35 --The Vineyards of the Côte-d'Or (France). PACOTTET, P.: Les Vignobles de la Côte d'Or.- La Vie Agricole et Rurale, No. 47, pp. 562-565. Paris, October 1912. The department of Côte-d'Or contains the most celebrated vineyards of Burgundy, which produce the finest red and white wines of the world. The vineyards are divided into four districts: Beaune, 39 500 acres ; Dijon, 17 300 acres ; Semur, 5 000 acres ; Châtillon, 2 500 acres; i. e. 64 300 acres of entirely reconstituted vineyards. They form several regions: la Côte, l'Arrière-Côte, Val-de Saône, l'Auxois and le Chatillonnais. Valde-Saône consists of marly slopes, which overlook the bed of the Saône. With the Melon grape, on the slopes of Ecuelles, Chivres, and Labergement, very good ordinary white wine is produced for drinking when new. Arrière-Côte is composed of coombes and gullies separating the hills, which form the immediate and highest background of the slopes of la Côte. The latter, l'Auxois and le Chatillonais, districts lying further in the mountains of the Côte-d'Or, produce quantities of red wines from the Gamay grapes and their varieties, the highly coloured Gamays. Parallel to the Saône at a distance of 12 miles from the river and separated from it by a plain co ered with cereals and forests, the portion of la Côte containing the vineyards that produce the finest wines forms an almost straight continuous line of slopes between Dijon and Chagny. These vineyards form a belt from a third of a mile to a mile and a quarter in width which rises to about half way up the slopes (an altitude of from 725 to 900 ft). where they join waste, dry, stony land forming the summits of the hills. The soil is always more than 20 inches deep and is composed of very red vegetable soil, chiefly marl, full of small stones. In les Romanées, on account of the frequent additions of decalcified soil from the plateaux, which have been repeated for centuries, the vegetable soil reaches a depth of from 5 to 62 ft. Often two or three supporting walls on the slopes serve as roads and form two or three terraces to keep up the soil. The subsoil consists of three important stages of the Jurassic: Bajocian, Bathonian and Oxfordian, overlain at times, as at Beaune, with a thick stratum of Rauracien (1) with a corallian facies. The Côte de Gevrey-Chambertin is on the Bajocian, a hard crystalline limes tone. Côte de Nuits is situated on the Bathonian, a fine, hard limestone, while the Oxfordian dominates on the Côte de Beaune, where it has a pseudo-lithographic limestone, or a marly facies. These different geological stages, though all represented by limestones, impart very distinct characteristics to the wines. Those from the Côte de Beaune, where the lime content of the soil is increased by the marl, are very fine in quality, have much bouquet, and are also very delicate, but they do not keep so long as the more full-bodied wines of Côte de Nuits with their larger amount of bouquet. The wines (1) A name proposed by Greppin for the "Corallian ". (Ed.). Amount of substances determined of Cote de Gervey-Chambertin are a little deeper in colour and have more body than the former. All the soils which produce wine of the best quality are deep, the subsoil is always damp and their good chemical composition is shown by the following analysis. Analysis of the soil of the principal vineyards of Côte d'Or. per thousand parts by weight " Pinot noir, with its colour varieties ranging from "Pinot gris" or 'beurot," to "Pinot noir" and its numerous varieties, are the only vines in the large vineyards producing red wine in the Côte d'Or. Formerly from 1/15 to 1/20 of Pinot blanc Chardonnay was added. The latter is the sole variety cultivated for the production of the famous white wines of Montrachet, and Meursault. In the latter, as it was not very productive, the Aligoté variety was associated with it; this produces excellent wines on the stony or marly summits of la Côte. On the plain, at the foot of the slopes, Gamay varieties give strong, coloured wines, which are rather harsh. This variety is associated in some vineyards with Pinot, or its grapes are mixed in the vat with those of the latter; the resulting wines are excellent and are known under the name of "Passe-tout-grains." The red and white Pinot wines are classed under the heads of "tête de cuvée ", " première cu Montrachet passe