such accidents, which are fortunately of very rare occurrence in New South Wales, I do not think, therefore, that I should be assuming too great a quantity in taking four hundred gallons of wine as the average for an- acre of vines planted in that colony, on an appropriate site and suitable soil. The expenses attendant on the cultivation of the grape and production of wine, are, as I have before stated, £5. 5s for St. Emilien, and £4. 10s. for Grève, for each English acre. Near Xeres, in Spain, the expense is about £12. for the acre. In large vineyards, in France, two men are required to cultivate every ten acres of vines.[1] Assuming that in New South Wales, three men are requisite to do the same amount of labour as three Frenchmen, and that the wages of these men are £20. a year for two of them, and £36. a year for the third, (who, we will suppose, has some previously acquired knowledge of the culture of the vine), and that their rations cost £8. each, the expense of cultivating ten acres of vines in that colony would be £100., or £10. for every acre. The wages of extra hands during the vintage, cost of casks, &c. may be taken at £6. the acre, making the total annual expense, attending the production of colonial wine, £16. an acre, according to my estimate.
I will now endeavour to ascertain what would be the probable amount of capital required to establish
- ↑ Mr. Busby says, that in France it is reckoned, that after a vineyard is once planted, one man will be able to cultivate about four acres and a half, not counting the labours of the vintage.
