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AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE.
ScharlachbergnearBingen and the hills near Ingelheim.
On the former a lighter wine than the fine Rhinegau
growths is produced, but of delicate flavour. At Ingel-
heim very pleasant red wine is grown, that is treated in a
similar manner to the Assmannshausen. The heights in
both these places are considerable and sufficiently steep,
but it would appear that the want of radiation from the
surface of the Rhine is perceptible on the Hessian side.
The vineyards are also more exposed to the north and
east winds than those of the Rhinegau. Above Mayence,
near Oppenheim, the traveller again finds good sites and
names that he frequently meets with in his way. Nierstein
and Laubenheim both Iienear Oppenheim. NearWorms
he finds the celebrated “ Liebfrauenmilch ” in the church
close of “Our Lady.” The vineyard is small, but its
produce very delicious. The principal inn at Worms is,
however, the worst place at which the Liebfrauenmilch
can be asked for.
Rhenish IIesse (Rhein Hessen) has a greater extent
of surface under vines than Nassau, but the value of the
produce is very different in the two countries. The
total area is 27,842 morgens, of which 2773 morgens
fall to Bingen and 4741 to Oberingelheim. Oppenheim
has 6247 morgens. In the Rhenish province of Bavaria,
or the “ Palatinate,” the area is still greater. The vines
cover in that province 33,048 morgens, or 20,000 acres.
These vineyards are not visible from the Rhine, the banks
above Oppenheim being flat, and varied only by undu-
lating hills like those near Worms. From Oppenheim
the heights stretch westward from the river to the Mont
Tonnere, or Donnersberg, the chief mountain-chain that
stretches onward and seems to join the Vosges. The
AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE.
203
eastern declivities of these hills, where the vineyards of
Forst, Wachenheim, Deidesheim, and other good growths
are found, lie at distances varying from 10 to 20 miles
from the river’s bank. These wines are mild and with-
out acid, but possess little flavour.
The banks of the Rhine on our left, when ascending
from Mayence, are also flat ; but the beautiful Oden
chain of mountains accompanies this part of the river
at a considerable distance from its winding course. The
base of this chain, which is skirted by the well known
“ Bergstrasse, ” is clothed w ith vineyards of no celebrity,
which only help to garnish the tables or to furnish the
evening cups of the richer peasants of the neat villages
that lie along the road. The farming of this district is
managed with considerable dexterity in choosing crops
and rotations suited both to the soil and to the local
demand. But the scattered grounds, the small size of
the parcels tilled, and other economical faults, are here
still perceptible, and thwart the efforts made by the
government to spread theoretical knowledge by the
means of an admirable agricultural college established
near Darmstadt. Several of the Grand Duke’s private
estates are managed as model farms ; not that any display
of expensive instruments can be found in them, but
experiments in rotations, in the quality of seeds, and in
the manures best suited to various soils, are made on
them for the benefit of the adjacent country, where the
value of such practical aid is well understood. The dis-
inclination to generalise, and to lay down rules for culti-
vating whole provinces upon one system, is perceptible
aIong the whole course of the Rhine, and lends to its
agriculture a peculiar character that heightens the inte-