vée," deuxième cuvée," "troisième cuvée," after which come the tout-grains," "grands ordinaires," "ordinaires ". The two last are Gamay wines. The vineyard of la Côte is divided into three districts: 1) Côte de Dijon; 2) Côte de Nuits; 3) Côte de Beaune. The Côte de Dijon has no first class vintages. But on the other hand, at Chenôve, Fixin, and Brochon excellent Passe-tout grains" is made. The Côte de Nuits, of which the Côte de Gevrey-Chambertin is a subdivision, produces the following wines: a) at Gevrey-Chambertin: Chambertin and Clos de Bèze (tête de cuvée); b) at Morey: Clos de Tart (tête de cuvée); c) at Chambolle-Musigny: Musigny (tête de cuvée) the wine of finest quality in ail Côte d'Or; d) at Vougeot: Clos Vougeot (tête de cuvée); e) at Fageay-Echézeaux: Echezeaux (tête de cuvée): f) at Vosne-Romanée: Romanée Conti, the most excellent of all the red wines; Romanée, Romanée Saint Vivant, Tâches, Richebourg, all "tête du cuvée "; g) at Nuits-Saint-Georges: Saint-Georges, Cailles, Vaucrains, "tête du cuvée." Besides the great red wines, the Côte de Beaune produces also first class white wines wherever the calcareous marls of the Oxfordian predominate. These include a) at Pernaud Charlemagnes, white and red, the Vergelesse varieties, "tête de cuvée;" b) at Aloxe-Corton: the Corton and Charlemagne varieties (tête de cuvée); c) at Savigny-les-Beaune: Vergelesses (tête de cuvée); d) at Beaune: Grèves; e) at Pommard; the Rugier varieties, ("haut et bas," "tête de cuvée "); e) at Volnay: En Cailleret (tête de cuvée); f) at Meursault: Perrier, Charmes, Genevrières and Gouttes d'Or are all white wines of the "première cuvée;" g) at PulignyMontrachet: Montrachet ainé (tête de cuvée) is grown entirely on the salmon-pink marls of the lower Bathonian; above this, halfway up the slope, Chevalier Montrachet is cultivated in a poor red soil with a stony subsoil, while below it Bâtard Montrachet grows in a deeper, richer soil; further down nearer the plain, it yields remarkable wines "de première cuvée;" h) at Chassagné-Montrachet: Clos Saint-Jean (tête de cuvée); i) Santenay: Gravières. The vines were formerly planted thickly, 8000 or 10 000 stocks per acre; they are now arranged in lines and do not contain more than about 4000 vines per acre. Layering the vines tends to decrease. The addition of new soil is now rarely practised, as the system has become too costly, but the vines are given stable-manure, or chemical fertilizers, which was formerly avoided. The vines are pruned to low stocks with three or four branches; leaving the canes longer, which suits the Pinot variety well, is not practised, as it diminishes the quality of the fruit, though it considerably increases the quantity. Only a few proprietors pick over their grapes, which are as a rule sound. The wine is fermented in open vats of small volume, 440 to 1760 gallons, after which it is placed in new oak casks, in which it is sold, after having been kept two, three and four years. 36 - Viticulture in the Department of Concordia (Entre Rios, Argentina). Boletin del ANZORENA, PEDRO. La Viticultura en el Departamento de Concordia. Ministerio de Agricultura, Vol. XIV, No. 7, pp. 621-636. Buenos Ayres, 1912. From its geographical situation, the department of Concordia is included in the zone of vine cultivation, but the physico-chemical nature of the soil renders this industry unremunerative at present. Nearly all the vineyards are to be found in the neighbourhood of the town of Concordia and for 8 or 10 years they have not been extended, although the undulating and hilly configuration of the district is very suited to vine cultivation. The soil, which is entirely siliceous, attains a depth occasionally of 1 metre (3 ft. 3 in.) and rests upon a clayey or loamy sub-soil, generally of an impermeable character; sometimes the soil and the subsoil are alike in composition. There is a scarcity of lime, phosphoric acid, and especially of nitrogen in the soil and the vine consequently grows badly and bears little fruit; further, the humidity of the subsoil is very conducive to the development of fungoid diseases, which have all been observed in the vineyards. Thus, it is advisable to alter the physical and chemical properties of the soil by means of drainage and the addition of lime, as well as of organic and mineral fertilizers. On soil thus prepared, hoed crops, or leguminosae