146 On the Cultivation of the Vine, 



having boiled and fkimmed it, pour it boiling hot into the 

 cafk ; clofe it and again fhake it, after which fufter it to 

 drain oft*. 



2d, Warm wine may be employed in (lead of the above 

 preparations. 



3d, An infufion of the flowers of the peach-tree, &c. may 

 alfo be ti fed. 



When the cafks have acquired any bad quality, fuch as 

 lvmftinefs, &c. they muft be burnt: it is poffible to conceal 

 thefe defects, but there is reafon to fear they might reappear. 



The antient Romans put gypfum, mvrrh, and various aro- 

 matic fubftances into the talks into which their wines were 

 removed from the vat. This is what thev called conditura 

 vinorum. The Greeks fometimes added a little bruifed myrrh 

 and argil. Thefe fub fiances not only perfumed the wine, but 

 ferved alio to clarify it. 



When the cafks are properly prepared, they are deposited 

 on cafk-fl'ands, and thus railed fome inches from the ground, 

 both to prevent the action of putrid humidity, and for the 

 more convenient drawing off the wine which they contain. 

 They mult be arranged in parallel rows in the cellar, with 

 fufficient room between for a perfon to examine whether any 

 of them leaks. 



In the cafks thus' prepared the wine is depofited : when it 

 is thought to have remained a fufficient time in the vat for 

 this purpofe, the tap of the vat, which is railed fome inches 

 above the ground, is opened, and the wine is differed to run 

 into a refervoir, generally conftrucled below, or into a veffel 

 placed on purpofe to receive it: the wine is immediately 

 drawn from the refervoir and carried to the cafks, into which 

 it is introduced by means of a funnel. 



The liquor which floats over the depofit of the vat is Called 

 in Burgundy furmout. This furmout is carefully drawn off, 

 and put into cafks capable of containing 30 gallons, or into 

 half cafks of 15. This furmout forms a lighter kind of wine, 

 more delicate and lefs coloured. 



When all the wine which the vat can furnifh has been 

 drawn off, nothing remains but the head, which has funk 

 down ahnoft to the depofit. This refufe is (till impregnated 

 with wine, and retains fuch a quantity, that it may be ex- 

 tracted by means of the prefs. But as the head, which has 

 been in contact with the atmofpheric air, for the moft part 

 contracts a little acidity, cfpecially when the vintage has re- 

 mained a longr time in the vat, it in 11 11 be carefully feparated, 

 in order to he prefled by iifelf ; by which means it will pro- 

 duce very good vinegar. 



When 



