelly bottom, or
_ where the vines are on the inclination of a hill,
not only on account of the convenience of giving
to such. the early labour, at a period when the
‘spring business is less imperative, because a po-
sitive advantage attends, in such situations, an
early labour, by affording to the ground time to
settle around the roots of the vines, and preser-
a
;
=
he ae
a one eal
= — ae
=
152 TREATISE ON THE
Ss:
eee
—
ving the degree of humidity necessary to resist
the great heat of such situations, a humidity
which, in the early part of the season, promotes —
the vegetation of the vine grounds, and of which,
from the evaporation of a reflected heat, and the ©
facility with which from an open soil, and the
descent of the position, the rains and dews are —
easily carried off. The depth of the digging ©
must be regulated by that of the soil, varying
from sixto teninches. In performing the work,
I usually give two strokes of the instrument to —
each vine. | By the first blow the earth is turned
up, the second raises that which remains at the
bottom of the furrow, leaving it of an uniform
depth. The method of performing this opera-
tion by a single stroke of the hoe, which is the
habit of some of the vine dressers of our Cantons,
is, in my opinion, injudicious. There are those —
who neglect this work altogether, which is yet
more pernicious in its effects on the vineyard, as —
under such shameful negligence the vines soon —
become choked up with noxious weeds, and the ~
difficulty increased of keeping the vine grounds —
sufficiently clean. 7
In turning under the surface of the soil to the ©
proper depth, most of the seed of such destruc- —
tive weeds will be so buried as to be incapable of —
reproducing. If at the moment of the first la-
bour, the surface of the ground be dry, the result
of the work will be more advantageous. Care
should be taken, in effecting’ this work, not to —
perform it by heavy blows, particularly in the _
vineyard of the hills, as it is prudent to avoid, as
far as possible, causing the loosened earth to roll 7
;
Se
FS
SS
ese
—
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Re ea er
= ——
rT
a Se San ee Hc SR I A RN DE ELS EEE NIE IS
a ee
doing this, the workman should be careful to oni
serve that the point of the stake be not decayed, A |
or if so, to break off the unsound wood, and pointy
=
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or RE
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:
‘CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 155
the prop afresh. The supporting stake should
be planted on one side of the vine, inclining the
top in an oblique direction, so as to bring it be-
tween the horns of the plant, the inclination, of
course, keeping the point of the stake at the
greatest allowable distance from the foot of the
vine. ‘The stake when set in the ground should
be firm and solid, and so strong as to be capable
of resisting the winds, to which it will in the
course of the season be necessarily exposed.
When charged with its full foliage, the vine will
be heavy, and it will be prudent to subject each
stake of the vineyard to the proper test. To as-
certain this important point, let the stake be
drawn by the top, from side to side, and if,
from the elasticity, it return to its upright po-
sition, it may be safely trusted with the sup-
port of the plant. In the vineyard of the
plain, the stake should be planted perpendicular ~
to the ground, and in that which occupies the
- side of a hill, it should range with the inclination
of the ground, and lean towards the summit of
the hill.
156 TREATISE ON THE
| j ’ a
ARTICLE VIII. : ut
k
On the subject of this work a few words shaliif ; \
suffice. During several years I have performed — -
this work in my vineyard, which I obsetve with |
pleasure has been adopted by several of my |
neighbours, in consequence of the advantages re-) 1 |
sulting from it. ’
Notwithstanding the great experience, which:
from the extent of the cultivation among us, the —
vignerons of this Canton unquestionably have,
this work, it appears, is much neglected. The
method of replanting the vine is generally pre-
ferred as the better cultivation, to that of laying
the branch of an established plant. The cultiva-
tor whose vineyard is old, prefers a renewal of
this plantation from the cutting, as this method,
among other advantages, offers a better choice ©
both as to the fruit, and the strong healthy slip,
circumstances contributing largely to the estab-
lishment of the profitable vineyard. The “ de-
chaussure”’ should be performed early in the —
spring, and should be done with the Fossoir.*
It consists in opening the trenches of the preced- —
ing year, in which the branch was ;laid, parti-
cularly those of the last year, to examine if the
branches laid have pushed their roots too near Yt
* This instrument resembles in shape the ordinary hoe of af
our country ; but instead of the broad blade, it is two pronged, _
like the fork of the barn yard. The prongs are four inches. at
apart.— TRANS, j
~~ i
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 157
the surface of the ground. If such should be
found to be the case, the superficial roots are in-
jurious to the plant and must be carefully cut.
This operation, when performed early in the
season, is attended with this advantage, that there
is not the same wasteful flow of sap from the dis-
membered roots, as must be the case where the
work is postponed till late inthe spring. In the
performance of this operation, the superfluous \
buttons should be carefully rubbed off, and at the |
same time the branch should be so. placed as to
“range in uniformity, as to the height and line
with the circumjacent vines.
ARTICLE IX.
Stripping the vines of the superflux vegeta-
tion—raising and tying the branches.
Tue first work of stripping or weeding the
vines, consists in detaching the useless shoots, or
extra branches. This should not be done till all
the grapes or fruit be fairly developed and plain-
ly perceived, at which time the extra foliage will
have put forth and formed, the shoots being
half a foot in length. The method of stripping
or weeding the vines at an early period of the
season, is greatly to be preferred to the loose
habit of the greater part of the, vine dressers of
O |
158 ' TREATISE ON THE
this Canton, which is to defer the operation to so
late, that the branches are generally eighteen
inches in length, and have acquired such a
length at the expense of the vineyard and the —
vintage. 1
It is, however, but fair to observe, that where
this work is done at too early a period of the
season, a danger is incurred of detaching the |
‘shoots best calculated for the fruit bearing —
branches of the succeeding year, and to form also
the effective stock heading of the next season, it
being extremely difficult to discriminate thus
early, the character of the spring vegetation not
being fairly developed. This inconvenience
which is certainly to be avoided, is however
trifling in comparison to the advantage derived _
from a performance of the work at a proper pe-
riod, by the immense importance of the preser-—
vation of the circulating fluid, as the sap is the
primary source of the prosperity of the vine and
its productions. }
Let the acute observer make the’ experiment.
for himself, and judge from the results. He will
see the severe exhaustion of the plants, the strip-
ping of which has been injudiciously performed
out of time, and he cannot fail to be struck with
the difference between the languishing appear-
ance of such, as contrasted with the exuberant
branches and healthful condition of those which
have received this work in the early part of the”
season. I repeat, thatthe work performed in the
spring possesses inappreciable advantages, as ata
later period the wound left by the detached
branches will be larger, the sap vessels more di-'
eS
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 159
lated, and the most active circulation will carry
off the strength of the vine through the sluices,
opened apparently for the destruction of the plant.
In performing this operation, two branches or
shoots to each horn (by which term the old
branch of the preceding year is denoted) should
be left at least on those vines having that year
produced no fruit.
This must not, however, be understood as ap-
plying to those vines in full force and vigor.
On such as are older, but which have not as yet
that season formed their fruit, four or six shoots
may be safely left; but this must only be done at
the time when they are raised and tied up with
straw, or matting, to secure them to the stakes;
‘because, should this operation be performed be-
fore the season of securing the shoots to the
stake, the vine will be exposed unnecessarily to
the high winds of the spring, to late frosts, hail,
or other unforeseen occurrences, from which a
serious injury ‘may ensue. Those who adopt
this method, should take great care in the choice
of the branches left to form the future heading,
the general practice with us being to leave those
shooting from the outer or exterior surface of the
stock, as affording a better exposition of the
next years’ fruit bearing branches to the action
of the sun.
_ Where the heading is formed from the inner
branches, they are so crowded together, that by
a dense foliage the fruit is so shaded, as to loose
much of the advantage of the sun, which, from a
more judicious exposure, might be given to them.
As soon as the young branch shall have acquired
160 TREATISE ON THE
the proper length, it should be attached to the
stake. This is generally done when the vine is
in blossom. In deferring this work too late, a
sensible loss or diminution will be a sure result
at the gathering, because the grapes which have ~
become a little injured or decayed, being exposed
too suddenly to the heat of the sun, weep and ~
discharge their fluid. The grapes thus partially
injured should be left perfectly tranquil, or they
will not recover their healthy soundness. Those
who tie up before the blossom is formed, where —
the branch is sufficiently long, are not greatly in
error, if the fruit of the season be not too abun-
dant, or the weather rainy or very damp. Ina
season when the fruit is very abundant, the oars,
which are usually numerous, being attached to
the supporting stakes, tend to keep the grapes
too much shaded; in which case the blossom»
forms and falls with difficulty, causing the loss of
a considerable part of the fruit, and exposing
that which remains to the ravages of the worm,
which attacks more readily the grapes growing
in the shade, than those that are exposed to the
rays of the sun, particularly in a cool and rainy
season. We should not, therefore, prematurely
hasten the work of tying up, but wait until the
vine is in blossom. The buds thus near the soil,
and well exposed to the rays of the. sun, expand
the blossom more easily, and part with it with
greater facility, which does not occur where the
vine is attached to the stake, before the season of
blossoming.
Whatever has the tendency to retard the fall-
ing of the blossom, should be carefully avoided,”
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 161
because, where the plant retains for a long time
its blossom, it is a sure indication that it is not in
a thriving condition. The better plan is to ob-
serve a just medium in performing this work,
which I consider to be about the time the blos-
som begins fairly and fully to open; but it will
be easily perceived that this is a moment re-
quiring an unustal degree of care and attention,
as much mischief may be done on the young and
tender shoots, by incautiously moving amongst
the vines when in flower. This labour should
on no account be performed whilst the vines are
wet from rain or dew; this must be carefully ob-
served, as by neglecting such a salutary precau-
tion, the chance of loosing a part of the seasons’
product will be incurred.
Such is more especially the case with the de-
licate fruits, the small yellow grape, for ex-
ample.
There are some vine dressers who strip of
weed their vines in a most cruel manner. It is
much better that the plants should be suffered to
retain all their foliage, than to act thus injudi-
ciously, or perform the work without being aware
of the consequences to follow the skill, or want
of it, under which this important labour shall be
executed. To the experienced vine dresser, it is
perfectly well known, that the best nourishment
_.of the vine is drawn through the medium of the
foliage;* yet even among us, where the cultiva-
tion is so well understood, there are nevertheless
* The Swiss cultivator considers the foliage as the lungs of
the plant, by which it inhales the atmosphere, absorbing the
dews thereby.—tTRans.
0 2
162 TREATISE ON THE
found some vignerons so deficient in the know-
- ledge of their profession, as to strip the vines of
these necessary agents of their existence, and
thereby issue, as it were, against them the irre-
vocable sentence of death. It is by the practical
experience of those who have trod before us this
devious way, assisted and improved by our own —
patient investigation, that will enable us to dis-
criminate under different circumstances, as ulti-
mately to arrive at the system that shall be found
adapted to the soil, exposure, and position of each
‘particular vineyard. In the plantation, for ex-
ample of a deep and heavy loam, where the vine
pushes a vigorous wood, the foliage being con-
sequently dense and abundant, the closeness of
the leaves keeps the fruit too much in the shade.
From the dampness incident to such a situation,
the grapes are liable to mildew and blight; and,
should the season be rainy, to perish altogether.
Where such should be the case, and there is
reason to fear that they may be cut off before ar-
riving at a healthy maturity, it will be advisable
to strip the vines of a part of their foliage in the
immediate vicinity of the grapes; but in doing
this we must be careful to take only those leaves
of the interior, and not of the outer surface of
the heading of the plant. There are always
small leaves shooting from the bottom of the vine,
and such must be carefully pinched off, not torn,
by which careless method the back of the stock
plant would be injured, leaving the branch so as
to be adapted to form the parent fruit-bearing
vine of the next or succeeding season.
There are some vine dressers who, in the ope-
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 163
ration of tying, divide the work into two or yhree
stages, beginning at the bottom, by attaching first
the smallest shoots, then those next in size, and
finally, the large branches or heavy oars. This me-
thod is prejudicial to the growth of the plant, and
_ otherwise diminishes the prosperity of the harvest.
My objections to this mode of procedure are,
first, the lowest branches are kept constantly in
the shade, and draw out a feeble vegetation; on
such the fruit is generally immature, and but
seldom ripens and never perfectly. The second
range is, in a great degree, deprived of the rays
of the sun from above, as well as the reflected
heat of the ground from beneath, forming an in-
terior foliage which cannot prosper, and which
should always be avoided. Superadded to the
reasons before cited, a confusion in the stripping
of the plants will ensue, by which the labour of
the operation will be increased, exposing at the
same time the fine foliage of the upper oars to
the dangers of an indiscriminating weeding, as it
is hardly to be expected that in this important
work a sufficient degree of care will be observed
by the ordinary workmen of the vineyard, to
avoid such mischief to the principal fruit bearing
branches... That the work may be well perform-
ed, the vigneron should proceed with system,
beginning in regular line with the headmost
plant, attaching and tying the branches below to
_ those above, then securing the larger branches to
the stake by which the vine is supported.* By
* The method in general use at the time our author wrote,
of having but one stake to each vine, is, where it can be afford-
ed, to be abandoned, and twostakes given to each plant— TRANs.
164 TREATISE ON THE
this means, the stake will not have more than the
proper number of branches attached to it, and
these should not exceed four.
Sometimes the wood is too heavy and the
branch too long, in which case it should be
pinched off in the slender part, near the end, so
as to range with the general height of the vine.
This plan possesses the advantage of bringing all
the fruit on the outer side of the plant, giving a
more favourable exposure to the action of. the
sun. There is not the same confusion or danger
of injury in the weeding, nor is it so liable to be
attacked by the numerous insects.
Under this system of cultivation, the appear-
ance assumed of the heading, is that of the cone,
the interior being a void. In the ‘tying up, care
should be observed, that the leaves be entirely
free, and not tied with the branch; and still
more important is it, that the fruit should be
free, as I have seen the fair bunches ruined by
carelessly mixing them in with the branches
when attached to the stake. The oars thus se-
cured should be firmly and solidly fixed to the
support, and above all, should not be too near the
ground. .
|
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 165
ARTICLE X.
