258 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AXD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ September 26, 1865. 



them in sandy soil, plunging the pot or pan in a gentle bottom 

 heat. They will root freely in a fortnight ; then pot them off 

 singly in small pots, after irhich shift them accordingly as 

 they require more room, but never allow them to become pot- 

 hound. 



The compost which I find suits them best is formed of thi-ee 

 parts rich yellow loam and one part of equal quantities of leaf 

 mould and weli-rotted duug ; adding a small quantity of char- 

 coal and silver sand. 



Keep the plants in a gi'eenhouse, with a moist atmo.sphere 

 when the weather is very hot. By the firsst week in June they 

 will have become good plants, and should be in 10 or 12-iuch 

 pots. Then turn them out of their- pots, and plant them out 

 of doors in a sheltered situation in some good rich loam. 

 When they show bloom stop them, and they will throw out 

 some healthy shoots, and by the end of September they will 

 have made noble specimens ; then take them up, and pot them 

 in No. 'i-sized pots, giving them the same compiost as before. 

 Great care should be taken in Ufting them. Water them well 

 two or three days before the operation, then tiike the plants 

 Tip with large balls, and carefully reduce each ball until it fits 

 the pot. Pot them firmly, tie them out, and remove them 

 into a cool moist pit, keeping them rather close for a few days. 

 By so doing they will not lose any of their foliage. By the 

 end of October they will have a mass of flowers, and will con- 

 tinue blooming nntU February. — W. B. 



ESPERIONE AND MUSCADINE GR^VPE WINES. 



It -was not our "chaplain," but another genial Wiltshire 

 rector, well known to him, who called upon us last week. We 

 conned over the productions of the garden, both growing and 

 harvested, and finished off with some samples of my Grape 

 Vines. They were remembered by him of old, and now he has 

 a garden, a Tine, and Grapes of his own. I inquired, " Did 

 he make -wine ?" " No, he should like to do so, but supposed 

 my practice was a secret." I assured him that I never could 

 keep secrets ; my greatest happiness was to impart to others 

 all that I knew which could benefit them. I told him that 

 even before he became curate of Woodstock I had pubUshed in 

 The Cottage Gardenek the knowledge I possessed about Tine 

 culture and wine-maMng; that in consequence of this being 

 a bountiful Grape season I was then engaged in arranging some 

 notes, prehmiuary to writing a seasonable paper on the subject, 

 giving an account of my progress ; and that as he now reads 

 " our .Journal " he would there find the desired information. 

 He said, " Give the minute particulars of the operation, for 

 you practical people, who write with a full knowledge of a sub- 

 ject, are apt to leave out the minor details, through a conception 

 that others would amve at these as a matter of course, whereas 

 it may not be so. It is just those statements which people 

 not versed in a subject want. The result is interesting enough 

 to read ; but often, the " how to do it " not being sufficiently 

 specified, there is not sufficient inducement for those who are 

 not gi'ounded in the matter to tmdertake it." As I am self- 

 educated in every phase of my knowledge, by no one more than 

 by myself could the remark be better appreciated. How much 

 tune, right down hard head work, and mental exhaustion have 

 the omissions of small explanations cost me ? However, I 

 trust that in what I am now about to write I shall go so far 

 into particulars as to meet the ideas of all persons who may 

 feel interested in the subject. 



I have made no alteration in the system of groimdwork and 

 in the training of my out-door Tines from that given in the 

 year 18.56, further than in lieu of 12 feet in height t}iey are 

 now verging upon 30 feet ; and as my chief object now is fruit 

 for the vat, I do not resort to slicing away what I considered 

 superfluous buds, or to thinning out the berries. I reserve 

 such attentions for house culture. As regards my practice in 

 wine-making, although much that I wi-ote in 18G0 must be 

 repeated now, it will, nevertheless, be so blended with what I 

 consider improvements as to render it, I hope, worth perusal 

 by old as well as new readers. In fact, the repetition of old 

 matter cannot be avoided, so necessary is it for the compre- 

 hension of the new ; and I am sure from experience that this 

 dovetailing of individiuil practice with progress from time to 

 time tends to keep a subject alive, and to diffuse knowledge, 

 however familiar and common the subject may be. 



