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Fourthly, The emigrant, not being wealthy enough to purchase a farm near a market-town, must live at such a distance from one as will considerably increase his domestic expenses: and

Fifthly, The objectionable principles on which land is granted. In contradistinction to the objections, the author very fairly presents a list of the inducements or advantages of emigration to these colonies, which likewise deserve the emigrant's attention:

First The interest of money lent on mortgage varies from ten to twelve and a half per cent., but the latter may easily be procured; this will, most probably, be the case for the next five years or more, and eight per cent. during a number of years afterwards. Therefore, a person who possesses a capital of, say 4,000l., from which he derives in England only from 1407. to 2001. per annum, would here be able to secure, for a short time, an income of from 400l. to 500l. per annum.

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Second The climate of these regions, notwithstanding the droughts and hot winds, is far superior to that of the Canadas; at all events, it is better adapted for wool and many other productions. Third The settler has nothing to do with taxes, tithes, poor rates, or parish business of any kind; matters which at home occasion considerable inconvenience and discontent.

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Fourth-Provisions of every description are plentiful, and extremely cheap.

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Fifth-Servants are not nearly so expensive as at home; and from the variety of their trades, the settler can generally calculate upon making, upon his own estate, almost every article he may require. The preceding observations apply equally to the two colonies; with this exception, that in Van Dieman's Land servants are comparatively expensive, and the price of provisions is not much lower than in England.

The work, it will be seen, is altogether practical, being destitute of any affectation of the dignified traveller, whose object is to endeavour to obtain for his name some literary repute. There is great good sense, and much impartiality in the author; but, speaking of the impression which an unprejudiced perusal of the book has made upon ourselves, we do not hesitate to say, that our Old English home is now considerably dearer in our eyes, and to our hearts, than ever it was before.

ART. VIII-A History and Description of Modern Wines. By Cyrus Redding. 1 vol. 8vo. London: Whittaker & Co. 1833. We have had several works on the subject which has been chosen for illustration by Mr. Redding, by men who, from their pursuits and reputations, were very likely to do justice to the theme; but in almost all instances these authors appear to have paid considerably

more attention, to antient wines than to those of modern invention. It cannot be denied, therefore, that Mr. Redding, who undertakes the history and description of the latter, is entitled to the credit of performing a very useful task. In pursuing his subject, he has divested his composition of all those technical obscurities, of all abstruseness, and particularly of that alloy of antient learning and mysterious terms, which render the work of Dr. Henderson, on this subject, so repugnant to general readers. In addition to all this, the present author has rendered the tables of former historians of wine, which hitherto could not be relied on, of the greatest value in con sequence of their accuracy. Mr. Redding's contribution, then, is not merely an official account of the scientific processes of the manufactures of wines, but it is a varied collection of very curious facts in a highly interesting branch of natural history, which will conduce to the entertainment even of those who may be careless of the pleasures of wine, but yet partial to the contemplation of the beautiful phenomena of the vegetable kingdom... aban tod han esdogort

Before we enter upon the subjects of the respective chapters, it is proper to take the opportunity of stating, that at the heads of each of them are placed ornamental designs, beautiful in execution and strikingly pleasing, as well as ingeniously apposite, in their subject to the contents of the chapter. Mr. Redding commences with an account of the origin and varieties of the vine, and the places in which it has been and is now cultivated. He gives a full account of the best methods of treating it for the purposes of the vintage, with such particulars as render his history highly instructive and interesting. The course of the vintage forms the subject of the next two chapters, and it is considered by the author with a copiousness and minuteness of information, such as gives to it a character of great value. The series of processes which are necessary to the formation of the liquor, from the period at which the grapes are gathered to that when the wine is in its perfect state, appear to impose on the manufacturers of it a vast deal of labour and pains. The whole are regularly explained according to the succession in which the opera tions are performed, and are both numerous and tedious, and require much experience and judgment to do them well. In the year 1823, the latest account which appears to have been accessible to Mr. Redding, the number of hectares of land (two English acres and a half to each hectare) in frame, under vine cultivation, amounted to 1,736,056 or about 4,000,000 of our acres, producing an annual sum of about twenty-two millions and a half of pounds sterling. A portion of this produce, amounting, says Mr. Redding, to 5,229,880 hectolitres, is distilled into brandy, and produces 751,945 hectolitres of spirit, of different degrees of strength, besides 70,015 distilled from the murk, yielding 37,288 of alcohol; the produce in pure alcohol being 469,817 hectolitres. The total value of wines and brandies exported from France into foreign countries in 1823 was 76,639,026 francs, or 3,193,2927. 15s. sterling. Thus, besides growing corn

