Page:The Art of Living in Australia.djvu/28

 XIV PRE FACE. a large export trade to other countries. It means, in fact, the use of Australian wine as a national and every-day wholesome beverage ; it means the covering of the land with smiling vineyards ; it means em- ployment and a healthy calling literally to thousands upon thousands ; and, lastly, it means settlement upon the land, and a more diffused distribution of the popu- lation throughout Australia. It must be remembered that the nervous system is far more susceptible to the effects of alcohol in a warm than in a cooler climate. It is said that in Southern Europe there are very few water drinkei's, but that, on the other hand, there are very few who indulge in strong drink. The system does not feel to want the strong alcohol, so to speak, A weaker wine in a warm climate produces the same feeling of exhilaration that one of greater alcoholic strength does in colder countries. We shall not go far wrong in Australia if we stick to our own natural wines. As it will be found in the chapter on Australian wine, the every-day wine for Australian use is a wine of low alcoholic strength ; a wine of which a tumblerful may be taken with benefit ; a wine, indeed, which is bene- ficial, cheering, hygienic, restorative, and wholesome. By reason of his semi-tropical climate the Australian is bathed in an atmosphere of sunshine. This has a distinct effect upon the blood, for the action of sun- light upon this fluid is to redden it — a fact which has