The second Labour.
AxtTHoveHx this work, in the opinion of some,
may appear of little importance, it has its advan-
tages, and deserves, in the execution, attention
and care. There are some vine dressers who
perform the operation immediately before they
tie up, or attach to the stake; others at a later
period in the season, as, for example, at the
moment when the grapes begin to set, or fairly
to form. As the work is soon executed, it is im-
portant that the most favourable time for it
should be chosen... I consider the proper time to
be, just as the blossom has dropped, and before
the grape is actually developed. When this
work is done too early in the season, the fruit is
exposed to injury from hail, and does not gene-
rally prosper as well as where the labour -has
been seasonably given. Where, on the contrary,
it is postponed injudiciously, much injury to the
flowers may be apprehended, and consequently a
diminution of the fruit will follow, by working
among the vines during the blossom.
In all cases, however, the/labour should be
performed in a dry time, in order the more ef-
fectually to destroy the weeds. In a light sandy
soil, or a soil of gravel, which are both subject of
drought, the case is somewhat different, as in
either or both, this work should be performed,
eee Se
166 TREATISE ON THE
and it were better that in such, the ground
should be damp, or even a little wet.
In a light soil, the work should not be too
deep; should the weather be favourable, no great
risk is incurred where the workmen are careful
in performing this labour, whilst the vine is in
flower; but great attention should be given not
to agitate the blossoms, particularly should the
‘season be backward.*
Those vines, which in the digging have receiv-
ed an indifferent labour, should be carefully
weeded and broken up at an early period, by
deep digging, and particularly in a dry time.
The proper depth is from four to six inches.
There are, however, some vine dressers, who
will not allow their grounds to be broken up in
a dry time, nor yet whilst the plant is in blossom.
They profess to think that the dust arising from
the digging when the soil is dry, settles on the
blossom, and causes the fruit to discharge its
fluid. I once entertained this opinion; but after
a careful and attentive observation of the circum-
stances, am decidedly of the conviction that it is
erroneous.
In the vineyards adjoining the high road,
which in dry seasonsare generally covered with
dust, this inconvenience exists to a great degree,
and on seeing them so covered that the colour of —
the plant, and its product, can hardly be distin-
guished, it would be a fair supposition that the a |
* The American cultivator may understand this in his own
manner. With due deference to our author, there appears to me
a little contradiction on this subject. I incline to his former
opinion.— TRANS,
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 167
fruit would not attain a favourable maturity.
This is not the case; for we find that in such
situations, the grapes at the season of vintage are
equally large; and finely flavoured as those of
the vineyard not exposed to the like inconve-
nience.
ARTICLE XI.
Pinching off the superfluous small buds.
Tuts work should be performed immediately
after the blossom has fallen. In consists in de-
taching all the small shoots that have sprung be-
tween the leaves, which may have been forgot-
ten or overlooked in a previous labour. The »
oars, or branches, should now be shortened to
the height of the stakes, with this understanding,
that they should not be less than four feet in
length.
If the prop be a little short, the branch must
be broken to a height somewhat exceeding it,
though it is always desirable to avoid such an
inconvenience.
Should the wood of the main stock or trunk
be too short to reach the top of the stake, it must
be secured to it without pinching, as it is im-
portant that the vines be regularly pruned and
trained, not merely on account of the preserva-
a i li i
168 TREATISE ON THE
tion of the plants, but for the appearance of a
neat and careful vine dressing. The toilette of
a belle for a midnight ball is not more studious-
ly arranged, than the vineyards of the Swiss
cultivator, who considers not merely the pro-
duct of the vintage, but the neat and orderly ap-
pearance of his plantation, and the favorable im-
pression of such regularity, on his fellow labour-
ers of the same profession. There exists among
them, in a high degree; the esprit du corps, and
the whole fraternity feel scandalized, if in the —
visit of a French vigneron, a slothful or unskil-
ful cultivator should be found among them.
In deferring this work too late, an injury is to
be apprehended on the crop of the succeeding
year, and the quality of the wine changed for
the worse. The stock will be weakened by the
length of the oars and number of the off-sets, the
branches not attaining sufficient strength and
solidity to the requirements of the succeeding
season, and which are the sure guarantees of a
successful vintage. |
The vine shoots more vigorously in a wet
than inadry season. In the former, therefore,
it will be necessary to strip, or pinch, the plants
twice or three times during the summer.
The vineyard is sometimes exposed to long,
continued drought, suffering greatly from an ab-
sence of the necessary rains, the foliage during
such times becoming parched and assuming a
yellow tinge.
Under these circumstances, I have sometimes
consulted experienced vine dressers as to the
remedy of the evil, and they have counselled
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 169
me to keep my vines closely pinched so as to
shorten the branches, the theory of which is, to
induce an active circulation of the sap, by which
the plant is enabled to resist the malady.
Experience, however, has convinced me to
the contrary, having found in my own cultiva-
tion, that the more the vineyard abounds in lon
oars and healthy branches, the less will be the ©
suffering from the scorching drought referred to.
In order to avoid in a dry time the burning of
the foliage, care should be observed in the strip-
ping, not to detach from the plant the small
shoots, or offsets, immediately adjoining the fruit,
as such offsets are the first to perish under the
influence of such injurious drought. Instead of
thus detaching such offsets, a couple of inches
may be pinched off from the extreme ends of the
shoots, which causes a new and fresh foliage to
push forth, and keeps up the requisite vegetation
which tends to the prosperity of the fruit, causing
it to form and develope fairly, and promoting its ©
growth and advancement towards a healthy ma-
turity.
A have had occasion to remark the difference
in a vineyard where, for the sake of the experi-
ment, part of the vines had not received this
salutary precaution, and on which the fruit had
experienced a visible suffering from the omis-
sion.
Where the vineyard i is exposed to this drought,
the foliage becomes much parched by the heat
of the summer sun, changes its colour, and as-
sumes a yellow hue. In such a time the vine-
yard should be carefully worked, the soil turned »
Bl. P
170 TREATISE ON THE |
up, carefully avoiding all interference with the
young roots,
This will greatly mitigate the injurious effect
of the drought on the vines, as it prepares the
ground for the absorption of the dews, which,
during a part of the season, are heavy. In ge-
neral, the vines require twice in the season to be
pinched and tied up, which is highly favourable
to the success of the cultivation. In the second
pinching, the oars, which, from being too short,
or perhaps from not having pushed into branch,
had escaped the first operation, should be careful-
ly taken off. There are some vine dressers,
who, in tying up, pinch the plants, or detach en-
tirely the small offsets that appear between the
main branches, others disapprove and reject this
plan; the first maintaining the opinion, that
system tends to concentrate the sap in the main
body of the plant, and causes a reflux so abun-
dant as greatly to prejudice the growth and pros-
perity of the fruit, whilst the latter profess a be- |
lief directly the reverse, contending that the
grapes will be more apt to improve by the adop-
tion of the measure. |
On this important subject, I have made a num-
ber of experiments, from the result of which I
am of opinion, that no disadvantage arises from
the pinching and tying up of the vines in regu-
lar measure, where the shoots, as is often the
case, are not long enough to reach the top of the
stake, and that this plan possesses certainly the
advantage of giving to the vineyard an appear-
ance of neatness and symmetry, always valued
by the tasteful cultivator, and which, where it
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 171
_can be attained without prejudice to the main ob-
ject of the cultivation, he is generally disposed
to seek, though at the cost of a little additional
labour. As to the shorter branches, we must
await their growth, and attack them when they
shall have attained a sufficient length to admit
the operation, in the postponement of which, no
serious inconvenience is likely to ensue. Where
this work is performed too early in the season,
the vine dresser will probably find that the oars
will be liable to be broken in the tying up, be-
fore or during the unfolding ‘of the blossom: and
yet I appeal with confidence to my fellow culti-
vators, and ask of them, if they have not seen in
their own experience, their fruit remarkably fine
and well set, notwithstanding such unpromising
circumstances ?
ARTICLE XII.
Of Manures.
Every vine dresser is aware, that without oc-
-easionally reinforcing his grounds by a little ar-
tificial aid, an inferior and diminished harvest
will be the result. As therefore it appears an
essential part of the system of skilful cultivation,
it is important to consider the particular manures
best suited to particular soils and positions, and
172 * TREATISE ON THE
the manner of applying them, not merely with
the greatest advantage, but so as to avoid a
serious mischief, which indiscreet or unskilful
manuring frequently inflicts on the vineyard.
In this consideration, one of the important points
is, the period of the season at which the manure
is applied. It is the habit of the vignerons of
Switzerland to manure their vine grounds at
three different periods, namely, at the first work
of the spring, and immediately after the vintage
in the autumn, or during the second labour. All
are favourable, (though not alike so), provided
the ground be not too moist or wet, and the
weather reasonably dry. The autumn may be
considered, of the three periods, as that least fa-
vourable to success; but it has this advantage,
that it is the season when the duties: of agricul-
ture are less imperative, and the vigneron not
hurried or driven by the necessary work of his
grounds. The manure which decomposes best
when wet, should be turned under and com-
pletely covered ; and here let me observe that it
should by all means be well rotted. In turning
it under, care must be taken not to pack it in, or
tread it with the feet. Some of your vine dress-
ers have the habit of transporting the manure,
when a leisure moment allows, into the vine-
yard, and suffer it to remain in heaps a conside-
rable time before it is to be used. This practice
is altogether to be condemned. As to the ma-
nure itself, it is injudicious, as a singular altera-
tion in the quality of it is the consequence of an
exposure from day to day, and especially if sue-
ceeded by a dry time. Evaporation from the
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 173
action of a warm sun rapidly carries off the
Strength of the manure. |
There are yet some among us who act more
absurdly, and in order to have their manure at
hand when the earlyispring work is most press-
Ing, transport it even in the autumn into the
Vineyard, there to remain during the whole
Winter.
‘The moral inculeated by the proverb, how-
ever applicable in most instances (of « taking
time by the forelock’’) is singularly pernicious
In its effects on this part of the vine dressing, as,
independently of the deterioration of quality
which the manure must experience from the
snows and rains of winter and spring, an inju-
rious influence is exercised on the vegetation of
the vines, for at least two succeeding seasons,
the vintages of which being ample testimony of
such indiscretion. The proprietor will have —
cause to be satisfied, if he shall find the mischief
cured by the lapse of two succeeding years.
I feel that I cannot in conscience tread lightly
on this pernicious custom. All manures are not
equally favourable. Different soils require dif-
ferent engrais. Some are productive of positive
injury, rather than benefit. For example, the
manure of horses, sheep, or goats, where not per-
fectly decomposed, or fully and completely rot-
ted, if applied in a dry season, especially to the
vines of a gravelly or sandy soil, exposes them
to an artificial drought, causing the vegetation to
be literally burnt, and inflicting a sensible loss on
the vintage, which is generally greater when the
season is dry. In such soils, the manure should
| ay
174 TREATISE ON THE
be from the cow, and should not be too much
rotted, as the fermentation is less active than
that of the others named, and consequently not
attended with the like heating effects.
The moment of fermentation, or immediately
after it, is that most favourable for the vineyard
of asandy soil. I consider that of sheep and cows
as favourable to strong lands, to such as incline
to moisture, and to the vineyard also of the
plain. The same quantity of manure is not re-
quired by all the vineyards. Close, loamy lands
are sufficiently manured, if done once in four
years; and in a light sand or gravel, once in three
years will be enough.
It may not be amiss here to remark, that .
over-manuring injures the quality of the wine.
By such a system, the fruit is liable to a prema-
ture decay. The branches become fragile, and
are easily broken. The wine, when in the
vault, changes easily, and cannot be preserved so
well or so long.
If, in the place of manuring every three or
four years, the vine dresser would be at the
trouble of putting on his grounds each year, the
third or fourth part of the quantity periodically
applied, the result would be more advantageous,
the vines better preserved, the effect more favo-
rable, and the force and verdure of the vineyard
more uniformly healthful.
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 175
:
ARTICLE XIII.
Weeds to be destroyed.
Tur mischieyous effects of weeds on the
growth and prosperity of the vineyard, is well
understood by the Swiss vine dresser, who, if he
has the least care over his vine grounds, or the
slightest regard for his professional reputation as
a skilful cultivator, has taken care that his planta-
tion shall present a neat, clean cultivation, from
which the noxious weeds that infest the vines are
eradicated before they inflict a serious injury on
the plant and its product. In the vineyard in
which weeds are allowed to accumulate, the
quality of the vine suffers an injurious change;
the product is sensibly lessened, and sometimes
nearly cut off, and the plant rapidly hastens to
premature decay. These effects are caused by
the dampness engendered, as the rays of the sun
are shut out, and thus the ground is not sufficient-
ly heated to afford to the plant a degree of
warmth, necessary to enable it to appropriate the
salts, which enter so largely into the principle
of vegetation.
The strength of the manure destined to the
nourishment of the vineyard, is absorbed and
taken up by the weeds; the vine will be covered
by destructive parasitic plants, which bring on
a premature age, and all the labour and care of
176 TREATISE ON THE
the vine dresser, where cleanliness is wanting
are rendered abortive. d
It is manifestly important, therefore, to keep
the vine grounds free of weeds, and especially is
ty
La
the necessity increased in a season when manure ~
is dear. The most effective mode of destroying
these weeds, is to eradicate them immediately
after the vintage. The instrument best adapted
for this purpose, is the radzisoir,* by this means
the vine grounds will be rid of the weeds be- —
fore the seeds ripen, and will also be clean dur-
ing the succeeding winter, to the period of the
first spring labour. This is the moment when
the vine dresser finds that he is repaid for the
labour he has bestowed, by the facility with
which the spring work is accelerated. |
The rattissoir is the best instrument by which
the weeds of the vine grounds can be eradicated,
and the operation is effected with a greater de-
gree of safety than it can be done even by the
hand. Those who are expert in the use of this
instrument, may give to the vineyard a third
labour; and this is attended with great advantage,
inasmuch as it is performed at a time usually con-
sidered hazardous to work in the vine grounds.
