at greatly deteriorates the value of the
growths over which its influence extends. The practice of plucking the
leaves of the vines to admit the genial heat of the sun to the fruit,
as well as a free circulation of air, has been found most beneficial
in bringing the fruit to perfection. This process is also a source of
emolument to the planter, as the leaves form an excellent food for
fattening cattle destined for the shambles, giving also to the meat a
fine and delicious flavour.

The wines of Madeira generally may be divided into three
denominations, and may be thus described.

_Tinto_ is a red wine, the produce of the Burgundy grape, transplanted
to Madeira. It is drank in perfection in the second and third years,
before it has deposited its extractive matter, after which it becomes a
full bodied Madeira wine, of the usual colour and flavour.

_Sercial_ is the produce of the Hock grape: a pale, lively, and very
high-flavoured wine. It ought not to be drank in less than seven years,
and it requires a much greater age to reach perfection.

_Malmsey_, when genuine, is a rich and highly cordial wine. There is a
variety of it called _green Malmsey_, bearing some resemblance to
Frontignan.

The first quality of the Madeira wine is certainly equal to the finest
production of the grape in any part of the world, for its aromatic
flavour and beneficial effects: therefore it is much to be lamented
that so small a quantity of it, in its pure state, should find its way
to foreign markets: and that its character should be sacrificed to the
sordid speculations of any unprincipled traders. Wine drinkers in
England are very commonly deceived into the idea that a voyage to the
East or West Indies is sufficient to ensure the excellence of the
wine; but this is an obvious fallacy, for if the wine were not of a
good quality when shipped from the island, a thousand voyages could
not make it what it never had been. It is well known to every merchant
in Madeira, that a great proportion of the wines so shipped are of an
inferior quality, and are purchased in barter by persons who are
commonly known by the name of truckers.

I may here observe, as a general remark, that fine Madeira wines are
equally improved by the extremes of heat and cold, and that damp is
always hurtful to them.

Burgundy vines have lately been introduced into Madeira. The generally
received opinion that the wines of Teneriffe and the Azores are
brought here for