432 EEPOET OF THE SECEETAET OF THE 



that would stand a great reduction by water, and as long as 

 the proportion of sugar w^as kept above 76° there would be no 

 extra sugar required. It is, therefore, a grape that many wine- 

 makers would prefer, especially where quantity rather than 

 quality was desired. However, we do not know what a longer 

 exposure on the vines would do to it. A mixed must, com- 

 posed of one-half Concord, one-quarter Norton's Virginia, and 

 one-quarter Ives' Seedling, gave the elements of a first-class 

 wine of about the strength of ordinary Burgundy, viz: 84f° 

 sugar and 6f acid. 



The Delaware Aviue of 1870 was placed under the acidome- 

 ter, and yielded 5|° of acid. The Red Concord of 1870 was 

 also tested, and exhibited G^ of acid. The White Concord of 

 the same year was also tested, and found to contain 5^ of acid. 



With these exact tests, it will readily be seen that the wine- 

 makers wlio understand their business can readily get a fair 

 knowledge of the condition of their vintage, and that without 

 that kind of knowledge their woik must be all guesswork. 



WrNE-MAKIKG. 



The grapes, Avhen it is decided to gather them, are clipped 

 off with shears and placed in baskets, and these baskets are 

 gathered and carried in hand-carts to the press-room. This 

 room is in the upper story of a building that is constructed to 

 serve as a wine-cellar and store-house. It is built in the most 

 substantial manner, with the foundation on the limestone 

 rock, which serves as a floor to the cellar. The walls are built 

 of stone on the outside, and are lined with brick inside, with 

 an air-chamber between the brick and the stone, to serve as a 

 non-conductor. The temperature in this building is kept be- 

 tween 60 and 65 degrees all the year round. The upper story 

 to which the grapes are carried, is furnished with a press, and 

 with vats into which the grapes are first thrown. They are 

 afterwards pressed, and the musb is placed in the fermenting 

 vats, till it goes through the first fermentation. It is then 

 drawn off into casks, where it goes through the second fer- 



