1304.] 169397)

ON THE RESTORATION OF THE CULTURE OB VINEYARDS IN ENGLAND: To the Editor of the Agricultural Magazine,

SIR,

GRICULTURKE, like other things,'has been'subjected A to the caprice of fashion, by which the mozst. valuable discoverles have been lost to this country., We are much in- debted to those who are dispozed to remind us of this neglect, and especially if it regards a Species of produce which. exten- Sively affects the public expenditure, and which increases'our dependence on foreign nations. N

"Vhese refßlections I would apply to the Subject of Vineyards,

which were formerly very common in England, but which are Dow almost wholly unknown. Those conyersant.in the local hisztory of this branch of«culture, are not uninformed/ that there was a famous vineyard at Bath, planted with white muscadine,.and black cluster grapes, which at ohe time yielded 60 hogsheads of wine ata vintage. From a wall of my Father's, which belonged to the old palace of King James, at "Theobalds, neither very long or very lofty, a hogshead of wine was.annually made for the family. „Mr. Bradley mentions a Small vineyard of a private person ät Rotherhithe, consiSting only of one hundred vines, that yielded at a vintage, 95 gallons of wine ofthe true Burgundy favour, which in quality exceeded every thing produced north of Paris.

Mr. Miller apprehends, that renewed trials, conducted with Judgment, might be attended with a Success beyond the ex- pectations that are now generally entertained. With this view, particular attention Should be gwen to the Soil, Situation, &c. Ihe best Soil, he Says, for a. vineyard in England, is Such whose Surface is a hight andy Joam, and not. above a foot and a half or two feet deep above the gravel or ehalk. The most desirable Situation is that on the; north Side of a river, upon an elevation inclining to the South, with a gra= dual descent for, draining the moisture; always open to the South, detended from the north and east by bills with a chalky Surface, and Surrounded by an open billy country. n

As to the method of plauting. vines, what is prineipally täken care of is the distance that 13 to be preserved from plant to plant, for with regard to the depth it must be regulated by the depth of the Soil.]?

I am finnly persuaded that in planting a vineyard, the plants Should be placed at least ihree feet distance one from the other, particularly'if the ground lie on the flat. My reg» 80Nns are as follow: Äs:

Ag. Mag. Vol. 10, N