Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/78

 afterwards, the vines were only distinguished by bearing the name of the plant of Rheims."

Though Rozier, perhaps, expected too much from his experiments, it can hardly be doubted, that were an accurate analysis made, of the soil and subsoil of the best vineyards, the exact bearings of their exposure taken, and a meteorological journal kept in them for a few years;—together with an exact account of the course of cultivation pursued, and the management of the fermentation, France might be able to carry her choice wines, to a much larger proportion: than one thirty-fifth of her whole produce, to which they are at present confined.

But, however beneficial such experiments and establishments might prove, in a public point of view, the individual planter would probably find his, advantage in following the steps which experience has shewn, to lead to a certain degree of success, rather, than in pursuing novel and expensive measures, in the uncertain expectation of a more valuable return.

The substance of what the French writers have said on this point, amounts to this:—You have, already, extensive and excellent vineyards, and in the lapse of ages, each variety has found out the soil and situation which fits it best or has