MICHIGAN" STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 431 



paring the products of the several kinds of wine, in all the 

 various stages of preparation. Afterwards we went to work to 

 test the condition of the grapes that were then on the vines, 

 and which were about to be gathered. 



The first tried was the Catawba. As fruit, we have never 

 tasted the Catawba in finer perfection than we found them 

 here. Berries large, bunches heavy, pulp melting, aroma very 

 fine and delicious. The juice was expressed through a flannel 

 bag, and, under the test, it was found that it yielded 83'^ of 

 sugar and i)^ of acid, with the thermometer standing at 

 06'^. It was concluded that these grapes, which any ordinary 

 grape-grower would have pronounced perfect, would stand 

 with advantage a week or two longer, as the acid was yet too 

 heavy by fully two degrees. 



The next tried was the Delaware, which exhibited 91'' of 

 sugar and 8f of acid. The Delaware grapes were remarkably 

 luscious to the taste, but they were rather high of acid, though 

 nearly perfect as regards sugar. At the Pleasant Valley vine- 

 yards of New York, the Catawba is accounted perfection when 

 it yields 84° of sugar, the Delaware 92°, and the Isabellas 75°. 

 We tested, at the same time, the Delaware must, that had been 

 expressed the day before, and found it yielded 92° of saccharine 

 matter and 7i° of acid, so that it was in the very best stage 

 for making wine of the highest quality. 



The Ives' Seedling was the next tried. This grape, to us, 

 when picked off the vines, had a very pleasant, mild, rather 

 sweet taste, and a thin skin. It seemed to us in its most per- 

 fect stage of ripeness. It exhibited 78° of saccharine and 6^° 

 of acid, showing that it was in the true stage for wine-making. 

 But, of course, with this percentage of sugar, would only 

 make a light wine, like the Sauternes of France. 



We next came to the K"orton's Virginia. This grape is high 

 colored, being almost a shiny black, a small berry, a compact 

 bunch, and is npt an agreeable table variety. It exhibited 97° 

 of sugar, and 13° of acid. There, it will be seen, was a must 



