1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

Tlie Vineyards and Vines of the AUo Boziro.

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mode of plantation to wkich.tlie sliarp windings of the valleys give the effect of a vast amphitheatre,on the steps of which the vine grows and bears fruit. These steps, kno'wn in the Douro as calcos or geios, are foimed by cutting the ground away longitudinally, generally about five or six feet in breadth and three to four feet in depth, along the hill-side, and building up walls afoot and a-halfin width,and varyingfrom two to ten feet in height, according to the conformation of the ground, as supports. On particular slopes as many as 150 of these stone- built terraces may be counted rising one above the other. It is not merely here and there that seemingly endless lines of terraces have been constructed, but mountain after mountain wiU. have its sides scored -with them, whei-eby a strange and unpicturesque effect is imparted to the landscape. The amount of labour expended in raising these Cyclopean staircases has evidently been immense. The loose clay schistous soil in which the young vines are planted, and which in time becomes disin tegrated by atmospheric influences, is arranged nearly level,in order that the torrential rains,common tothe Upper Uouro,may not wash it away and uproot the vines. Itis no uncommon thing during heavy storms for vines,and walls even,to be swept away, and for the former to be carried down the Douro by thousands. The practice is to plant the vines in rows and from two and a-half to upwards of three feet apart, with one or more rows on each terrace, according to its width. The cost of planting a vineyard of this description is always considerable, and at times enormous. It varies from about .£9 to <£45 for 1,000 vines. As on an acre of soil not more than a couple of thousand vines can be planted,it follows that the cost per acre on the more difficult sites is as much as <£90. At present it is even more, the price of labour having increased greatly of late, so that the average cost may be estimated at £50 per acre at the very least. The work is usually done by the job and by natives of Gallicia—Grallegos, as they are commonly called who arrive in the Upper Douro regularly every October,and return to their native mountains in the April or May following. In eveiy new