990 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



one pint of fresh olive oil per hogshead, followed by pasteurisation, will 

 give good results. In the long run it is better to distil a mouldy 

 wine as soon as it is noticed as it will rarely pay for treat- 

 ment, and if the disease be advanced there is a danger of the spirit 

 produced becoming tainted. 



The wine maker should never be a wine doctor. The defects that 

 his wines may occasionally have should be remedied in their very 

 earliest stages, or else the wines should be at once distilled. In hot 

 climates, where high temperatures add to the difficulties of cellar 

 work, the rational process which will soon become universal will be 

 the sterilization of all wines as soon as fermentation has ceased. Im- 

 proved methods are being discovered every day to preserve all 

 forms of perishable foods, and yet wine seems the very last to be 

 considered worthy of a treatment that is as economical as it is effi-. 

 cacious. The amount of Avine that is annually distilled in Victoria is 

 out of all proportion to the production, and the cause, quite apart 

 from the demand for spirit, can be safely credited to the careless, 

 ignorant, and even dirty methods of handling wine. How often 

 when entering a cellar is the vitiated air more reminiscent of a vinegar 

 factory. During vintage the skins and stalks are left to breed 

 disease within a few yards of the cellar. Where by chance there are 

 drains they are seldom cleaned. The stillages and outside of the 

 casks are often coated with a layer of spilled wine or lees as is the 

 floor, which for appearance sake occasionally receives a few liandfuls 

 of lime. Under these conditions, which are more freqvient than most 

 people would suppose, with every encouragement given to the 

 breeding of the very germs that should be most avoided, it is no 

 wonder that the wines become contaminated. The walls and ceiling, 

 and stillages, should be kept whitewashed with a lime wash to which 

 is added a little sulphate of copper. The outside of the casks should 

 be kept clean with clear lime ^-ater, special attention being given to 

 the bungs and bung holes. Where bung cloths are used they should 

 be frequently changed and boiled. Drains in a cellar can be kept 

 clean with permanganate of potash or per-chloride of mercury. The 

 latter, which is a violent poison, makes an excellent wash for wooden 

 or any absorbent floors in a solution of 1 in 3,000. All lees and 

 refuse should be carried to a considerable distance from the cellar, 

 and not thrown just outside the door as is often the case. If special 

 stress be laid upon the necessity for absolute cleanliness, it is from 

 the palpable neglect of it so unfortunately apparent. 



