The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-02-20
RURAL MADEIRA.

Nt Hal. MADEIRA, Jan. {, 19O2.
Juid never do to leave Madeira
MT paving some attention to its
pal industry, that of vine max
For nearly six centuries the wines
,- island have been famous-ever
... tie Introduction of the wine from
MS. by the royal house of Braganza.
mes long past they were the ia
Leverage in England, for all
~ could afford the price. Evidently
>e,peare (or Lord Bacon?) was
utiuted with them for he makes
.u~ say to Falstatf; Jack, how
-,t the devil and thee about thy
which thou Soidest to him on
Dol Friday last for cup of Madeira?''
so Falstatf's day, generations OF
-e-,elug EngliShmen have continued
mack their lips and sing songs to
Mdimeey;" until sixty years or so
Wien the Prince Regent conceived
ll-l that malmsey was conducive
lUt and took to drinking sherry in
sl His govt. by the way. did not
.."ye. for lifelong gluttony went
nr back than wine; but all his
Tors at home, and Anglo Maniacs
4 immediately followed the fash
t0TSaking malms+y The best
tns. however have always
aued contrary opinion: and
these islanders, who naturally
most of their own beverage. that
,1 Of ariStocracy- gout-ls IN
HAu Madeira wine has never been
-. a y popular in the United States
badly because ours is too new a
Try to be generally up" in such
tiers. and within the last uuarter-
ny, since California wines have
to the front, our importation
Madeira has fallen off to less than
~ thousand dollars per annum.
former times the wine industry of
sland yielded an annual average
-iIrty thousand pipes up to the year
when. without the slightest warn
a blight fell upon fruit and plant,
HAT in single season the output
vine declined to less than one hun
.l pipes. That sad state of things
atlnued for twenty years, bringing
.-tty and distress to the islanders,
the wines were almost annihilated
tIr fungus known as oideum tucker.
f--r while the culture of sugar-cane
red portion of Madelras lost
perity, and later way was found
eouuteracting the blight and par
= IeSumlng the production of wine.
MAS done by blowing the powder
sulphur flowers all over the vines
grapes several times during
s-ou-a most tedious process, as may
readily imagined. Still later came
discovery that American vines
.-- Il the poisonous fungi; and great
.y of them were imported to
.lrIIa. with the best results. But
Supplemented natives imported
e1 things from America along with
vines. with the disastrous conse-
tay5s OF the knowledge OF good and
Which came into Eden with the
.-l4 of forbidden fruit and Madeira
no longer to be depended upon
a. Iulr.
- ILLS Of Madeira are cultivated
base to summit Some of the
- vineyards and gardens are two
t~aA,l, OF even three thousand feet,
re the sea. The mountains, too,
-tllaceQ to their very tops, like
--- Of Titan stairs. Jaunting around
und, you see peasants at work in
poor little patches on the narrow
YES; sometimes SO far above you
Of t4ey look like ants on the noun
tie, and you marvel at the amount
4bor and daily climbing necessary
lrh small results So few and scant
he level spaces on this side of the
lll shat even the thTeshing floors
rerraced platforms, often over
tnEng dangerous precipices. Up and
these fearful decllvties men and
Ian travel all day, bearing heavy
on their heads; and always at a
more rapid more graceful, and APP
Gently more easy than one commonly
r- 0u the level roads of other coun-
Perhaps the habit of bearing
Hlens on the head is responsible for
together with the free and easy
fements that naturally come from
t''r having been hampered by corsets,
a'.S or too many clothes. The rural
+aIelrans are a musical race, always
Ntng as they trot merrily along, Of
. under burdens that would stagger d
4.e and challenging each other to
.1pro7isatlon when they meet on the
"4l. OF their oxen are treading out
eat To be sure, the music is rather
tIbrlous, and rendered as dolefully as
IIneral dirge; but it serves to Indicate
cheerful disposition and practical
b'sophy of the peasants. There is a
0uNderable infusion of African blood
..en veins, (Which may account for
nlslcj, because slavery once exist
the island and after its abolition