October 3, 186S. ] 



JOUP.NAi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



275 



our fiillin!» into deep holes, or knocking our hoftiln ngainHt tho 

 very roof tliiit hiul sheltered St. Peter und Kt. Paul. 



How interesting these excavations are I could never tell ; 

 how full of hallowed interest, to tread where the peaceful 

 foot-falls of Apostles were once heard, as they passed to and 

 fro in the sunshine of the dear human lovo that ever foil on 

 them in this house ; did they, I wonder, cast a pleased eyo 

 on my little Fern, rememhering the Voice they loved so wiill, 

 which had bidden them " consider tho Lilies of tho field," 

 a Voice that spoke to the one on earth aud to the other from 

 heaven ? 



Vyinj! iu its exceeding interest with the church of St. Puden- 

 7.iana is that of St. Maria in Via Lata. Tradition ])oints to the 

 subterranean chapel beneath St. Maria as havinf; been an 

 oratory formed by St. Martial (one of tho immediate discijiles 

 of our Lord) in the "hired house" in which St. Paul dwelt 

 two years, which at different times sheltered both St. Peter and 

 St. Luke, and from whence St. Peter aud St. Paul were led to 

 the Mamertine prison. This sacred tradition is sup])orted in 

 part by history. The walls of the oratory are of large blocks of 

 quadrate travert-ne, which a well-supporteil theory refers to tho 

 structure of the Septa -Tulia n.c. at!. Iu part of this extensive 

 edifice St. JIartial is said to have lived — it is a matter of 

 history that he was sent by St. Peter to preach the gospel at 

 Eaven'na, when he is Kupi)osed to have left the .\postles 

 residing in his house. The oratory with the huge stone blocks 

 is there ; within its sacred jirecincts there is an altar of very 

 ancient inlaid coloured stonework, while upon the walls are 

 faded frescdes of early art referring to these events, and cold 

 indeed must be the "heart that does not thrill with emotion 

 when standing on the spot where the blessed Apostles of the 

 Lord lived, and thought, and prayed. 



It is a happy thing when history and tradition go hand in 

 hand, for when they are at variance it is very perplexing. For 

 instance, when visiting the Mamertine prison you see iu the 

 horrible gloom of the frightful abode (the only entrance to 

 wliich was by a hole in the centre of the roof, through which 

 prisoners were let down, seldom to return to the light of day) 

 a well, which you are informed sprung up miraculously at the 

 command of St. Peter to enable him to baptise his jailors — 

 you long to believe in this beautiful tradition, it may be you 

 touch the cool water of the spring aud with it make a sign 

 upon your brow, but history comes with its disenchanting 

 wand, and tells you that 104 years before Christ this spring 

 was spoken of by Jugnrtha, who perished in the cell. 



On our way from these gloomy subterranean places to revel 

 once more amidst Nature's loveliness in the Villa Wolkonski, 

 we stopped for a few minutes to watch the laieeliug penitents 

 ascending the Scala Santa — those stairs, said to have been 

 brought from Pilate's house at .Jerusalem and to have been 

 trodden by the feet of the Saviour, were filled by a motley 

 assembly making their weary jnlgrimage to the top ; some of 

 these were dressed as for a bridal, all of them had a gala look 

 which visibly altered before they were half way up the stairs ; 

 the penitents have to stop three times to kiss the roM.< or 

 sacred stones, and the effect was peculiar in the extreme, 

 particularly when the penitents happened to be stout, or to be 

 in a hurry. 



There could scarcely be a pleasanter garden for a lounge 

 than that of the Villa Wolkonski, where Violets of the bluest 

 were to be had by the basketful for the gathering, and where 

 many a wilil-flower specimen may be gathered while seramljling 

 up and down one of those grand old aqueducts that stride like 

 giants over the vast campagua ; and where, sitting in the sun- 

 shine, I could look far away on the snow-capped Alban hills, 

 with the villages of Frascati and Tivoli lying at their glittering 

 feet ; or I could rest my eyes on the nearer beauty of the three 

 lines of aqueducts, visible from the Villa ; aud, as I sat, I 

 could stretch out my hand and gather specimens of Erodium 

 romanum (contrasting it with tho Erodium cicutarium of our 

 own banks, to which it bears much resemblance, save that tho 

 flower-stem rises from the root instead of from the stalk), of 

 Reseda odorata, Jluscari comosum and racemosum, with many 

 others passed away from my memory, for I gave my bouquet 

 to a friend. 