This is not long before the vintage, when the
weeds have, from the absence of any labour
for some considerable time, shot up, and ac-
quired a menacing attitude.
In skilful hands, with the vrattissoir, the
* The rattissoir is something like the shuffling hoe of our
gardens, about six inches in breadth —rrans.
|
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 177
vines may even now be worked, and a suitable
advantage will accrue by cutting down the weeds,
which, among other sources of mischief, afford a
harbour to the numerous insects that are collect-
ed to descend in mass on the ripening fruit, the
moment the skin of the grape becomes so tender,
as to enable them to perforate it with ease.
Without the rattissoir this work could not be
performed at this moment, as it would be dan-
gerous to attempt it by the hand alone. There
is a period at which this important labour ought
not to be attempted, as the fruit would be greatly
endangered thereby, that is, in the time which
intervenes the first labour and the tying up of
_ the branches, as at that moment the oars are long,
heavy, and generally so fragile, as to render the
use of any instrument attended with danger.
This work, therefore, should only be done im-
mediately after the tying up is finished.
ARTICLE XIV.
‘Gardening among the vines.
In the early part of my establishment, at the
outset of my career as a cultivator, my know-
ledge, as may be easily supposed, limited, I fell
into the habit of many of my neigbbours, and
introduced into my own yine ground a cultiva-
178 TREATISE ON THE
tion of grain, reaping annually from five to seven
sacks,* as well as esculent vegetables for the table.
For several years I have abandoned this ill-judged
system, which may show how strongly I am
convinced of the pernicious effects of any other
cultivation among the vines.
ARTICLE XV.
Of the planting of vines in grounds where
they have never before been.
Tue cultivator who intends to establish his
vineyard in new ground, should carefully select
his cuttings from strong, good plants, the small
white grape being the species best calculated for
such a culture.t
As the cuttings will succeed almost miracu-
lously in such grounds, giving much strong
wood, that little grape is to be preferred, be-
cause it pushes but feebly its wood, but gives a
heavy crop of fruit. |
Should your site be a prairie or plain, or grass
ground, great care must be taken to shell off
all the sod or grass from’the surface of the field.
It must on no account be turned under, as
* About two and a half bushels.—rrans. (
+ So far.as concerns the Canton de Vaud.—rTrans.
4
i
‘
P|
I
1
i
;
CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. . 179
where it is placed at the bottom of the trench,
there is a liability of the grass vegetating, and
finding its way to the surface. Moreover, there
is danger that the fruit may be injured, as it will
not ripen as early or as well, and that the quality
of the wine may be injuriously changed. In
general, where the wine is planted in a new soil,
it does not produce so early as when it occupies
the site of an old vineyard. The plant of the
new ground pushes a vigorous vegetation, strong
wood, and but littie fruit. There is, however, a
method to counteract this inconvenience. Ma-
nure in the actual state of fermentation must be
' applied. The pruning should be late in the
season, leaving one or two shoots more to each
plant, than under the ordinary system, according
to the force and vigor of the plant. By this
means, the vine will exhibit less wood and more
fruit. When under such treatment the plant be-
gins to show indications of debility, you must
prune according to the directions given under
that head. It is very much to be desired, that
all our vine dressers should cleanse their old
plants of moss. There are some skilful vignerons
of our Canton who pursue this laudable practice,
and it is but to visit the vine grounds of such, to
be convinced of the highly beneficial results of
the custom. ‘This parasitic plant attracts and
preserves a humidity greatly injurious to the pros-
perity of the vineyard, and, in many cases, causes
the death of the plant. The numerous insects
that harbour in such a convenient retreat, there
deposit the egg, and bring out the young brood,
that not only destroy the fruit, but live on the
,
‘180 TREATISE, &c. aft
vitals of the plant itself, exhaust its most pre-
cious juices, fill the bark with wounds and
crevices, which the sap discharges in ruinous —
abundance, and induce in the end a compli-
cation of diseases, which rob the vine of all its
energy, and bring on and hasten a premature
decay.
CHAPTER I.
OF
MR, REYMONDIN'S WORK |
ENTITLED
“L’ART DE VIGNERON.”’
On Pruning the vine.
Berore entering on the details of the opera-
tion, so necessary to the success of the vine cul-
tivation, I offer a few brief remarks on the utility
and advantages resulting from a judicious adminis-
tration of the vineyard, and the important influ-
ence on the results of the vintage from pruning
with skill and at the favourable seasons. First, a
primary object of this operation is, that the vine
should not push too much and too heavy wood.
‘Second, that the vineyard should not, in any one
season, be suffered to produce too great a crop of
fruit, by which in a few years the vine would be
exhausted. Third, to assist nature in ripening
the fruit, by causing the plant to produce its crop
near to the ground,* from which an additional
* Though this is good counsel to the Swiss cultivator, it
should not, I think, influence the vine dresser of Pennsylvania,
182 L’ART DE VIGNERON.
heat may be obtained. Fourth, to force the vine
to push forth new shoots, from which the heading
of the succeeding season is to be supplied, and
to preserve the plant by these means in youthful
vigor, prevent a declension of its powers, and
bring on premature old age. The necessity of
performing this work neatly and judiciously,
must be at once apparent. Let us, therefore,
consider the best manner of executing it, and
other circumstances which indicate the period
most favourable to a successful pruning.
The period generally considered as that pro-
-mising success to this operation, in our country,
is usually about the last week in February, or
early in March, varying with the state of the
season; but here let me observe, that this must
not be understood so strictly, as different posi-
tions and different vines require that the opera-
tion should be performed at different periods of
the season.
For example, where the soil of the vineyard is
close and loamy and the situation a plain, such
vines should be left to the last, and not receive
their spring pruning so early as those of a sandy
or gravelly soil.
Those vine dressers occupying the warmest
positions of the Canton, whose vines are feeble,
and where the most rigid economy is the pre-
servation of the sap, the precious source of life
to the plant,is required, should commence the
spring pruning at an earlier period if possible, so
where the temperature of summer is equal to that of Italy—
TRANS.
L’ART DE VIGNERON. 183
early as even the latter part of January. In this
case, however, great care must be taken not to
cut'the branch near the bud, because the frosts
which generally succeed at that period, will have
a tendency to injure, and destroy the embryo, or
branch entirely. Those who, from want of
knowledge, do not avail of the proper moment to
perform the work; that is, who prune early the
_ vines that, from peculiar circumstances, call for
the operation rather late in the season, commit a
great error; so also do they when the case is re-
versed. The first, particularly if the branch be
cut too near the bud, inflict an injury, because
should the pruning be succeeded by frosty wea-
ther, such buttons seldom vegetate, consequently,
there succeeds not only the loss of the fruit for
that season, but probably the branch best calcu-
lated for the fruit bearing wood of the succeed--
ing season. The latter, who prune when an
active circulation is in motion through the plant,
cause a severe hemorrhage, which is not only
ruinous to the plant, exhausting its powers and
vigor, but the flow of the sap, which for several
days trickles drop by drop from the wounded
surface, courses along the bark, and stagnates
around the base or foot of the bud, by which it
becomes enfeebled and unfit for vegetation. There
are nevertheless occasional instances, where such
‘alate pruning has been attended with beneficial ef-
fects, that is, where unfortunately, at an advanced
period of the season, when the vive has already
pushed into leaf, a severe freezing, succeeds. In
such cases the vine that has had late pruning,
is consequently backward, and of course escapes
184 L’ART DE VIGNERON.
the rigors of the unseasonable frosts. I will cite
an example in point.
A citizen of Lausanne, a cultivator of the vine
in the vicinity of that city, fearing the approach
of late frosts, experimented on his vineyards, by
leaving a small part, or corner of it, untouched
at the general pruning. He was ridiculed by ~
the vine dressers of his vicinity as a visionary, but ©
what was the result ? A severe, unexpected frost —
succeeded, during which all the vines that had re-
ceived their spring pruning, at the proper season,
lost 2x toto their crop of fruit, whilst, on the con-
trary, those which had been left, and had not
pushed into leaf, were unscathed, and produced
that year a crop as large as the aggregate pro-
duct of ten ordinary seasons. ;
Notwithstanding this, I should not advise any
vigneron to follow this example, but where cir-
cumstances admit, to prune in the manner before
recommended, and which is the general practice
of this Canton; because should he even by some
such as I have cited, and which is to be consider-
ed as an extraordinary case, gain by so doing, he
will probably lose in another year, and find, in a
series of seasons, a heavy balance against him.
Let us, therefore, consider the proper season
and method of pruning the vine. There are
among us vinedressers having the reputation of
long experience, who prune their vines almost
without slope. This is a pernicious practice, be-
cause the sap which issues from the wound, not
finding on the cut surface sufficient descent, does
_ not flow from it easily, but trickles drop by drop.
as it accumulates, causing frequently the perish- _
L’ ART DE VIGNERON. 185
ang of many of the best or cardinal buds.
Moreover, the wounded end of the branch, heals
with more difficulty than when the cut is oblique,
on the side opposite the bud, neither too near,
nor too far off, and though the latter is by no
means so prejudicial in its consequences as when
the cut is too near the button, yet it causes an
unnecessary labour to the vigneron, who will be
obliged to cut off, in the ensuing season the points
of the branch thus left too long.
When cut too near the bud, there will not re-
main of the old wood enough to nourish and
support it, and the branch from such will be
weak, and produce but little fruit. That part of
the vine below the best branches, and which, in
general, are not cut very near to the main trunk,
is called the figure, (¢azl/e) and from this, on
each of which two buttons are to be left, we have
the crop of fruit. It is important to observe a
medium in this work, that is, about two or three
inches of wood from the bud, and particularly
where the pruning is early in the season. Asto
the number of branches as well as their several
lengths, we must be governed by the particular
species of the vine, as well as the strength of
each plant. The vines of great strength having
several horns, may be safely trusted with the
support of four or five buttons, _ particularly
should the vine be of that species called the
Grosse Rougeasse, and growing a fertile soil.
This vine is a plant producing strong, vigorous
branches, with heavy wood, of a colour deeply
tinged with red, and the buds at considerable
distance from each other, producing but little fruit
Q 2
186 L’ART DE VIGNERON.
and in which a reliance may be had that it
will attain a fair maturity, unless destroyed by
violent heat, or some such unforeseen calamity,
from which it not unfrequently perishes, and
which unfortunately in this country (Switzer-
land) is doomed to experience.
_ In pruning this vine, I have tried the experi-
ment of leaving two or three buds, more than
the number prescribed by the usual rules of vine
dressing. » The consequence was, that I had that
season more bunches of grapes, but they were
smaller, and of course less liable to wilt or
perish.
The petite rougeasse produces more fruit than
the other. It is of the two that which is more
sure, and lovesa warm exposure. When the vine
pushes strong and heavy wood, and produces
little fruit, two or three additional branches to
each trunk should be left in the pruning, accord-
ing to the strength of the plant. But in this
ease such branches must in no wise be allowed
more than one button, and the “ borgue.”* It
should be here remarked, that where the vines are.
pruned too high, the quality of the wines is in-
ferior ; as, for example, it is the intention of a pro-
prietor to eradicate a vine plantation, it is the
usual practice to prune the preceding season
with that view, leaving the branches long, in or-
der to obtain a heavy crop of fruit.* But what is
* The bourge is the button the first of the new branch,
nearest the old wood, and which does not produce fruit in the
same quantity, nor of the like quality as the other buds.—
TRANSLATOR.
\
L? ART DE VIGNERON. 187
_ thus gained in the quantity is lost in the quality of
the vintage, as the vines of such a pruning are al-
ways inferior. But to return to the subject of ex-
trapruning. If,at theexpiration of a few years, the
vigneron perceives that his plants exhibit symp-
toms of deterioration, the system must be discon-
tinued, and he should return to the ordinary plan
of pruning. I have, in my own vineyard, proved
the utility of the counsel here given. In one cor-
_ ner ofa small plantation, I had some time ago es-
tablished a small vinery of the gvosse rougeasse,
and having remarked that these vines pushed much
wood, and produced but little fruit, I directed
my vigneron to leave on these plants, at the
spring pruning, two or three buds on each branch
more than usual. My directions, however, were
forgotten, and the vines pruned in the ordinary
manner. I took the work myself this year, and
pruned as I had directed, leaving instead of the .
usual number, five, six, and sometimes seven
buttons on each branch, according to the vigor of
the offset.
My theory was justified by the result. The
crop of fruit was abundant, and of good quality,
and no part of my vineyard exhibited a more
satisfactory appearance. I have consulted the
most skilful cultivators of our Canton, and find
* We must not be misled by this remark. The object of
Swiss cultivation is, by ripening the fruit within three feet of
the ground, to obtain an elevation of temperature from the re-
flected heat.
I am firmly of opinion, that in our climate such a reflection
may be unnecessary, if not disadvantageous.—TRANSLATOR.
188 L’ ART DE VIGNERON.
branches of the gross rougeasse, with the sup-
port of such an extra vegetation. I have seen
also in different parts of the country, such vines —
planted against a trellise frame, in order to form
an arch in the garden walks which have produc-
‘ed annually their heavy crops of fruit. I should
not recommend the same mode of pruning
known among us, as the petzte blanchette, and
the petite rougeasse, as both these vines produce
in general a plentiful crop.
The petite blanchette produces most, when at
the period at which the fruit sets, or forms im-
mediately on the falling of the blossom, the wea-
ther is clear and warm; and it is better adapted
to rich, close soils, than most of the other spe-
cies of the vine, because in these soils this grape
does not suffer in the same degree from the hu-
midity incident to such positions, and from which
the other vines will generally be in danger of
great suffering, or perhaps of being cut off and
entirely destroyed. In the pruning of these lat-
ter vines, I should recommend, that to the stron
branches, four buttons should be left; to those of
a less vigorous appearance, but three; but above
all, attention must be given that the vigneron
prune these vines low, observing carefully the
rules heretofore prescribed, that is, to leave but.
one button and the dorgue, or dead eye to each
branch.
