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2

Wines.

of

culture

from

the

earliest

ages,

and

its

history

is

inseparably

connected

with

those

countries

where

it

flourishes.

It

is

capable

of

producing

many

varie-

ties

of

wines,

possessing

different

qualities,

the

result

of

peculiarities

of

soil

and

climate,

as

well

as

of

the

aspect

it

presents

to

the

sun,

and

other

causes,

many

of

which

are

not

yet

well

ascertained.

Thus

it

happens

that

one

vineyard,

perhaps

sepa-

rated

from

the

next

by

merely

a

few

stakes,

and

without

particular

difference

of

soil,

culture,

or

aspect,

may

produce

a

far

superior

wine

to

its

neighbour.

Sir

Emerson

Tennant

tells

us,

that,

The

finest

known

wines

are

the

produce

of

soils

the

combination

and

proportions

of

whose

ingre-

dients

are

extremely

rare

and

exceptional;

and

co-

operating

with

these,

they

require

the

agency

of

peculiar

degrees

of

light,

moisture,

and

heat.

The

richest

wine

of

France,

Italy,

Hungary,

Madeira,

and

Teneriffe

are

grown

on

the

sites

of

extinct

vol-

canoes.”

If

proof

be

required

of

the

value

of

the

adage,

not

to

trust

to

appearances,”

we

would

recommend

a

visit

to

some

of

the

celebrated

vine-

lands

of

Europe

;

for

example,

those

of

Mddoc,

near

Bordeaux,

where

the

traveller's

classical

associations

connected

with

the

vine

would

be

much

disturbed

on

viewing

the

cropped

and

stunted

expanse

of