462 REPOKT OF THE SECEETAET OF THE 



gated casks, and is again bunged down and allowed to rest for 

 an indefinite length of time. With the warm weather of spring 

 comes a disturbance in the wine casks; the motion is almost 

 as violent as at first, and the wine must be very carefully 

 watched, not unfrequently requiring a second drawing off ere 

 it settles down for a summer's rest. 



The manufacture of sparkling wine has not yet been 

 attempted by our vintners, but doubtless before many years those 

 who now consider it out of reach can have as delicious cham- 

 pagnes on their tables as those which grace the boards of the 

 most opulent, only, to-day. This matter of supplanting for- 

 eign wines entirely with those of home manufacture, is a 

 question of but a short time, and the day for sending hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars, each year, to Europe for beverages, 

 will have gone by. The influence of native wines upon drunk- 

 enness will also be as beneficial as it has always been in the 

 wine districts of Germany, where drunkards, in fact, are almost 

 unknown. 



The quality in grapes, of keeping well through the winter, 

 is beginning to receive attention, and certainly none other can 

 be more highly prized. N"ow we are almost entirely dependent 

 upon foreign grapes in winter. 



The Malaga grapes are brought here in sawdust, and open 

 fresh and delicious, — yet the high prices at which they are sold 

 place them out of the reach of the greater portion of people. 

 The same process in packing, it strikes us, could be adopted 

 for many of our native varieties. The Catawba, lona, Isabella, 

 and Delaware are all quite hardy, with thick skins, and thus 

 far have proved good keepers. Some of Rogers' Hybrids prom- 

 ise to be very good in this respect. Those who tried packing 

 this fruit say there is nothing better than dry sawdust, which, 

 while it keeps them from the air, does not, like some sub- 

 stances, impart any flavor. Fill all the interstices with this, 

 store in a cool room, and keep there at about an even temper- 

 ature. Keuka. 