Another inconvenience attendant on long pru-
ning is, that the figure (¢az//e) soon becomes too
high, and that such branches do notin general at-
tain the same strength, nor produce so abundant-
ly, as the branch near the ground, especially
L’ART DE VIGNERON. 189
where the succeeding winter prove rigorous, and
the freezing severe. It frequently happens dur- ©
ing the hard frosts of such a season, that both
branches and stock of the plant perish entirely.
Where unfortunately such is the case, I strongly
recommend that the plant should not in the
spring succeeding be eradicated, as is often in-
judiciously done among us. Where such perish-
ing occurs, the root is generally unhurt, and will
push new branches the following summer, though
such will that season produce no fruit. It hap-
pens also sometimes, that the freezing is so
severe, and the injury to the stock so vital, that
vegetation above ground is hopeless. Still the
root may beunscathed. In this case a vacancy or
_hollow should be made around the foot of the
plant, from the roots of which a new vegetation
will spring. The following year, such branches
' should be pruned, as those of the plants or cut-
ting of one years growth, leaving two or three
such branches, from which the year following,
the branches will be fully established. In case
it be found that on arriving at proper maturity,
the branches be more than are required for a full
heading of the new plant, the extra shoots may ~
be laid to supply a vacancy, should any such
exist, or where not required for that purpose, the
strongest should be left, and the others detached,
in the season of pruning the superflux vegetation
of the vineyard. When I advise that the lower
branch should be raised and carefully pruned, it
must, however, be understood, that such branch
should not be too near the ground, because where
such is the case, inconveniences ensue, which
190 L’ART DE VIGNERON.
should be equally avoided, and as studiously
guarded against, as those which arise from leav-
ing the branch too high, and at an unfavourable
distance from the ground.
The rule to be observed in this case, where
circumstances admit, is to leavea distance of five
or six inches of trunk between the surface of the
ground, and the horns, or branches of the new
heading. This applies to the blanchette, and
petile rougeasse. |
In the case of the grosse rougeasse, the bran-
ches should be trailed a little higher, because in
the plant, the fruit ripening as near the ground
as that of the other two, is more subject to blight
and mildew, and perishes easily from such causes.
It may not be amiss to add a few observations
here, on the manner of pruning the provins, or
laid branches of one year, the plants of the
branch thus laid, taking the second year, among
vignerons, the name of the padres, or rooted
vines. /
The provins of the first year should not be
pruned too long, the strength of the bud at the
upper extremity of such long branch, being found
insufficient to form a good growth or heading,
the following year. Such provins should not be
allowed more than three buds above the ground;
that is, calculating the distance from the level of
the soil, where the vineyard is on a plain, be-
cause, more than this will cause an extravagant
waste of the powers of the plant. From this
general rule, however, may be excepted such
branches as have their buds close to each other.
In such case, it may be better to leave all the
L’ART DE VIGNERON. 191
buds within the length of twelve inches of the
branch, but where this occurs, the vigneron
should carefully rub off all the other eyes below
such as are within that length, exceeding three
in number, which three will, of course, in the
selection, be those having a round, full appear-
ance, indicating that they are the strong vegeta-
tion of the plant. This precaution is the more
necessary, as without it a risk will be incurred
of exhausting the vine at léast for the two or
three succeeding years.
Where the provins of the two years shall be
found to possess sufficient strength, they should
now be pruned, as to form the heading of the
future plant. With this view, the vigneron
should leave two branches, that at the foot of the
plant nearest the surface of the ground being the
longest, particularly where the plant is vigorous
and stout. It is contended by some of the cul-
_ tivators of our Canton, that such lower branch is
exposed to many sources of injury. Before we
proceed farther, let us add an observation on the
nature of the inconveniences to which it is said
such branch is incident. First, that it is con-
stantly exposed to mechanical injury from care-
lessness and inattention in working among the
vines. Secondly, whenever a late frost occurs
in the spring, it is exposed to a greater injury
than the upper branch, in consequence of its
proximity to the ground, and an increased humi-
dity from that cause. Third, a greater mischief
is inflicted on it by hail. Fourth, that the fruit
is subject to disease, and easily perishes.
All these objections should be taken ina quali-
192 L’ART DE VIGNERON.
fied sense, and a medium observed in the’ ‘man-
agement of such young plants.
A moment’s further consideration of the sub-
ject. Whenever it shall occur that the plants of
two years be found without the.usual foree of
that age, they should be pruned exactly like the
plant “of a single year’s growth, and but one
branch left to the vine. But should the vigne-
ron determine on leaving two branches, he must,
in the indulgence of such wayward fancy, prune
extremely short, because in thus pruning, the
vine pushes additional roots, -and is thereby
enabled to support the additional vegetation of
the extra branch. The vine, moreover, is inyvi- _
gorated and strengthened, and_ will acquire a
deeper establishment in the soil, and be better
qualified for an active and beneficial vegetation
the succeeding season. To the young provins
of three years, it is usual to leave three shoots in
the pruning, but where such plant be at all feeble,
it is judicious to allow but two, and in some
cases but one; and in all such instances the prun-
ing should be short, as in the provins of one
year it may not be amiss to mention here the
experience of some of our skilful vine dressers on
the spring pruning. In the performance of this
work, it is frequently found, that between two
old branches, (by which it is to be understood
those of the year immediately preceding the
growth of the last season) a fine young braneh is
found. This occurs generally in the young vine
of three or four years growth. Such branch’
pospessea/s fine vigorous appearance, and to an
L’ ART DE VIGNERON. 193
unpractised eye might appear the best shoot of
the stock. a
It is not, however, the case, as it possesses
generally but little flower, vegetates sluggishly,
and should by all means be detached, and not
allowed to remain.
Whenever, in passing through his ground, the
vigneron perceives on his plants the accumula-
tion of moss, it should be immediately removed,
where the situation of the vines be such as to jus-
tify the mark, without manifest injury to the
fruit or young branches. é.
Remarks by the Translator.
In concluding the subject of vine dressing, as
applicable to the cultivation of Pennsylvania, I
shall briefly observe, that as the culture is new
among us, that part of the counsel of the Swiss
writers particularly claiming our attention, ap-
pears to be a preparation of the soil by previous
judicious tillage for the reception of the cuttings.
This is of primary importance, as otherwise it
would be vain to hope a favourable issue to the
experiment. Where the soil of the intended
vineyard has been in grass, it is the practice in
Switzerland to break up the sod in autumn, and
expose the upturned furrow to the action of the
frost during winter, by which the roots and sod
will perish and be a, Early in the
194 REMARKS
ensuing spring a crop of potatoes is planted,
the digging and working of which during sum-
mer, again promote the object of preparation.
After the crop has been gathered, it is the prac-
tice of some of the best cultivators to sow a crop
of esparcette, (a grass much cultivated in the
Canton de Vaud) or clover, which is turned
under when in blossom, by deep ploughing, and
suffered to decompose; a practice, which probably
may not be required in Pennsylvania, is when
the clover has decomposed, and become incorpo-
rated with the soil, to mine the grounds of the in-
tended vineyard; and the small loose stones,
with which the earth is there filled, are collected
and put aside till the moment of preparing the
soil for the reception of the cuttings, at which
time the small stones are left at the bottom of
the trench, and serve as a drain to carry off the
moisture of the ground, and thereby ensure a pro-
per dryness, so favourable to the roots of the
young plant.
The agriculturalist will at once perceive the
object sought by this process, and realize the
indispensable necessity of a careful preparation
of the soil for the reception of the cuttings, by
a complete and entire decomposition of the sod
by which the site of the intended vineyard has
been occupied.
So important is it considered by the Swiss
vine dresser, to get rid of all humidity in his
grounds, that it is not uncommon to see the vine-
yard, which from springs or local causes, is at
all exposed to such a disadvantage, covered with
rubbish from the demolition of old buildings, and
BY THE TRANSLATOR. 195
which I could never learn possessed any quality
but that of keeping the vineyard dry, by an ab-
sorption of the water. The preparation of the
soil, however, is the business of the practical
farmer, who is able to decide whether any mode
more favourable to the attainment of the object
is within the scope of our agriculture. It must,
however, at all rates be accomplished as the sane
gua non of the cultivation; and the vigneron
who neglects this precaution, is afloat without
chart or compass, with but little hope of remu-
neration for incessant toil.
The labour of the vineyard thus administered
will be threefold, and the expense increased in a
like proportion.
Discouragement is the necessary consequence ;
and a cultivation which, if judiciously directed,
might fill our garners with plenty, is regarded as
without the range of our capabilities, and aban-
doned in disgust.
A result like this, however, cannot be antici-
pated ; it would be inconsistent with our national
character; and it only requires that the agricultural
community of our country should realize the
benefits at their command, to grace the rites of
Pomona with the ruddy treasures of autumn ;
and see in the press of every barn yard a
modern temple to the presiding deity of the
vintage.
FABRICATION OF WINES,,
AND THE
MANAGEMENT OF THE MUST.
Remarks by the Translator.
Ir, during the years of experiment in which
he has been engaged, the cultivator has discover-
ed that a skilful and judicious administration of
the vineyard requires a patient and untiring de-
votion to the object he has accomplished, he has
now to experience that the work is but partially —
performed; that new duties call into exercise his
best moral and physical efforts, and that an atten-
tion unremitting and minute, an intelligence
skilful and profound, are the important prerequi-
sites to assure a successful and profitable result,
and secure the anticipated harvest, for which
years of toil and patience have been unsparingly
given. Let us suppose, however, that the dif-
ferent members of the vineyard, faithful to «the
important trusts confided in them, have perform~
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 197
ed their respective duties; and that the business
of the cultivation is fairly accomplished, that
«‘ Paul hath planted, and Appollos watered,’ and
a beneficient providence smiled on the work,
and ‘‘ crowned the year with his goodness,’”’? by
spreading before the cultivator in rich exube-
rance, the purple treasures of the vintage.
‘The profession of the vintner and vigneron
are distinct and separate, and have as little con-
nexion with each other, as the farmer who crops
the golden fleece, and the artist who prepares it
for the wants of the consumer. But it is pro-
bable, that with us the case will be otherwise,
and the vine dresser who shall bring his cultiva-
tion to a successful issue, will have accomplished
but half his work, and be called, in completing
it, to study the efficient process of the manufac-
ture and conservation of his wines. .
Governments, in the old world, have made
this branch of wine making the subject ef legis-
lative enactment. Princes have extended over
it the shield of an especial protection. Phileso-
phy regards it as an abstruse and important
_ question, and the arcana of chemical science are
enlisted in the service of the successful vintage.:
I have passed three different seasons at the
wine press in France, Italy, and Switzerland,
and in all have been deeply impressed with the
indispensable importance of a skilful and atten-
tive wine making.
The fermentation alone, if properly directed,
is in itself no holiday amusement. The different
varieties of the grape will demand, in our various
climates, an attentive observation on the force
R 2
i
198 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
and duration of the movement and action during
this important process. For this reason it will
be injudicious to mix in the mashing tub the
different kinds of fruit, a practice not uncommon
among slovenly and careless vintners even in
France, though loudly condemned by the intel-
ligent wine makers of that country, as destruc-
tive of the best results of the vintage.
It will require but little experience in this
important feature of wine making, to arrive at
the fact, that the fermentation of one kind of
fruit may be in active operation,. whilst that of
another shall have completely finished, and the
movement subsided, to a superficial observation;
it will therefore be apparent that the wines of a
mixed pressing will be harsh and sour, and diffi-
cult of long conservation. An admixture of dif-
ferent wines is common in France, and may be
done to accomplish a special purpose, but never
till fermentation has effected its work com-
pletely, whereas any mixture of the fruit at press-
ing is pertinacrously avoided by the skilful
vintner.
So extremely careful, at La Vaux, is the Swiss
cultivator, that by unanimous accord, they avoid
a cultivation of different grapes in the same
neighbourhood, and they are equally careful not
to use the same mashing tub, or even the same |
press for different varieties of the grape. It is
contended there, that the must is so sensitive
that the delicacy and flavour of the wines are
seriously affected, where the fermentation is con-
ducted in tubs recently saturated from the mash
of a different fruit.
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 199
'
An injurious practice prevails among some of
the careless vintners of the Canton, of keeping
their winter vegetables in the wine vault. Noth-
ing can be more injudicious than such ill placed
prudence; as of all the extraneous causes affect-
ing the flavour and purity of wines, nothing,
perhaps, exercises on them a more unfavour-
able influence than the proximity of vegetable
exhalation. It is recommended also to place
the wine vault entirely out of the influence of
the dairy. Cheese making, in particular, is
unfavourable to wines. “The neighbourhood of |
the barn yard is avoided; in fine whatever has a
tendency to animal or vegetable exhalation, af-
fects by its odour the purity of the wine making,
and is considered in the Cantons as a prolific
source of mischief to the staple of the country.
In considering, therefore, the mystery of the |
wine making as equally important with the
skill of the cultivation, it will not, I presume, be
clothing the subject with a consequence beyond
its merits; and I proceed, therefore, with the
translation of Mr. Bulos, which is annexed, and ©
which is entitled,
THE
ART OF WINE MAKING,
BY MONSIEUR BULOS.
THE precise moment advantageous to this im-
portant feature of the system of wine’ making,
varies according to the object it is proposed to
accomplish. In most northern countries, where
the temperature but rarely allows the grape to
attain a perfect maturity, the vigneron is eom-
pelled to gather his fruit in an immature state.
Notwithstanding the unripe condition in which
the grape at such a moment is found, the gather-
ing becomes indispensable, as the rains incident
to the advancing seasons, the humidity of the
atmosphere, the cold nights of autumn, with the
probable danger of early frosts, seriously injure,
and sometimes expose to entire destruction, the
whole crop of the vineyard.