and vegetables upon a system by no means complete or economical, besides all her sterile lands, (and, in a great part of the middle and south, having a defective husbandry compared to that of England,) France annually exports above three millions sterling of her agricultural produce,—a proof of the great fertility of her climate; and when her population is taken into account, a thing by no means discreditable to her industry. Over and above the foregoing quantity of brandy, 93,457 hectolitres are distilled from corn and other substances, besides the vine; and between eleven and twelve millions of hectolitres of beer, perry, and cider are made. From these latter, as well as corn and potatoes, brandy is also distilled, carrying the total amount of brandy of all kinds to 915,417 hectolitres, or 553,086 hectolitres 27 litres of pure alcohol.

The wines are said to be oppressively taxed in France, the duties upon them amounting in the aggregate to no less than 4,800,0007. The short-sighted policy which such an exaction implies is one of those faults of ignorance with which most of the old governments of Europe abound. From this and other regulations of the like nature we are often tempted to believe that they are designedly destined for the discouragement of the industry of the country. At all events, no government could witness the results of the tax on wines, on the scale of those of French wine, for any length of time, without being assured of the folly of the proceeding. As the duty is bad in principle, so is the mode in which it is laid on; for it is so distributed and apportioned, that the grower is encouraged to trust chiefly to the lower rate of wines, for to profit by the choicest quality would scarcely be in his power, in consequence of the heavy duties which are imposed upon it. Mr. Redding strongly recommends the introduction of French wines, which we never can rival, in exchange for English commodities. He states as a curious fact, that the alcohol in wine combined in the natural way, when drank in that state, is not productive of those complaints of the liver, and similar diseases, which arise from drinking the brandied wines of Portugal, in which the spirit is foreign. This is a remarkable fact. The union of the alcohol, mingled with the other ingredients of the wine by artificial means, is never perfect, and is beyond calculation more pernicious than the strongest natural product.

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The first of the French wines in excellence and reputation is the Champagne, so called from the place of its growth. It is in the department of the Marne that the most famous of these wines are made there being dedicated to the growth of the vine for this pose, 110 hectares of land in the arrondissement of Chalons-surMarne; 6856 in that of Epernay, 425 in that of St. Menehould, 9029 in that of Rheims, and 2646 in that of Vitry-sur-Marne. The reader, we are sure, will be desirous of knowing something of the history of a process, by which he has probably been more than once much gratified. appears that about Christmas, after the vintage, the fermentation being complete, the wine is racked.

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is always done in dry weather, and if possible during the frost. A month after it is racked a second time, and fined with isinglass. Before it is bottled it undergoes a third racking, and a second fining. There are some makers of wine who only fine it once after the second racking, and immediately bottle it, taking care that it has been well fined in the cask; others rack it twice, but fine it at each racking. The best wines are always able to bear three rackings, and two finings; and the benefit of such a repetition is found of the utmost importance afterwards in managing the wine when bottled.'