must be grown for two or thee years; planting should be regular and the system of cultivating and of pruning which is chosen should be adapted to the soil, the climate, and the vines. Green pruning is advisable as it always tends to ensure a better and larger crop; the weeds should be carefully removed and the soil kept sufficiently damp, but not excessively humid, as it is at present. So far, only one variety of vine is known in the district viz. "Lorda," which resembles Malbeck and Tannat. This is grown on its own stock, but the practice of grafting on American vines is becoming increasingly common. The Lorda variety is very resistant to fungus diseases, but bears few grapes, so that it would be well to replace it by kinds which would adapt themselves to the climate and soil. It appears, that preference should be given to white table wines and to red wines for blending. The former could very well be used in the preparation of imitations of Marsala, Port, Sherry, Malaga, etc. The stocks which are most recommended for the Department of Concordia are the following: Riparia Gloire de Montpellier, Riparia Grand Glabre, Rupestris Monticola, Rupestris du Lot, Riparia Rupe stris. As regards the wine making, the writer states that it is done under the best conditions and according to modern methods. Sr. Anzorena advocates the creation of experimental nurseries, vineyards and cellars. 37- Report on Fruit Culture in the School of Practical Agriculture at Wagnonville. PINELLE, M. Rapport sur les cultures fruitières de l'Ecole Pratique d'Agriculture de The following report was drawn up by the writer subsequently to the visit paid by the members of the commission of the National Horticultural Society of France for the purpose of examining on the spot the pruning operations carried out upon fruit trees and especially pear-trees, by M. Lorette, Cultivation Director at the School of Wagnonville (Nord). The soil of the school gardens is clayey or loamy to a depth of 20 to 23 ft.; the arable stratum has been much inproved to a depth of 16 to 20 inches. The trees are vigorous and receive a liberal annual dressing of manure. All the pear-trees are grafted on quinces. The shapes used are, in the open, the winged pyramid (with four wings) which is much recommended by M. Lorette as affording the trees most light; the classic shapes are also employed: U and double U, Verrier's palm-leaf, etc. The pruning methods adopted by M. Lorette, and which have lately attracted much attention, do not completely revolutionize the pruning principles of the so called "three bud " system; but the latter have been greatly modified by him, the most important changes being the accelerated bearing of fruit on suckers and on vigorous fruit branches. The following is a summary of M. Lorette's methods of pruning. Leading branches. The leaders of trees in course of being trained are not pruned except when necessary to obtain the different stages or for removing the portion of the branch, which is not sufficiently lignified; this is done during May when vegetative growth is already active and the shoots are an inch or more in length; in cases where the terminal bud has become a flower bud it has nevertheless to be removed. In the winged pyramid, the first stage is made by one pruning, the branches thus obtained are not shortened, but are placed in the horizontal position and then bent up; they continue to grow up to the top of the tree. The branches of the successive stages are obtained by cutting them back at a distance of 20 inches from the preceding stage, training the branches thus obtained horizontally and bending them up for a length of 8 to 12 inches against the branch coming from below. For the prolonging of the stem the least vigorous branch should be selected; nearly always the buds growing from the dormant buds are chosen. It is necessary during the vegetation period to free the prolongations of the leaders from all the false buds which are likely to develop, by cutting the latter at a few millimetres from their base. If there is a want of equilibrium between the various prolongations, this must be restored by removing a third, or a half, of the blade of the leaves growing on too vigorous branches. In the case of trees which are completely trained, the branches which prolong the leaders are left intact during the vegetative period and through |