In southern countries, where the climate is in
general more favourable to a cultivation of the
vine, the vintage is hastened or retarded, accord-
ing to the quality which the cultivator pro-
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 201
poses to impart to his wines. In the estimation
of some of our proprietors, the merit of this
quality consists in the delicacy of the flavour,
whichis inconsistent with a perfect maturity of the
fruit, whilst among others the desideratum is,
to give the wine an alcoholic spirit and delicate
flavour, which require a full development of the
saccharine principle. It is with this view, that
in Spain they allow the grapes to dry on the
vine before gathering them; that in Rivesaltes
and the isles of Candia, and Cyprus, they are
suffered to dry.
.The Vin ad’ Arbois, and those of Chateau de
Chalvos, are not gathered till the month of De-
ecember. The Vin de Paille of Tourraine, is
from the grape gathered during the dry time,
and under the burning rays of the mid-day sun.
The fruit is then spread over frames of narrow
lattice work, in such a manner that the bunches
are never in contact, and thus exposed to the
rays of the scorching sun. At sunset the grapes
which have become decayed, are carefully de-
tached, after which they are placed in a dry
apartment during night. On the succeeding
day they are exposed in like manner to the ac-
tion of the sun.
When by such exposure they become com-
pletely wilted, they are thrown into the press,
and the wine extracted, and placed in the proper
vessels for fermentation.
In southern countries, the general period of the |
vintage is when the grape has attained a full ma-
turity. When the fruit has arrived at this state,
it presents the following indications. The stem
202 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
of the bunch shows a russet brown, the bunch
hangs and does not maintain an upright position,
as when immature. The grape is soft and trans-
parent; the skin loose and thin. The bunches
of grapes are easily detached; flavour sweet and
viscous. The seed firm, brown, but not gluti-
nous. When such are the indications, the fruit
is in the proper state for gathering, but care must
be taken that the work is judiciously executed,
and under a combination, if possible, of advan-
tageous circumstances. It must by no means
be indiscriminately performed, or without a
due regard to the following attendant circum-
stances.
The vigneron should select a dry day for the
work, and by all means retard the gathering
until the sun shall have dissipated the mist, inei-
dent to the mornings of our autumnal season, and
completely dried the fruit of the dews of the
nightfall. The atmosphere should also be warm
and dry. The workmen to whom this business
is confided, should be directed by an overseer,
intelligent, firm, and rather severe in exactin
of the labourer an honest fulfilment of duty,
to require that the stems should be cut short,
and to put on one side the branches which
are ripest and soundest, and detach from them
such grapes as have begun to decay, or are much
dried. | |
The former cannot fail to impart to the wine
a disagreeable flavour, and the latter are seriously
injurious to the operations of the must. Great
care will be necessary that the labourers be not
allowed to eat in the vineyard, as a serious in-
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 203
'
jury to the fermentation would arise, from the
admixture of any foreign ingredients, such as
crusts of bread, cheese parings, or other extra-
neous matter in the mashing tub.
In detaching the bunches from the vine, they
Should be carefully cut with the instrument,
ealled the vintage scissors, and not pulled or
forcibly dragged from the stock, as such negli-
gence has a tendency to bruise the fruit, the
skin of which when broken affords an outlet
through which a valuable portion of the saccha-
rine fluid is lost. For this reason, the gatherers
should carefully place the fruit in the baskets in
such a manner as to avoid all bruising or mash-
ing. All such bruising should be carefully
guarded against till the proper period arrive for
the performance of the operation, which is the
moment the fruit is thrown into the mashing
tub. In some wine countries, it is the practice
to perform the business of the vintage at several
different pressings, with intervals between each
operation. The gatherings, consequently, are
of that part of the fruit, which, on attentive ob-
servation, are found to exhibit the indications
of a perfect maturity. The bunches of such are
uniform, the fruit transparent, the seeds black,
or dark coloured, and the stem beginning to
dry. The wine produced from the pressing of
fruit, thus judiciously selected, is finer and more
delicate than under the ordinary process. In
many countries, where an extreme abundance of
the vintage does not allow an attention so minute,
it is the practice to cut and press altogether the
fruit of the season, without assorting or separat-
ing it.
204 THE ART OF WINE MAKING. ~—
Of the Crushing, or operation of the Mashing
Tub.
Tue fruit of the vine contains within itself
all the elements and principles of fermentation—
but these, isolated as they are in the single grape,
require to be brought in contact to the object of '
a mutual decomposition, and the conversion of
the natural juices, which are soft and saccharine,
into a liquor, vinous and spirituous. The crushing
accomplishes this object. It breaks up the same
cellular cavities in which the leaven lies dormant,
and which contain the saccharine principle.
They are thus mixed and associated together,
agitating each other in active movement, and giv-
ing birth to the various phenomena, which to-
gether constitute the process of fermentation.
But is it, or is it not, judicious to detach the grapes
from the stems ?
This question, once so warmly contested by
cultivators, has ceased longer to agitate the agri-
cultural community. It is not a this day the
subject of theory or speculation. It is now per-
fectly understood, that the stem of the grape con-
tains neither the aroma, nor the saccharine sub-—
stance, and imparts to the wine neither body nor
flavour. But the acidifying principle it contains,
relieves the flatness and insipidity which charac-
terize the vines of northern countries, where the
vintage is frequently accomplished during a cold _
and humid season. In the districts, for example,
of Orleans, they have been compelled to aban-
don the system of detaching, as it has there been
/
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 205
found, that under~such course the wine has
become too rich, and more. difficult of con-
servation. It has, moreover, been observed,
that where the must has not received this pre-
parative process, the fermentation is more active
and regular. The stem may be regarded there-
fore as an useful auxiliary in the fermentation,
~ particularly when there may be reason appre-
z -hended that the decomposition will be rapid and
“ incomplete, promoting the fermentation, and
giving a duration to the wine which otherwise |
it would not possess, but imparting at the same
time a harshness which injuriously affects :the
character of the vintage. ‘The practice is adopt-
ed by some and condemned by others. What-
» ever method shall be pursued by the vintner, it
is imperative that the fruit be completely and
_ effectually crushed in the mashing tub, without
» which the fermentation will be partial and sluggish
in its operation. The duration of this important
process will be injuriously prolonged, and the
wines affected unfayourably.. The necessity of
a skilful fermentation is; vunversally admitted, but
the opinions vary among vintners as to the Ost single —
judicious mode of conducting it. sol Er Champaign Simi, i
the fruit is thrown into a case or box, of the di- A
mensions of four feet square, which is open at
the top, and in which the grapes are thrown as
they are brought from the vineyard, This case
has at the four sides longitudinal interstices, be-
tween each board or stave. These openings are
of such width as to allow the liquor freely to pass
off, as it is forced by the pressure of the screw, 4
but yet sufficiently close to retain the mash
7
ig
206 THE ART OF WINE MAKING. ~ -
within. The expressed juice, passed into the
platform on which the tub is placed, and flows
by the various channels of the platform into
the tub placed below for its reception. Into
the mashing box a workman, shod with heavy
wooden shoes, enters, and treads down the grapes
in such a manner as to prepare them for press-
ing. *
The saccharine fluid passes off through the in-.
terstices, and when the, crushed fruit forms a
mass in the cage, a door at the side is opened, —
and the remainder is broken up and pushed into
the tub, among the expressed juice, or retained
in the cage according as the vintner intends that
the fermentation of the must shall be conducted,
with or without the residuum being mixed
with it. The same process is continued from
time to time, till the necessary tub is completely
filled. ;
This method is pernicious, and destructive of
the best results of the.vintage. It prolongs in-
juriously the operation, and itis. greatly prefe-_
rable to collect the materials for an entire pres-
sing, and perform the) crushing at one and the
» ef sametime. The fermentation will, consequently,
o
By wail ‘
be simultaneous and uniform.
It is also advantageous to submit the fruit to
an uniform and equal pressing, as it is evident,
that where the vessel contains a portion of the
grapes but partially broken up, and unequally
* This uncleanly practice has long since been abandoned in
Switzerland. ‘The mash is broken up there, with heavy wooden
hand spikes.—rrans,
¥ "
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 207
pressed, or where to fill the subsiding space, it
becomes necessary to make successive additions ©
of the must, the decomposition will be partial,
and necessarily incomplete. Supposing, for
example, the whole mass thus enclosed, and sub-
jected to the different crushings as each is thrown
in the tub, to require eight days to accomplish
the various phenomena of the fermentation
through which it must pass, is it not apparent,
that in some, such as the last thrown in, the
term will be shortened, and the work of such be
incomplete, when the operation of the first will
have been completely finished. The result of
such mismanagement will be a wine predisposed
to acidity, a wine, the fermentation of which has
been partial and incomplete ; and again, a third -
ingredient, yet retaining the form and character
of must.
Such an unskilful admixture will infallibly
produce a wine of greatly inferior quality, and
susceptible of change from the slightest transient
causes. Pa
Of the Fermentation.
Tue receiving tub which is judiciously placed,
and under circumstances favourable to the object,
exhibits symptoms of improvement almost as
soon as it becomes filled. But these phenome-
na are affected by various causes, which hasten,
208 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
retard, or modify the action of the fermenta-
tion. 7
isy'f
The temperature—the action of the air—the
proportion of the different principles of varying
in different fruit, and under different circumstan-
ces, even of the same grapes, which enter so es-
sentially into the character of the must, exercise
an important influence on the operations of the
wine press, and give a result favourable or
otherwise to the character of the vintage.
The temperature comprised between the
twelfth and fifteenth degree of centigrade,* is.
that most favourable to the spirituous fermenta-
tion. Below this temperature it lags heavily,
and languishes in its action and movement. It
becomes too rapid and tumultuary if above it.
A singular fact has been remarked, which
proves how important it is that the air should be
warmed and dried by the rays of the sun before
the gathering of the grapes, that the fermen-
tation is always sluggish and difficult when the
day is cold or the atmosphere damp, at the im-
portant moment of the vintage. |
It has been observed in Champaigne, that when
the grapes have been gathered in the morning, the
fermentation is inert and more unfavourable than
that of the same fruit gathered after mid-day, when
the atmosphere has been warmed by the rays of
the sun. In different experiments of Chaptal,
this result is confirmed, and proves that where
the must is too cold, and shrinks below the
degree of temperature necessary to assist the
-* From 52 to 57 degrees of Fahrenheit.
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 209
process of decomposition, it is difficult to remedy
_ the evil, and obtain a full and complete decom-
position by artificial means.
When from necessity, in a northern climate,
the gathering is effected during the cold and
damp weather, it will be advantageous to dispose
and arrange the grapes in a dry loft, or other
convenient situation, exposed to the temperature
of from 12 to 15 degrees centigrade, (52° to 57°
Fahrenheit) and on no ‘account commence the
crushing till the fruit shall have attained that
heat. Where, from circumstances, this cannot be
accomplished, the remedy is to throw aside the
mashing tub after the grapes have been completely
crushed, and a sufficient portion of warm must,
to communicate to the whole mass the required
temperature. .Where again this be impractica-
ble, recourse is had to a cylinder of a peculiar
form, used in such a contingency in Burgundy,
to produce this result. Although the air does
not produce on the fermentation an effect so im-
mediate and direct, it is nevertheless. equally
necessary to the result, and exercises an impor-
tant, though perhaps less sensible influence on
the whole operation. ‘The must confined in a
close vessel is transformed to a wine, possessing
generally a generous character, and more agree-
able flayour than that obtained by the ordinary
course of fermentation. The carbonic acid de-
veloped makes a strenuous and constant effort to
escape; but the vessel, hermetically sealed, al-
lowing no outlet by which the gas can pass off,
it ranges actively through jthe whole mass, agi-
tating it with violence, and breaking up the par-
$2
210 ‘THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
ticles which have been but partially crushed, or,
where meeting a resistance too powerful to be
overcome, it exercises on the surface of the liquid
an expansive energy, arresting every species of
decomposition. To guard, therefore, against an
incomplete fermentation, as well as the danger-
ous explosions incident to such neglect, it be-
comes absolutely imperative to facilitate the dis-
engagement and escape of the gas, and expose
the whole mass.to a free communication with the
atmosphere.
It must not, however, be concealed that this
necessity has its accompanying cost, as the elas-
_ tic fluid which is thus continually, thrown off by
the action of fermentation, impoverishes the
mass, and despoils the wine of no inconsiderable
portion of those principles which determine the
character of the vintage, and constitute its aleoho-
lic foree and agreeable flavour. |
It has been a deep study among intelligent
members of the profession, to devise some efhi-
cient means to neutralize this evil, and lessen the
waste, which for a long time was considered as
a contingency inseparable from the system of fer-
mentation. - i
The senator Dandolo advises the use of a
movable covering, which he devised for that
purpose, and which is a canvass awning suspend-
ed over the opening of the vessel by a cord fixed
to the centre. The application of this above the.
vessel contributes to preserve an equable tem-
perature through the mash, and checks ina de~ ~
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. Shae -
gree, the acidity of the bonnet* (chapeau), and
render the evaporation almost null. By means
of this apparatus, the odour which is usually so
strong in the wine house, containing. a number of
bottles in a state of fermentation, is sometimes
scarcely perceptible. The gas thrown off de-
posits on the lower surface of the awning the
fragrant principle with which it is surcharged,
escaping at the sides, completely deprived of all
the aromatic essence which it contained. The
must is composed of the different principles of |
sugar, tartar, leaven, and water, which together
constitute the formation of the mass, and on
which the action is mutual, and less or more
energetic or durable, according as the proportion
of either may predominate. It is the first which
alone contains the principle of fermentation, and
to the changes effected through the agency’ of it,
it is mainly to be ascribed the production of al.
cohol. We should not, however, confound this
principle with that of the sweetness, which is the
characteristic of most of the fruits of our coun-
try; though both affect the palate in a similar
manner, they are far from being of the same na-
ture, but decompose when brought. in contact, |
without a production of the alcohol, which is pe-
culiar to the fruit of the vine. “When the sugar
is present in excess, the wine to which the fer-
mentation gives birth, is sweet and cloying. On’
the contrary, it is sharp and acid, where the sac-
_ * This is the technical term to denote the scum, or thick
coating by which the mash is covered, during the fermenta-
_ tion.—rTrRans.
