MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGTCAL SOCIETY. 401 



but not SO close as to crack the seeds. As the grape forms 

 the foundation of all wine, whether '• still" or "sparkling," it 

 is of the grertest importance that only well matured ripe grapes 

 be used, and then sorted as carefully as those designed for 

 table use. If a single green or unripe cluster be allowed to 

 pass the mill, no future eifort can call it back, as it mingles 

 with and deteriorates the finer qualities of the whole. Here, 

 too, it must be determined the kind of wine to be made, for if 

 white wine is to be made, it must be pressed immediately, 

 while if red wine is desired, it must stand for a time in order 

 to extract the coloring matter from the skins. If it is desired 

 to make press wine, the grapes fall directly from the mill to 

 the press, which is furnished with a slated curb, and the wine 

 is immediately pressed out; when the pulp and skins, or 

 husks, as the pomace is termed, is put in a tight vat or cask 

 and allowed to pass the first fermentation, being treated just 

 like wine^ and is termed brandy material. Where grapes are 

 pressed immediately after grinding, most varieties make a 

 white wine, although some have a dark-colored pulp and con- 

 sequently make a red wine, but this is not the case with all 

 black grapes. As the wine runs from the press, it is conducted 

 through rubber tubes to the store-casks in the cellar below. 

 These casks, as fast as filled, are close by small sand-bags, so 

 as to prevent the admission of air as far as possible, while the 

 gas, which the wine gives off during its fermentation, is allowed 

 to escape. 



Another and better means of accomplishing this, is by fitting 

 tightly to the bung-hole a curved tube, with the open end ter- 

 minating in a vessel filled witli water, the gas escaping by 

 bubbling up through the water, the casks being perfectly air- 

 tight. When the bubbling ceases and the wine becomes quiet, the 

 tubes (or sand-bags) are removed, and the casks closely bunged, 

 when it is allowed to rest from one to four months, when it is 

 racked off, leaving all the sediment behind. 



The wine, as it is drawn off, is put into clean and well fumi- 



