STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 289 



may be considered ripe when the green color of the stem, which holds the cluster, turn* 

 of a brown, wood; color, the bunches begin to hang down heavily on the canes, the ber- 

 ries becoming Boft, a thill and transparent skin, the juices vinous, sweet, thick and adhe- 

 sive, the Beads Dree of the pulp, and dry. It is an important matter to begin with our 

 grapes in rL r ht condition, in order to make good wine. Unripe grapes, or those which 

 arc dead ripe, will disappoint as in our expectation of making j^ood wine. In the iirst 

 place, the proper amount of BUgar La not developed ; in the second place, the proper vin- 

 ous acids arc too slow in becoming neutralized to make a rich syrup-likc wine, besides 

 there being a great deal less in quantity. We will take it for granted that every member 

 of this Society understands the mode of mashing the grape and pressing the must or 

 wine from the same ; but it may he that every one does not understand that there must 

 be a proper proportion of sugar and tartaric acid in the must, in order to have wine that 

 will keep, and be of a proper healthy character. Experiments continued through a 

 es of years have convinced our chemists that in favorable seasons, when our Catawba 

 grape ripens well, our must consists of 24(5 lbs. of sugar in every 1,000 lbs. of must, of 

 (5 lbs. of free acids, the majority being tartaric acid, and the balance of the 1,000 lbs. 

 being 754 lb*, of water. Tbis is called a normal must. When our grapes, from the 

 effects of mildew and early dropping of the foliage, fail to ripen well, we must be con- 

 tent with inferior wine, or we must add of grape sugar sufficient to bring it up to the 

 standard ; but adding of grape sugar, although advocated and practised by many, has 

 not yet been generally adopted. 



I give here no opinion as to the propriety of adding grape sugar to bring the must up 

 to the standard. We have now the must 6cale and the widimeter by which we can 

 ascertain with much correctness the proportion of sugar and acids in the must as it 

 runs from the press. Must which weighs 4 degrees by the scale, is considered normal 

 must, and may be allowed to go through the stages of fermentation without the addi- 

 tion of more sugar. This must, however, may have a superabundance of acids in its 

 composition, which we must either neutralize or be content to drink wine which is too 

 sour to suit most American palates. But I will not here go into the question of Gall- 

 Ising. After the first pressing, there is still left behind in the husks a considerable 

 amount of sugar and acids, which, by the addition of soft water and being allowed to 

 remain in the vat until fermentation takes place, will make either good vinegar or a 

 very pleasant summer drink ; and this process may be repeated even a second tinio 

 with some varieties of must, as the Concord, which gives up its saccharine and acid 

 material more slowly than the Catawba. The lees too may be made profitable by those 

 who may wish to make brandy of a very fine quality ; or it may be made useful as a 

 stimulant for flat or insipid wine; and we are advised to keep a supply always on 

 hand for this purpose; but in what manner it may be kept for this purpose, I cannot 

 advise the reader. The seeds we are told are valuable for firing and giving strength to 

 weak wine, lor which purpose they must be well dried and hung up in a dry, airy place. 

 Fermentation for six or eight days in the vat for rich must, and two or three days for 

 weak mu-t i- advi-ed by some standard writers, before the wine Ifl put into easks to go 

 into the cellar. Much of the good qualities of wine depends upon the proper fermenta- 

 tion before it is placed in the cellar. The larger the quantity of grapes gathered for 

 pressing at the same time, and the larger the quantity of mu-t undergoing fermenta- 

 tion at the same time, and the largerthe cask in which it is placed in the cellar, up to the 

 6ize of 800 gallons, the better is the quality of the wine produced. When fermentation 



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