212 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
charine principle predominates; because, as soon
as the substance opposing it is overcome, it ex-
ercises an active influence on the other elements
of the must. It is easy, however, in this case
to correct the unfavourable effects of such a com-
position. In the first, it will be sufficient to add
to the must a small portion of leaven, to facili-
tate a conversion of the sugar into alcohol, and
obtain a spirituous wine of good body. In the
second case, the addition of brown sugar, or puri-
fied honey, in a judicious quantity, or, where
such may not be at command, other similar in-
gredient may be substituted.. These will coun-
teract the effects of leaven, and contribute to a
development of the latent alcohol. |
It is by this means that a generous wine is
obtained, of a sweetness rather cloying, which
is sometimes the object of the vintner, from im-
‘mature grapes of a cold northern climate.
Where the season has proved rainy or humid,
or where the vines occupy a low or loamy soil,
the must contains, in general, a superabundance
of water. Where the aqueous proportion pre-.
dominates, the fermentation is sluggish and in-
complete.
The wine is feeble, thin, and dilated, (dedayé).
and the excess of leaven, which always charac-
terizes the wines of a rainy season.
There are various methods adopted to coun-
teract these injurious effects, all having for their
object to weaken or neutralize the aqueous com-
ponent of the mass. By some vintners it is re-
duced by evaporation. Others absorb it by the
4
means of plaister. But the better mode is, to
%
ty
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 213
follow nature in her operations, and supply the
imperfection of her work in her own way,
and correct the mal-composition of the must, by
adding such a proportion of sugar as would
have been developed if the season had proved
favourable. |
Chaptal defines this portion to be from fifteen
to twenty pounds of brown sugar or molasses to
the hogshead of wine. ‘This addition possesses
the double advantage of rendering the wine more
spirituous, and neutralizes the acidity to which,
under such circumstances, there is a constant
tendency. Where the temperature has been
uniform and cheering, and of sufficient elevation
for a propitious vegetation, allowing the fruit to
arrive at complete and perfect maturity, the
leaven will not be found to present in a fair pro-
portion, and sufficient to convert into alcohol,
the whole saccharine substance. It becomes,
therefore, necessary to add to the fermenting
a mass portion of leaven, and a small addition of
tartar. These ingredients, according to the ex-
periments of the chemist, of whom I shall speak
hereafter, contribute to render complete a de-
composition of the sugar.
When these different obstacles of composition
and temperature cease to oppose the action of
fermentation, the mash commences to boil, and
the work of purification is in action. The li-
- quors are agitated and heated; the stems, seeds,
_ skin and pulp, float alternately through the mass,
and uniting at length through the surface, are
finally deposited in tranquillity on each other,
‘forming a dense, deep covering, familiar among
214 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
the profession, as the “bonnet of the vintage,”
disengaging during the action, in great abundance,
the carbonic acid. The temperature is raised,
and the sweet flavour dissipated. The liquor
becomes gradually more vinous, assuming a
deeper colour and transparency, as the particles
on suspension are precipitated, and take their ul-
timate position as lees, at the bottom of the ves-
sel. The boiling, which so agitated the mass,
becomes gradually tranquil, assuming its former
volume, the operation is accomplished.
Let us in a few words define the circumstances
by which this is effected. They are condensed
within four simple causes, to wit: The production
of the heat; The disengaging of the carbonic acid
gas; The fermentation of alcohol; and The pro-
per colouring of the liquid mass.
The production of Heat.
Tue action of fermentation constantly disen-
gages the latent heat, and causes a great eleva-
tion of temperature; but there are some cases in
which there is not an equilibrium through the
whole mass. The centre of the mash, on plung-
ing deep your thermometer, will often be found
much heated, whilst the sides and surface remain
cold. It will there become indispensable that
the evil should be rectified, and the operation of
the various phenomena be rendered equal, in
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 215
order to a proper admixture of the different prin-
ciples_in suspension, until an uniform heat be
established. A practice in Champaigne is, to
suspend by an elastic shaft, or by a simple beam,
balanced over the fermenting vessel, a long pole,
or sapling, terminated by a block of two feet
_ square. This is plunged successively, and at in-
tervals, into the vessel which contains the mass,
causing an agitation through the whole by such
movement, till the object be now accomplished.
Some vintners prefer their workmen to enter
the tub, shod with wooden shoes, to break up
the mash by actively moving among it, and thus
promoting the fermentation, by disengaging the
gas, which cannot escape from the confinement
in which it is thus suspended. Dom Gentil,
quoted by Mr. Chaptal, has made on this sub-
ject several interesting experiments; and his
theory is, that that the method here prescribed
has a tendency to render the fermentation more
prompt, imparting to the wine a delicate flavour,
a deeper hue, and a generous character, which
otherwise it would not attain. On the contrary,
it is contended by Mr. Dandolo, that the repeti-
tion of the crushing is injurious. From a series
of facts elicited by careful experiment, he is con-
vinced that an unfavourable influence is exercised
on the results of the wine making, by replunging
into the centre of the mash the various articles
accumulated on the surface, which have under-
gone an entire change, by the action to, which
they have been submitted, and that the bonnet
thus again submerged, composed as it is of
various articles, possesses new principles, which,
216 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
though highly fitted for the important duty of
covering the liquid, and protecting it in a state
of comparative rest from the action of the air,
imparts to the wine a disagreeable flavour, and
sometimes an unfavourable odour. It appears to
me on due consideration of the systems of these
two masters, that where the fermenting house is
kept, during the action, at the proper tempera-—
ture, this operation is superfluous. The different
particles composing the mass will be sufficiently,
heated to induce the mutual action necessary to
an effective decomposition of the several sub-
stances forming the vinous principle, and that
the object sought will be attained without this
troublesome process. A
We proceed, therefore, to the consideration of
the second cause named.
1)
Carbonic Acid.
THis gas, disengaged in great abundance dur-
ing the action of fermentation, deserves» an es-
pecial consideration, not only on account of the
great portion of alcohol, of which it despoils
the liquor in the decomposition. of the sugar,
but because of the dangerous consequences to the
life even of those who imprudently inhale it.
The first of these objections may be diminished
by means of planks and coverings, by which
the mashing tub must be closed, and by a use of —
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 217
the canvass awning, before cited, of Mr. Dandoio.
The deleterious effects of the latter may be easily
neutralized, by placing lime water in different
quarters, or by scattering the lime itself, which
should be pulverized, through the vault or
chamber, in which the mash is transformed to
the vinous liquor. It is, moreover, easy to
determine where the ‘danger exists from the im-
pregnated atmosphere of the fermenting house,
by taking always on entering it a lighted candle.
So long as the flame is clear and free, no unfa-
vourable consequence may be apprehended; but
the moment it is perceived that the flame lan-
guishes, or threatens to become extinct, it is an
indication that danger is at hand, and immediate
retreat isa measure of prudence. Itis to the
presence of this gas, that the wines of Cham-
paigne owe their effervescing quality.
The third important consideration may be re-
garded as the formation of the alcohol.
Formation of the Alcohol.
Tue fermenting particles, and the sugar con-
tained in the must, possess in themselves the
elements of a mutual decomposition. A con-
cretion takes place as to the one, which is preci-
pitated, whilst the other cedes a portion of its
component principles, by which it gives birth to
the alcohol. This liquor, which alone forms and
218 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
constitute the wines, giving to them tits mosi
important force and body, is in general more
abundant, in proportion as the saccharine sub-
stances themselves most abound. ‘The product
of the fermentation may be considered more or
less generous, by introducing into the wine ves-
sel a greater or less quantity of sugar. It is
hardly necessary to add, that this addition must
be judiciously made, and at the proper period.
We have before said on this subject sufficient
to establish the fact, that the wines considered as
the most perfect, are those resulting from a must,
the proportions of which, in their nature, do not
allow too long a retention on either the leaven
or sugar. It should however be here observed,
that the excess of the one, is not attended with
the same inconveniences as a superabundance of
the other. In effect, where the saccharine sub-
stance predominates, the wine is sweet, dilated
and feeble, and with little danger that it will
change ; whilst, on the contrary, where the leaven
has not evaporated and passed off, it continues to
agitate the mass, and so to act on the different
principles of the whole, as to expose it to an
acidity by which it will be injuriously changed.
The good effects resulting from the addition of
sugar, have long been disputed by Macquer,
who, from numerous experiments, appears to
doubt their favourable efficacy. _ “In the month
of October, 1776,” says this chemist, “I procur-
ed from a garden of Paris, a sufficient quantity
of white grapes to make fifteen or twenty quarts
of wine. They were refuse grapes. I chose the
fruit in a state of immaturity so unfavourable,
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 219
. that it was scarcely to be anticipated that they
would produce a wine fit for drinking. The
half of them were so unripe, that neither the
grapes nor the stems could be tasted without an
astringent acidity which was but barely support-
able. Without any, other precaution than that
of separating the fruit which had perished; from
that which, though immature, was perfectly sound,
I caused it to be broken up by the crushing
wheels, and expressed the juice by hand. |
The must of this experiment was thick, of a
green hue, of a flavour called by the vintner, ‘a
sour sweet,’ (atgre douce) in which the acid was
so. predominant, that no one could taste it with-
out a countenance distorted by grimace.
I dissolved in the must a sufficient portion of
sugar, to impart to it the flavour of a tolerably
sweet wine; and without heating or clarifying
it, I placed it in a cask, in asummer house at the
bottem of my garden, where it was left to work
its own way in the purification. The fermenta-
tion was fairly established, in full operation the
third day, and continued in active movement for
eight days, in a degree which, though quite sen-
sible to observ ation, was nevertheless very mode-
rate. After that time it ceased of itself to ex-
hibit any appearance of movement or action.
The wine which resulted from the experiment,
being newly made, and still thick, was yet of a
vinous force and agreeable odour, and lively and
piquante.
The flavour was a little harsh, inasmuch as that
of the sugar had as completely disappeared as
though it had never heen added to the mass. In
oo
—- oa
220 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
this situation, it was allowed to remain during
the winter, in a cask. On examination in the
month of March, I found that without any at-
tempt to clarify it, either by isinglass, or by
transvasing it, the wine had become clear and
transparent; the flavour still lively and piguante,
was much improved, and more pleasant than im-
mediately after the active fermentation.
There was a flavour which was more sweet and
soft, and possessing no character which would at
all indicate a mixture of sugar. In this condi-
tion I put it into bottles, where it remained in
repose till the month of October, 1777, when on
examination it was found to be eae brilliant,
and of agreeable flavour, resembling a wine from
the white grape of good selection, and might be
supposed the production of a good vineyard, in
‘a favourable season. Several connoisseurs, to
whose judgment I submitted this wine, decided
it to be that of a fair production, and could
scarcely be convinced that it was from unripe |
fruit, the acidity and astringency of which had
been corrected by sugar.
The success of this experiment surpassing my _
most sanguine expectations, led me into a new
trial of the same character, the result of which
was still more decisive of my theory, as the fruit
employed was yet more unripe, and the grapes
of a quality inferior to that of the former cited.
On the 6th November, 1,777, I collected from
an arbour, in a garden near Paris, a quantity of
large grapes, which, from their shaded position
beneath a semi-circular trellice, had received
but little advantage from the sun’s rays. This
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 221
fruit seldom arrives at maturity in our climate,
and is familiarly known under the appellation of
the verjuice, (ve77us) no other use being made of
it than to express the juice, before the fruit has
changed colour, to be used as vinegar for culi-
nary purposes. The fruit which I selected for
my second experiment had scarcely given the
least indication of a change of colour, and from a
belief that the season was so far advanced as to
afford no hope that it would ripen, had it been
left ungathered on the vine. It was yet so hard
that I placed a portion of the fruit in a vessel
on the fire, in order so to soften it as to extract
from it a greater quantity of juice, of which it
yielded eight or nine pints, the character of
which was that of extreme acidity, in which,
however, in tasting, was detected an indication
of the presence of a slight portion of sugar. I
dissolved in this juice as much of brown sugar
as gave it the necessary sweetness. It appeared
requisite to add a larger portion than that applied
to the juice of the former experiment, because
the acidity of the latter must was greater and
more strongly marked. After the dissolving of
the sugar, the flavour of the liquor, though suffi-
ciently indicating the effect of the sugar, afforded
but little hope as to the result, because the sweet
and the bitter were so strongly characteristic of
the mixture, that the flavour was harsh and un-
pleasant. |
I placed this must in an earthern vessel, which
was not entirely filled, covered by a clean linen
napkin, and as the season had advanced, and the
weather was chill and raw, it was placed in a
T 2 |
222 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
chamber, the temperature of which was regulated
by a stove to the favourable point, and an equili-
brium maintained day and night of 12 to 15 de-
grees of Reamur, (from 62° to 64° of Fahrenheit).
I examined the must four days after, and found
that the fermentation was not yet sensible, The
liquor appeared to me equally sweet (sucrée) and
equally sour,* but in a short time after, an union
of these two qualities commenced, and when the
combination had become complete, the result
was a wine of an agreeable flavour. On the
14th November the fermentation was at its
height, and the mass in active movement. A
lighted candle introduced into the vessel was
. Immediately extinguished. On the 30th the
sensible fermentation had subsided. A candle -
introduced burned freely and with a clear flame.
The wine was not thick or muddled, but of a
* A condition perfectly intelligible to the vintner, who un--
derstands from this technical description, though an apparent
contradiction,.the state of the must existing in a separate form,
before the chemical union. :
Remarks by the Translator —Let not the American cultiva-
tor be misled by this deceptive tale of our author. His trea-
tise, although an excellent breviary of practical wine making,
should be read without reference to the visionary experiment
here cited, which must be regarded as theoretical, and caleu-
lated to mislead the inexperienced as to the necessity of an im-
portant feature of vine growing, that of ripening perfectly the
fruit of the vine, before it be submitted to the operations of the
wine press.