On account of the quantity of Grapes that the Vines now 

 annually produce I have instituted a screw wine-press, which 

 facilitates my operations greatly ; but as nine people out of 



ten may not possess so desirable an article, I will point out the 

 homely contrivances that can be made use of. They are to be 

 found in most places, and should midergo a scrupulous cleansing 

 before they are used for wine-making. They are a garden 

 basket, the weight of which is known, in which to place the 

 Grapes when gathered ; scales to weigh these ; a washing- 

 bench ; two large, brown, glazed earthenware pans (I formerly 

 used washing-tubs, but I have discarded these wooden utensils 

 because they absorbed the juice and saccharine matter), hold- 

 ing about fourteen gallons each ; casks of capacity according 

 to the requirement, say from five to nine gallons each ; two 

 two-gallon stone bottles, and two of one gallon each ; a spouted 

 jug measiuring two quarts ; a two-gallon tin can with a spout 

 to it ; a tin pint measure ; a galvanised iron ladhng-bowl ; 

 three large, brown, earthenware, glazed mUi-pans, borrowed 

 from the bee-hives, which they sen-e to shelter; one large 

 stone mortar and a mahogany pestle ; a tin fimnel, a colander, 

 two large wooden spoons, a mallet, gimlet, a pah- of pincers, 

 and a pair of cutting-pliers ; bimgs, vent-pegs, and taps of 

 sizes ; a stout piece of canvas ; two stout squared stakes each 

 about 5 feet in length ; trams and wedges to stand and secure 

 the casks upon, and a saccharometer. 



The names of my Grapes in the open air are, the Eoyal 

 Muscadine (white) and Esperione (black). The former ripens 

 two or three weeks before the latter, and about the last week 

 in October is the time that I usually make my vintage of the 

 Esperione. This year the Grapes ^vill be quite ready to gather 

 by the middle of the month, and, by their present appearance, 

 I shall be operating upon the Muscadines whilst this paper is 

 being put in t^pe. Directly after the Grapes are gathered and 

 weighed they should be picked from their stalks into one of the 

 large pans ; and the pestle and mortar being deposited on the 

 washing-bench, having the fruit on one side and an empty pan 

 on the other, bowl after bowl of Grapes should be crushed in 

 the mortar ; not by a vertical jam, but by working the pestle 

 with a Ught circular horizontal motion, using sufficient force 

 only to macerate the skins and pulp without smashing the 

 pips, for in the latter case they would impart an unpleasant 

 roughness to the wine. The piilp is emptied from the mortar 

 with the ladling bowl into the pan, and so on until the bruising 

 process is completed. When a pestle and mortar cannot be 

 had, the Grapes can be hand-crushel in the colander, made to 

 rest over the pan upon the two squared stakes. Now strain 

 about a pint of the juice from the must, and prove it by the 

 saccharometer, which is done by nearly filling the tin tube that 

 belongs to it and immersing the glass instrument therein, 

 when the specific gravity of the juice is read on the index 

 plate, and the stated degree should be noted down. On the 

 supposition that ten gallons of wine are to be made, 80 lbs. of 

 Grapes, exclusive of their stalks, will be a good proportion to 

 make use of, and we shall conclude that this is the weight of 

 the now-called "must" in the pan before us. Toss two gallons 

 of clean cold water into it, and stir it about weU with a large 

 wooden spoon, or something to answer the purpose. Strain 

 off a pint of the watered juice, and make a note of the specific 

 gravity as before. Place the two squared stakes across the pan, 

 •and cover it over with a piece of ch-ugget, or something of the 

 sort, to exclude the air and preserve a temperature of about 

 G0°. The miist will now gain daily in sweetness, and should 

 be well stirred, and proved daily with the saccharometer, until 

 it is seen that the sweetness begins to diminish, and then no 

 time must be lost in straining off, as the skins of the Grapes 

 would deteriorate the juice by remaining longer with it. The 

 wine-press now comes into action. To fit into the straining- 

 box I use a bag made of strong cheese-cloth, into which, by 

 raising its open end, is ladled about a gallon of the must to be 

 pressed, and the "cheese" of compressed skins and pips is 

 emptied into a milk-pan, and so on consecutively. Before I 

 used a press I carried out this process as follows : — An empty 

 pan was placed beneath the squared stakes, or a short ladder, 

 and resting upon them or it the colander, into which the must 

 was ladled by degrees ; the juice was then well pressed by the 

 hands fi'om the skins and jiips into the pan below, and the 

 refuse tossed into a milk-pan, and so on until the muscles of 

 one's arms became rigid. The strained-off juice is now 

 measured with the tin can, and, in every probability, it will 

 be found to have run eight gallons, then one gallon and a half 

 of clean water wiU be sufficient to pom- over the skins and 

 pips in the milk-pan, and if this water can be heated to a 

 temperature of not more than 80° so much the better. Let it 

 be well stirred amongst the skins and pips to express what 

 nrtue remains in them ; then strain it off and add it with the 



