Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/211

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
186
ON THE CULTIVATION

a vineyard of one hundred acres in New South Wales, and what profit may reasonably be expected to be derived from such an investment.

In purchasing a piece of ground for the plantation of a vineyard, the buyer would of course select a light soil suitable for vines, and consequently easily trenched. The best French authorities recommend that the ground should be trenched to the depth of two feet, and in some parts of Europe the ground has been sometimes trenched to a much greater depth than this. I have, however, occasionally seen light friable soils in New South Wales, preserving an homogeneous character to the subjacent rock, and which seemed sufficiently loose to be adapted for vines without any necessity for trenching; but, in general, this operation is indispensably necessary. I will suppose that the operation of trenching the land to the depth of two feet costs £16. an acre. Land, the trenching of which would cost more than this would be altogether unfit for vines:—

One hundred acres of land suitable for a vineyard £100
Vine cuttings 200
Buildings and fences 200
Farming impLments, &c. 100
Expense of trenching the land at £16 the acre 1600
Expense of first year's cultivation at £10 per acre 1000
" second ditto ditto 1000
" third ditto ditto 1000
" fourth dittoditto 1000
" fifth dittoditto 1000
Expenses attending the vintage during the fifth year 600
£7,800