- I have frequently seen in Switzerland, the pressing of un-
ripe fruit, such as here described, and the wine was always in-
ferior, and scarcely worth the sugar necessary to the prepara-
tion.
Do not let us be deceived on this point. Ripe fruit can
alone produce good wines. \
if
/
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 223
4
light or white cast. The savour was but slightly
marked by the taste of sugar, but was lively and
piquante, of a generous warm character, but
slightly gaseous, and a little sharp. In this con-
dition I sealed up the mouth of the vessel, plac-
ing it in acool cellar, that the wine might ripen
‘by an insensible fermentation, during the suc-
ceeding winter. On the 17th of March, I found
on. examination, that the wine was perfectly
clear and transparent. The residue of the sa-
vour of sugar had dispersed, and none of the
acid character remained. The wine was that of
a strong full grape, possessing a taste agreeable
and pleasant, but without a decided flavour or
perfume, as the immature grape, known among
the profession as the ve77wice, possesses no odour-
ous principle, nor rectifying force. In fine, this
wine, which though quite new, will improve
greatly by the insensible fermentation, and pro-
mises to become from age ia soft and agreeable
liquor.
Drawing the wine from the fermenting tub.—
Decuvage.
Inasmucx as the spirituous fermentation quick-
ly degenerates, and settles into the vinous fer-
mentation, it becomes important to give to the
process at this moment a careful and attentive
observation.
a |
224 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
Some vintners profess to decide from a variety
of signs and circumstances, the precise moment
at which the action of the one has ceased, and
that of the other is fairly in operation. These
henomena vary (it must be apparent to the
slightest observation) both in force and duration,
with the variations of climate and changes of
season, as well as from the nature and quantity
of the must and the mass.
It is, therefore, easy to conceive, on a little re-
flection, that it becomes impossible to fix the pre-
cise moment most favourable to this important
part of the wine making, and that all these sys-
tems which profess for their principal object the
establishing of a fixed period for the “ decu-
vage,’ must. in their nature be vague and unte-
nable.
The only sure guide in this case, is carefully
to observe the course and progress of the decom- —
position of the principle of sugar.
The object to be accomplished by the fermen-
tation, being the transformation of the liquor into
alcohol, it is desirable that the action should be
energetic, and continued, rather than abundant.
Accordingly, the grapes of the southern vineyard
should be suffered to remain longer in the mash,
than those of a northern climate. |
In considering this operation, another import-
ant feature must be constantly in view, that is,
that there is a constant disengagement of heat,
and of carbonic acid. By the one, the perfume
which constitutes the chief merit of many fine
wines, is volatilized and dissipated ; and the other
flies off and escapes, charged with a large portion
Ane gh ee
Pt ee
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 225
r 7 F
of alcohol, despoiling the liquor of a principle
which contributes largely to its piquancy and
agreeable flavour. ‘The wine, therefore, which
are in their nature light and feeble, though pos-
sessing an agreeable perfume, and those. white
wines, whose principal quality is a tendency to
effervescence, should receive but a sieht fermen-
tation.
The wines of Burgundy, of the first pressing,
(vins de primeur) such as those of Volney, of
Pomard, are allowed to remain only twenty or
thirty hours in the ferrnenting tub. Gentil, who —
has made many interesting experiments to decide
this question, is of opinion, that they should be
withdrawn from the tub as soon as the taste of
sugar has disappeared. Chaptal, however, in
treating this question, observes that the disap-
pearance of it, isnot absolute; as, by experiment,
he has proved that as the vinous flavour is de-
veloped, the taste of sugar is no longer sensible,
but that the spirit of the wine, which is constant- —
ly formed, so masks and conceals the small rem-
nant of the sugar, that though actually present
in a slight degree, it becomes insensible. ‘¢ It is
the precise moment”’ (says Chaptal) “at which
the sweet savour disappears, which is that most
favourable to the decuvage.”’
‘¢] have in my observations on this subject,
seen that among practical vintners, the most dis-
tinguished for the success of their wines, this is
regarded as the moment most favourable to the
accomplishment of the decuvage. A precaution
not less important than that of which we have
just spoken, is the preparation of the vessels, in
226 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
a
which it is intended to put the wine. They
should be made of oak staves, perfectly sound,
and seasoned ; and no stave of the wood near the
bark or roots of the tree should be used, as both
are liable to become the harbour of myriads of
ants. By the odour which they communicate,
these insects are not unfrequently the remote
cause of the taste of the cask, sometimes impart-
ed to the wine. The new casks should be suc-
cessively washed with lime water, salt water, and
- finally with pure hot water. The old casks, be-
fore used to contain wine, should be thoroughly
cleansed of the tartar, which in general accumu-
lates in concretion at the sides and bottom of the
vessel, and subsequently carefully washed with
hot water.
After this, some few of the casks should be
filled, either with wine, or hot must, which
should be agitated and shaken about, and then
emptied from one to the other till all the wine
vessels shall have undergone a thorough ablution,
and the wood deprived of any acidity it may —
have contracted, by becoming saturated with the
several liquors thus introduced. Sometimes an
infusion of flower of peaches is used, which has
in general a good effect, and leaves an agreeable
flavour. , .
When a cask has contracted a disagreeable
odour, such as that from mould, bugs, or other
insects infesting an empty wine vessel, it will
be prudent to omit all these cleansing precau-
tions, lest by the use of them, the odour should
be merely masked for a time, and re-appears after
the effect of the ablution shall have passed off. —
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 227
In drawing off the wine it should not be allow-
ed to flow into an open mouthed cask, in order
to be afterwards placed into other vessels. In
so doing, the wine is discharged without violence,
foams and boils, by which it is deprived of a
portion of its aroma and body. It is the better
method to draw it off by the syphon, or other
tubular instrument, fitted to the small orifice of the
fermenting vessel. As the wine gradually flows
by this process, the bonnet settles, and finally is
- quietly deposited on the lees at the bottom of
the cask.
Both these still retain a considerable portion
of wine. But the bonnet having remained so
long in contact with the atmosphere, will have
contracted an acidity more or less powerful, ac-
cording as the operation is more or less prolong-
ed. ‘They must, however, be pressed separately.
When the fermentation has been prompt, they
should be pressed together, and the juice thus ob-
tained, may be mixed with that of the decuvage.
The marc (grounds) should then be cut up with
sharp spades, perfectly clean, and again pressed,
and the wine of such second or third pressing,
more highly coloured, and put into a separate
cask, is sometimes employed to give to the for-
mer a colour, body, and slight astringency. The
mare is subsequently used for a variety of pur-
poses; such as the distillation of an inferior
brandy; the manufacture of vinegar, verdigris,
the food of domestic animals, and the distillation
of an ordinary beverage for labourers and domes-
tics, and known under the appellation of piguante
228 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
or buvande. This liquor is usually prepared in
the following manner:
The mass, which when drawn from the press
is compact and solid, is first broken up; then
water is thrown on the crumbled mass, in such
a quantity as is proportioned to the pressure
to which the marc has been: submitted. In
this state, it is left for twenty-four to forty
hours, according as the temperature of the at-
mosphere is elevated. The liquor obtained from -
this process may be kept several months, and
where an addition of five per cent. of good must
be added, atolerably well flavoured light wine
may be extracted, of some body, piguante, and
capable of conservation. i
-
Of the care and precaution necessary before
putting the wine into casks.
Wives in general are far from being complete
at the moment of consigning them to the cask.
They still contain a portion of sugar, which is
continually undergoing a decomposition. The
fermentation, now more mild and tranquil, dis-
engages, nevertheless, in abundance, the carbonic
acid gas, which continues to keep in movement
the whole liquid mass, raising and uniting at the
surface all the extraneous matter contained in
the cask, and forcing it out at the bung, which
for that purpose should be left open. The loss
4
eee
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 229
eccasioned by this indispensable purification must
be replaced with care, and the cask kept con-
stantly filled.
Immediately above the opening is placed a
large vine leaf, covered with sand, which is to
be withdrawn whenever the cask is replenished.
In some countries, wine is daily added to fill the
cask during the whole of the first month, every
fourth day during the second, and every eighth
day after that period. In other places (as, for
example, the neighbourhood of Bordeaux) they
commence the operation of which we have
spoken, at eight or ten days after the wines have
been placed in the cask. One month afterwards
they close up the bung hole of the cask. When
the insensible fermentation has completely ceased,
the whole is accomplished, and the process finish-
ed. By imperceptible degrees, the wine becomes
clear and transparent. All foreign matter con-
tained in ‘the cask, and held in suspension, is pre-
cipitated, or deposited on the sides of the vessel.
A mixture of tartar, of colouring matter, and of
the substance vegeto-animal in part decomposed,
forms a thick coating, which takes in this state
the name of lees. The slightest causes will now
affect the wine, a jar, by which the cask is moved,
an elevation of temperature, thunder, or other
meteorological causes, will undoubtedly set in
motion the liquid mass, revive the fermentation,
and change the transparency of the wine, into a
thick, turbid condition. To obviate an inconye-
nience so serious, the vine is transvased at
different periods, and the foreign matter which
U
230 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
may cause such mischief, withdrawn from the
cask. he
The wines of the hermitage are thus with-
drawn in the months of March and September ;
those of Champaigne, in October, February and
March.
This operation, which is never performed but
during dry, cold weather, should be done by >
means of a pump, employed in the wine houses
of many proprietors. |
This instrument is a leathern tube, terminated
by wooden pipes; one end of which is fitted to
the spicket of the -cask to be discharged, the
other to the bung of that into which the wine is
to be transvased. The flowing of the liquid will
cease when half the mass has been withdrawn
from the vessel, but the discharge must be con-
tinued by means of the bellows. Through the
agency of this instrument, the pressure of the air
is brought to act on the wine as the head is les-
sened, and the liquid thus forced to pass through
the tube into the other cask. The transvasing
must not, however, be indiscriminate, or per-
formed at all seasons, withott due attention to.
circumstances familiar to the vintner.
“It is well understood,” says Mr. Parmentier,
“¢ that the wines work in the cask, and rise, per-
haps, two inches, both in spring and. autumn ;
and it is a few days before these periods that the
operation of transvasing should be performed.
The frequency of this necessary work varies ac-
cording to the different qualities of the wines.
Excess in these cases is as dangerous as a neg~
lect of the operation.’’
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 231
At Bordeaux, and in many other districts of
France, the transvasing is never performed but
with a north, or northwesterly wind. It is be-
lieved that the air deprives the wines of a portion
of their delicate flavour, and particularly when the
wind is at the south or southeast.
The winds at east or west, are, at Bordeaux,
believed to exercise a less unfavourable influence
on the quality of the wines. There are many
who ascribe to the moon an important influence,
and are particularly careful not to agitate or
work among their wines during the first and
last quarters of the luminary. But transvasing
alone will not be sufficient to extract from the
wines all those substances which tend to acidity.
We are obliged frequently to employ other
means to remedy the evil, such as clarifying by
fish glue, burning sulphur papers in the cask, all
of which tend to precipitate the hostile foreign
substances held in suspension, and thus lessen
their deleterious influence. Fish glue is gene-
rally the means used to clarify the wines. The
mode of using the ingredient, is to cut it into
particles, and dissolve them in a small portion of
the same wine on which it is intended they shall
act. When thus immersed, they swell, soften,
and dissolve, forming a glutinous mass, which is
poured into the cask to be clarified, which must
be again rolled from side to side, and so shaken
that the whole may be completely mixed. There
are many vintners who whip up their wines
with small birch rods, till they are covered with
a thick froth or foam, which they collect careful-
ly and take out of the cask, The dissolved in-
232 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
gredient or clarifying matter, seizes as it were on
the impurities contained in the liquor, and preci-
pitates them as it descends to the bottom of the
cask,
In some cold climates, the vintners substitute,
during summer, the white of eggs in the place of
fish glue. Five or six are sufficient for half a
pipe of wine. They are beaten up in a small
tumbler of wine, and when in a proper state
thrown into the cask, the contents of which are
agitated with rods, till the whole mass be pro-
perly mixed. But it requires great precaution
in the performance of this operation, because it
sometimes happens that in using an egg, which
though not yet changed, has lost its freshness,
the fine perfume of the wine is affected, if not se-
riously injured. Wines in France are some-
times clarified in another manner, by which any
unpleasant odour contracted may be driven away.
The means employed are, to take the chips or
shavings of the beach wood, which must be pre-
viously stripped of its bark, and boil them in
water, after which they must be perfectly dried,,
either in a furnace, or by the rays of the sun,,
and then thrown into the cask. This excites in
the wine a new though slight fermentation, by
which it becomes completely clear in the course
of twenty-four hours. Notwithstanding that the
fish glue or white of eggs, acts with force on the
liquids, into which it has been introduced, it has
been found impossible to take up by these means
all the extraneous matter contained in the cask,
but that small particles of leaven, in despite of
the most unwearied attention, constantly escape,
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 233
the action of which in floating through the mass
is to induce a constant tendency to acidity, by
which the wines are deprived of their delicacy
and flavour.
It is to prevent this acid degeneration, that the
’ burning of sulphurated paper is used, the liquor
is impregnated with the vapour of sulphur. The
composition of sulphur matches, used in this pro-
cess, is different in the different wine. countries.
Some vintners of France melt down the sul-
phur, and plunge into the liquid brimstone broad
tape of cotton thread, or silk, till it be completely
coated with the sulphur, others mix with the sul-
phur, before submitting it to the action of the
fire, various aromatic substances. In our own
country also, there exists among skilful vintners,
a difference in the manner of using the matches
thus prepared. In some of the districts, the
match is suspended by an iron wire, and when
ignited, introduced by the bung hole into the
cask. When the combustion is complete, and
the cask charged with the sulphureous vapour
thus disengaged, the vessel is filled, and the bung
hole tightly closed. There are some again who
put two. or three buckets of wine into the cask,
then set fire to the match, close up the bung
hole, and agitate and roll the cask to and fro,
with violence. This is again done when the
match is consumed, and repeated until the vessel
becomes completely charged with vapour. The
operation, in the first instance, causes the wine
to be thick and troubled; but finally it becomes
clear, and completely re-established. .
v2
234 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
The Maladies of Wines.
