In Tokay the vines are never trellised,
they are disposed irregularly, not even in rows--the better to escape
the denudation of their roots by rain. Each vine is supported by an oak
stick, which, removed in autumn, is replaced in spring after the
process of pruning. When the young shoots are long enough they are bound
to these sticks, and are not allowed to grow beyond them.
No less than three times during the summer the earth should be dug up
round the roots of the vine, and it is very desirable to get the second
digging over before the harvest, for when harvest has once commenced it
is impossible to get labourers at any price. The harvest operations
generally begin at the end of June, and last six weeks. In the part of
Hungary of which I am now speaking the labourer gets a certain
proportion of the harvest. In this district he has every eleventh stack
of corn, and as they are fed as well during the time, a man and his wife
can generally earn enough corn for the whole year. The summers are
intensely hot, and the work in consequence very fatiguing. The poor
fellows are often stricken with fever, the result, in some cases, of
their own imprudence in eating water-melons to excess.
It is not till the third or fourth week in October that the vintage is
to be looked for. It is not the abundance of grapes that makes a good
year; the test is the amount of dried grapes, for it is to these brown
withered-looking berries that the unique character of the-wine is due.
Pages:
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322