AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS AND RURAL ECONOMY. 71 



before they are filled ; or, what I think would be better, by washing out the casks with clear 

 lime-water. One large piece of lime put into a hogshead of water, and allowed to settle, 

 would answer the purpose. Some brimstone matches burned in the casks would have a ten- 

 dency to prevent fermentation." — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



Krauser's Patent Portable Cider and Wine Mill. 



The peculiar feature of this mill is an arrangement of reciprocating pistons, which, by 

 their alternate action, will cause a quantity of apples or grapes continually to advance with 

 irresistible force against the passing teeth of a rapidly-revolving cylinder, so that by the 

 action of the latter the whole fruit is at once reduced to pulp, and discharged into the tub 

 beneath the mill. The idea intended, and which is thus beautifully and effectively reduced to 

 practice, is that of exactly imitating the action of the human hand in holding an apple 

 against the teeth of a revolving cylinder until it is entirely reduced to pulp. 



On the Manufacture of Wine, and the Cultivation of the Grape for the 



Vintage in the United States. 



The following article on the already important branch of American industry — the manu- 

 facture of wine and the cultivation of the grape for the vintage — has been prepared from 

 three several articles, which have been recently published in the Philadelphia Horticultu- 

 ralist, Putnam's Magazine, and Mansfield's Railroad Journal. 



The cultivation of the vine, as an article yielding commercial products, has only recently 

 commenced in the United States ; but its extension is so rapid, that the day cannot be far 

 distant when wine will be classed among the great staple productions of the country. In 

 the valley of Ohio, taking Cincinnati for a centre, within a radius of twenty miles are 

 planted fifteen hundred acres of vine-yards, two-thirds of which are in bearing. The 

 average yield will not be estimated at less than two hundred and fifty gallons of wine per 

 acre, which will give, as the present yield, two hundred and fifty thousand gallons of 

 wine, worth from one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. The rapidity with 

 which this cultivation increases may be inferred from the statistics, which show that last 

 year were sold in Cincinnati two millions of grape-cuttings, and four hundred thousand 

 roots ; a quantity sufficient to plant more than six hundred acres of vineyards. These 

 were distributed to every part of the Union, from New York to Missouri, and as far south 

 as Georgia and Texas. The average prices were, for cuttings, two dollars and a half per 

 thousand, and for roots, forty dollars per thousand. It is interesting to know that while 

 the increase has been so large in the quantity of wine manufactured, the demand increases 

 in a still greater ratio. The first cultivators found considerable difficulty in obtaining a 

 market for the produce of their vines, but now they have a ready market for their vintage 

 at good prices. In addition to the amount under cultivation for grapes above stated, other 

 parts of the South and West are extensively employed in the same manner. At Hermann, 

 Missouri, there are five hundred acres, and in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 

 lina, and Georgia are probably as many acres more. 



The quantity of wine made in the United States, According to the details of the two 

 last census returns, is as follows : — 



In 1840, the whole amount returned was 124,733 gallons; in 1850, 219,101 gallons; 

 increase, 80 per cent. An examination of the following table shows that the cultivation 

 of the vine does not succeed in some States where it has been already attempted: 



In 1840, Pennsylvania produced 14,328 gallons ; in 1850, 25,990 