THE wines prepared according to the method
here described, and which have been deposited
in a cave or cellar, having a northern exposure
sufficiently deep, somewhat lighted, and sheltered
from the variations of temperature, and mechani-
cal causes, which shake or disturb them, or stir
up the lees, retaining them in suspension in the
middle of the liquid, by which the tendency is
determined, are capable of different degrees of
conservation, and may be preserved a longer or
shorter time, according to their several varying
circumstances. In general, the wines of a highly
delicate flavour, are but seldom susceptible of a
long preservation. ‘The maladies most frequent-
ly occurring, the most seriously affecting their
quality and character, and to which they are pe-
culiarly exposed, are those known amongst the
profession as the fat, (graisse) and the acidity.
By the former disease, the natural fluidity of the
wine is changed, which is succeeded by a turbid
condition, in which the liquor becomes’ stringy,
thick, and ropy, like unsound oil. This malady
more particularly attacks white wines, and such
as foam and effervesce, and in general those
which have been imperfectly clarified, or possess
but little body. It appears probable, that where
such wines are put into bottle before they have
undergone all the different periods of fermenta-
tion, they are exempt from this malady. It is
stated by Mr. Parmentier, that he has seen in
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 235
Champaigne, the half of a cask, drawn in the
month of March succeeding the vintage, pass to
the state of “ graisse,”? whilst the other half of
the same cask, which had been put in bottle in
September,* remained constantly in the prema-
ture state. The most simple method to remedy
this inconvenience (adds. this writer) is to trans-
vase the wines thus affected, on the lees of a
cask recently emptied of its contents, to roll it
afterwards into the wine vault, and when suffi-
ciently cleared, to draw it off into another vessel,
Time alone is necessary to re-establish such wines.
It is uncommon for them to remain in such con-
dition more than one year. As soon as it js per-
ceived that in pouring it into a wine glass, it
presents an eye or bubble which attaches to the
side of the glass, nothing more is necessary than
to leave the wines to themselves. In this state
of quietude they resume, little by little, a clear
transparency, showing no trace of the alteration
which they have undergone... It is much less
easy to find a remedy for the acidity. This ma-
lady, which like the other is incident to the
wines of a less spirituous character, is’ generally
the result of a feeble constitution, or of negligence
in the exercise of that care which their peculiar
condition requires.
In fine, wherever the leaven predominates, it
decomposes the saccharine matter, acting on the
* Our author leaves us here to conjecture, whether that por-
tion of the cask, which remained unhurt by the malady, had
been bottled at the vintage, which in Champaigne is at the latter
end of September, or whether a year had elapsed between the
vintage and the bottling.—rrans.
236 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
other principles of the liquid, and producing an
acidity, which is only to be arrested by means
of fish glue, the action of sulphur, or by decant-
ing. As the wines never assume the acidity
mentioned till the alcoholic fermentation has
completely subsided, it is easy to postpone the
period of danger, by putting them into bottle be-
fore the substance “ swcrée’’ has entirely evapo-
rated. The fermentation then proceeds, or is
prolonged without being menaced by the danger
of acidity. It is from such considerations that
the vintner frequently adds to his wines in cask
a portion of sugar. When the cask is construct-
ed of wood exposed to the varieties of tempera-
ture, or which imparts to the wine an unfayour-
able astringency, or is sufficiently porous in
texture to allow an escape of the alcohol, or
elastic fluids; where the vaults are not of the pro-
per depth, so that there exists a temperature
above ten or twelve degrees, centigrade (fifty-
two to fifty-six degrees Farenheit) so that the
— lees remain floating through the liquid, the wine
always has a tendency to acidify. This should
excite no surprise, for the circumstances are pre-
cisely those required for the process of acetation.
There are particular periods of the year always
critical to newly made wines, at which such
maladies acquire a Herculean power, and by their
pernicious effects are immediately detected by
the experienced vintner, and can scarcely escape
an ordinary. observation. Such, for example,
are first, the return of heat; the movement, also
at which in the vine the circulation of the sap
commences, the period of flowing; that at which
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 237
the blossom drops, and again when the grape
commences to change to purple. These different
periods bring with them their several unfavour-
able accompaniments, in which we may often
remark a perceptible degeneration in wines of a
light and feeble character, or which have receiv-
ed but little attention in their management and
conservation. A sudden change of temperature
during warm weather, is often sufficient to aci-
dify those wines, which, from their unfavourable
situation in vaults injudiciously constructed, are
exposed to such an evil. “In countries,’ says
Chaptal, «‘ where wines possess an extraordinary
value, and where, as a consequence, avarice
frequently induces an admixture of the wines
of an inferior vintage, with those of a more
favourable season, it has been remarked that the
first appearance of the acid degeneration is de-
tected on the surface of the liquid contained in
the cask, whence it descends from time to time,
as the change goes on, till it has affected the
whole mass.”’? As soon as this is perceived, it is
the practice of our most experienced vintners
immediately to draw off the wine from the lower
part of the cask, so as to separate the sound wine
below from that which is thus affected above.
In doing this, it is hardly necessary to add, that
a great degree of care will be required not to
agitate the wine, so as to mix the wine of the su-
perior surface with the sound wine below. By
this simple, yet effective means, it is apparent,
that the moment the change is threatened, it
is easy to rescue a large portion of the contents
of the cask from the effects of the malady. Ht
238 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
is probable that this malady first attacks the wine
in the neighbourhood of the bung hole, because
of its free communication with the air; and af-
fects in time the whole inferior mass. _
As we have perceived, it is by no means diffi-
cult to prevent this evil, and protect the vintage
from the destructive consequences which ensue,
by neutralizing the excess of leaven by honey,
or the addition of must,.and by interrupting the
free communication between the atmospheric
air and the liquor contained in the cask. But
where the acetation is once determined, no re-
medy for the evil exists. The malady is incu-
rable. All which then can be done is to arrest
the acidity in its course, and prevent it increas-
ing till the wine becomes entirely sour. This
may be effected by neutralizing, through the
agency of saccharine substances, the action of the
vegeto-animal principle, which is still in suspen-
sion, and by such means, masking the unpleasant
flavour already contracted, by the paramount ef-
fects of sugar or other ingredients.
Several writers on wine making recommend
the use of chalk, of ashes, of alkalies, and of lime,
which absorb or take up the ascetic quality till
they become saturated by it.- This method is re-
jected, however, by Mr. Parmentier, who contends
that these different substances form the soluble
combinations of which the immediate effect is to
dispose the wine to a complete decomposition.
There are other alterations to which wines in
general are disposed, which, though less inju-
rious in their results, deserve to be carefully ex-
amined, Such, for example, may be considered
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 239
the taste of the cask, that of mould or must, with
others of the like character.
It is not always practicable to correct the for-
mer, but it may be greatly lessened by means
which render the wine a tolerable beverage.
The best method is, to draw it from the cask, as
clear as can be effected, by avoiding carefully
all movement from which the vessel may be
agitated. It is the practice of some vintners, to
mix such wines with others that are sound and
of strong body. When such mixture becomes
complete, it is allowed a few days to repose, then
carefully transvased, and put intoa cask recently
-emptied of its contents; or it is frequently de-
posited on sound lees, and the cask containing it
rolled backward and forward in the vault. It is
prudent to abstain by all means from the use of
lime water or carbonic acid.
“It is contended by some skilful vintners,’’
says Mr. P. “that in transvasing the wines into a
cask in good condition, well prepared by a fumi-
gation of sulphur, and to which has been added
a few ounces of peach kernels, it is possible to
correct the unpleasant flavour arising from mould.
It is the opinion of others, that to take the fruit
called medlars, fully ripe, cutting them into quar-
ters, running through them a strong twine to
keep them together, and throwing them into the
wine, where they should remain a month, at the
expiration of which time they should be with-
drawn, will produce a favourable effect in res-
toring an unsound wine. It is believed that this
fruit. possesses the quality of absorbing the un-
pleasant taste imparted by the accumulation of
240 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
mould in the cask, and by thus appropriating it,
relieving the wine of the injurious flavour so, con-
tracted. Some recommend an infusion for two
or three days.of cheese, or a crust of toasted
bread. ‘There can be no doubt that if the mould
arise from sulphurate hydrogen, such farinaceous
bodies, reduced to a state of carbon, may be effi- |
cacious; but it is with such wines the same, as
with those that have become affected by the agate
of the cork.
No certain means exist, which are Jala to
the profession, by which the evil can be correct-
ed. They are to be prevented: by a perfect
cleansing of the wine vessel, and by a judicions
ehpice and preparation of the corks. Te
Bottling the Wine.
As soon as the wines have been a sufficient
time in the casks to allow a full and complete
clarifying, and the isinglass or other material
used for the purpose, has taken up and appro-
- priated all the foreign substances with which they
are charged, and which exercise an influence, so
unfavourable to the results of the vintage, they
should be carefully and judiciously put in bottle,
there to undergo the insensible fermentation
from which they receive the last.degree of ripen-
ing, and which may be regarded as the final im-
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 241
provement available to the skill of the experienc-
ed vintner.
In order that the transparency of the wines
should suffer no injurious change during this
- Operation, it is advisable to adopt the practice of
the French vintner, to introduce into the cask,
about two inches from the bottom, a wide mouth-
ed spicket, the interior circumference of which
should be covered with a thick gauze, extending
_ across the diameter so as to intercept the fish
glue, and residuum, and prevent thereby the pas-
sage of such substances, into the vessel intended
to receive the pure wines, about to be put in
bottle. |
‘That your wines should possess a generous
and agreeable flavour, it is imperative that they
‘ be fully matured and ripe, and to this object the
insensible fermentation is an indispensable pre-
requisite. If it be a conceded point, that they do
not acquire this character except they ripen in
large mass, it is also admitted that having ac-
quired this advantage, it is equally important to
the final result, that when put into bottle they
should be well corked, hermetically closed from
the action of the air; as without that precaution
they never can attain that deep, strong body,
that fixed hue, and soft, velvet like (veloute) de-
licacy, which form the essential character of a
fine old wine.
When thus effectively corked and sealed, the
bottles allow no passage to the internal transpira-
tion, or external humidity; whereas the best con-
structed wooden vessels are not impervious, al-
lowing the filtering and transpiration to pass by
x
242 THE ART OF WINE MAKING. y
the pores.. In the first case, the fermentation
continues with an active movement, whereas in
the second, it is sluggish and insensible. There
is, however, a danger of putting the wine in bot-
tles too soon. Such ill timed haste is to be
avoided, for, far from improving its quality, they
suffer an injurious deterioration by the ae
cretion.
The bottles iced for this service require
a careful selection. They should be clear, per-
fectly united, free from flaw or blemish, and by
_all means without that excess of potash, some-
times found in our glass manufactured vessels.
Without this latter precaution, the wines will
soon part with their flavour, their odour, and
deep purple tinge, and their chief excellence may
thus: be lost. - The bottles should first be rinsed
with pure water, and then cleansed with sand,
or gravel. When they are intended to receive
a fine dessert wine, it will be judicious to saturate
the extremity of the cork, by plunging it into
brandy, before closing the bottle. The cork
frequently contains a considerable quantity of
the astringent principle, and as this astringent
principle, when brought into action by a con-
tact with the wine, and changed moreover with
the vault, determines the mould with extreme
facility, it will be necessary to adopt the pre-
caution of steeping the corks, (first shaving
off the point, below which it is to enter the bot-
tle, a small portion in order to expose a new sur-
face,) into hot water, and when fully saturated,
to dry them either by fire or the rays of the sun,
(the latter being preferable when time will per-
mit) before using them. Where the cask is
THE ART OF WINE MAKING. 243
spongy or porous, allowing the liquor to ‘pene,
trate er escape by the pores, or where it has been
perforated by the cork screw or other instrument;
in fine, where any imperfection exists, it should
be rejected. A negligence in this case will al-
most insure an unfavourable change in the wine.
When the bottle is filled within an inch of the
mouth, it should be carefully closed and turned,
so as to judge whether the wine will leak out
and escape when left on the shelf. It should
then be placed on the side, in the vault, or other
position destined for its reception, on a frame or
lattice, in ranges or piles, of ten or twelve deep,
which should be so strong as not to bend beneath
the weight of the superincumbent mass. To
protect the wines from the injurious effects to
which they are exposed from light, it is the prac-
tice of many vintners to cover the bottles when
thus arranged, with sand, the character of which,
where the choice is at command, should be sili-
cious rather than calcareous; and a preference
should be given to a vault which is damp, and
rather warm. ‘The first of these means is that
usually adopted, because it is more expeditious,
and occasions less breakage. In drawing the
wine from the cask, it will be prudent to suspend
. the work on approaching the bottom, when but,
little remains in the vessel. The cask should
then be carefully raised (if tilted) and remain at
rest till the following day, on which the last of
the contents should be drawn off, bottled and
placed in a different quarter of the vault, to be
used the first, or consumed for ordinary, or culi-
nary purposes. .
a +
Q44 THE ART OF WINE MAKING.
In order to interrupt all communication be- .
tween the wine and the atmosphere, and a
the cork from the humidity of the vault, the ra-
vages of worms and effects of dust, whichiiiiay
‘accumulate around it, and impart an “un fiy Oe
able influence to the contents of the bottle, it will
be prudent to seal the cork with a composition,
of which the following is that adopted by many
of our vintners skilled in the conservation of
wines. White pitch, rosin and turpentine in
equal portions, united with double the portion of
each of these ingredients of yellow bees wax.
This mixture should be melted over a slow fire,
into which the top or neck of the bottle should
be plunged, securing first the cork with twine
or iron wire.
It is particularly in the case of wines which
effervesce, or fly, that this latter precaution is
eonsidered most necessary.
THE END.
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