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The greatest caution is taken to provide stout bottles of uniform thickness for the wine that is to effervesce, and the slight est malformation in a bottle, which is sure to be found in an inquiry of the most scrupulous exactness, at once determines its rejection from the honours of such a trust as it had been destined for, With respect to the cause of the effervescence, Mr. Redding tells us that it is owing the carbonic acid gas, produced in the process of fermentation. This gas being resisted in the fermentation of the white wine, scarcely begins to develope itself in the cask, but is very quickly reproduced in bottle. In this process the saccharine, and tartarous principles are decomposed. If the latter principle predominates, the wine effervesces strongly, but is weak; if the saccharine principle be considerable, and the alcohol found in sufficient quantity to limit its decomposition, the quality is good. The wines do not effervesce in uniform times, some will do it after being in bottle fifteen days, others will demand as many months. One wine will require a change of temperature, and must be brought from the underground cellar to a cellar on the surface; another will not exhibit the desired quality until August.

The bottles being filled and properly corked are arranged in heaps, and in such a way as to allow any of them to be withdrawn from the heap for the purpose of being examined. In July .or August the season of breakage comes on, and sometimes considerable losses are sustained by the visitation. It generally ceases however in the month of September, and in October they "lift the pile," as it is called, which means taking the bottles down, one by one, putting aside the broken ones, and setting on their bottoms those which appear, in spite of the cork and sealing, which are entire, to have stirred a little, upon examining the vacant space in the neck. Bottles are sometimes found in this state to have diminished in quantity to the amount of one-half, by evaporation. This loss must be replaced. In the other bottles there is observed a deposition which it is necessary to remove. For this latter purpose the bottles are first placed in an inclined position of about twenty-five degrees, and, without removing them a shake is given to each twice or thrice a day, to detach the sediment. Planks, having holes in them for the necks of the bottles, are placed in the cellar to receive them, thus slopingly, three or VOL. III. (1833) NO. III.

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four thousand together. For ten or fifteen days they are submitted to the before-mentioned agitation, which is managed by the workmen with some dexterity, so as to place all the deposition in the neck next to the cork, and leave the wine perfectly limpid. Each bottle is then taken by the bottom, kept carefully in its reversed position, and the wire and twine being broken, the bottle resting between the workman's knees, the cork is dexterously withdrawn, so as to admit an explosion of the gas, which carries the deposition with it. An index is then introduced into the bottle, to measure the height to which the wine should ascend, and the deficiency is immediately made good with wine that has before undergone a similar operation. As it was by no means an easy task to do this from the evaporation of the gas while the bottle was open, an instrument has been invented, and is every where used for the purpose, which it is not necessary to describe here. The bottle is now a second time corked, and wired.

Mr. Redding next presents us with a very full account of the well known wine called Burgundy, the most perfect, he observes, of all wines for those qualities that are deemed most essential to their perfections. The flavour of Burgundy is delicious, the bouquet exquisite, and the superior delicacy which it possesses justly entitles it to be held in the highest estimation. The fine wines of Upper Burgundy, in the arrondissement of Dijon, are the produce of about seven hundred hectares, while in the arrondissement of Beaune seven thousand are cultivated for making the prime growths. The arrondissement of Dijon produces the red and white Chambertin. They also make there an effervescing Chambertin, a wine only inferior to very good Champagne, but it wants the delicate bouquet of champagne, by the absence of which it is easily detected. The French complain of its having too much strength, but this would recommend it in England. It is a very delicate wine notwithstanding, and highly agreeable to the palate. It has been recently imported into London, and is much commended.

In Beaune the wine country is much more extensive than at Dijon, and its aspect is north east by south-west. The first commune of the wine country is Vougeot, in which the vineyard is seen forming an enclosure of about forty-eight hectares. Here is produced the celebrated wine called Clos Vougeot. Above this is another choice spot, called the Essejaux, a famous source of wine, and belonging to the notorious Ouvrard. In the commune of Aloxe, a wine called Corton is grown, which is in the highest repute. The ground from which it is made gives only ten or twelve litres of wine each hectare, of which there are but forty-six. Nothing is more remarkable or unaccountable than the difference of production in these fine wine districts. The most delicious wine is sometimes grown on one little spot only, in the midst of vineyards which produce no others but of the ordinary quality: while, in another place, the product of a vine

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