The flower garden was, to my English eyes, very untidy and 

 badly cultivated ; the flowers small, aud the plants allowed to 

 grow after their own wild fashion, with many a weed trailing 

 amongst them ; yet liow lovely it was ! with the ruined acjue- 

 duct passing through the garden, with dripping fountains 

 reflecting Miiiden-hair in their clear waters, with boughs laden 

 with Oranges resting their weight against tho broken stone ; 



while rolling in the distance was the nound of lyiany carriages 

 conveying the " beauty and fashion," of not only Konie but of 

 England and America, to witness the English races held ou 

 the almost sacred ground of the Campagna. — 1''ii,ix-F(j;mina. 



ESPEPaONE AND MUSCADINE GP.APE WINES. 

 (Continticd from pane 2.59.) 

 My Esperioue wine of ISOU I allowed to become a claret. I 

 neither sulphured nor used finings, but allowed the fermenta- 

 tion to take its natural course down to W ; it was then racked 

 off, aud brought up to a gravity of T by the addition of about 

 •1 lbs. of dissolved sugarcandy. The saccharometer will now 

 float in it at W° ; and it has been pronounced to be, by an 

 M.l)., "an excellent dry wine." This wine is intended to be 

 used next year. 



1804. 



SirSCADINK WINE. 



To make nine gallons of Muscadine champagne. Weight of 

 fruit and quantities the same as given in the Esperiono wins 

 [ digest. October (ith, gathered Royal Muscadine Grapes, sac- 

 charometer in pure juice 22°; after adding the two gallons of 

 j water to the must, saccharometer W ; 8th, saccharometer 1.5' ; 

 j 9th. saccharometer 15}° ; 10th, saccharometer 15°. Pressed oil 

 juice ; added water of the temperature of 80° to the skins and 

 pips, well stirred, and pressed off ; saccharometer iu this wash- 

 ' ing 4°. Put it with the premier quantity, aud tlie saccharo- 

 meter floated at 12i°. Allowed 3 J lbs. of "loaf sugar per gallon 

 (no honey), saccharometer 40°. October 13th, saccharometer 

 37°; 14th, saccharamoter 35° ; loth, saccharometer 30°; Ifith, 

 saccharometer 28°; 17th, saccharometer 25°; ISth, saccharo- 

 meter 23°. Took the wine from the working-pan iu the kitchen 

 into the cellar, and tilled cask and gallon stone bottle. October 

 27th, saccharometer at bunghole 15° ; 30th, saccharometer 12°. 

 November 4th, saccharometer 10° ; racked, sulphured, and used 

 finings. January 7th, saccharometer 6°. Racked again simply, 

 and brought saccharometer up to 7°, with 2 or 3 lbs. of loaf 

 sugar tlissolved in some of the wine from the gallon bottle. 

 March 9th, saccharometer (is'. Bottled the wine, wired down 

 the corks, and laid the bottles in a recumbent position. .June, 

 1805, an effervescing wine ; sparkling ; of a fine, bright, straw 

 colour — a wine, as all wines should be, pleasing to the eye. 

 My Muscadine of 1803 I allowed to become attenuated down to 

 4° by bottliug-time, at the beginning of the following month 

 of March ; it is, however, an effervescing dryish wine, with a 

 fine sparkle and colour, and it drinks " nearly as soft as cream." 

 The Muscadine of 1801 I allowed to attenuate itself as much 

 as it would. It has become quite a hock. 



While the above was going on I was on the outlook to pur- 

 chase champagne-bottles of both sizes in the cheapest market. 

 I have usually bought them for less than Is. per dozen, and 

 they ought always to be obtained second-hand for that price 

 when they require washing. This should be done by warming 

 water, and casting in some soda when the bottles are laid to 

 soak. Two or three ounces of shot successively passed into 

 each bottle through a funnel will greatly facilitate cleaning. 

 Rinse the bottles in clean water, and turn them upside down 

 to drain dry. It takes a gallon of wine to fill six large cham- 

 pagne-bottles. The best champagne-corks should be procured, 

 and a bundle of galvanised bottling-wire, with a cork-presser, 

 will be found necessary adjuncts. A fortnight or so previous 

 to bottling prove the clearness of the wine either with a syphon 

 from the bunghole, or by drawing a pint or so off from the 

 tasting-peghole. If the wine prove fine all well, otherwise use 

 finings after the manner already explained ; or, if greater expe- 

 dition be necessary, cover over the mouth of the jug containing 

 the isinglass and pint of wine with a cloth, and place it in a 

 basin of hottish water on a warm hob ; this will h.asten the 

 dissolving process. I draw off the wine from the cask after 

 the mode I adopt for racking, and the bottles are simply filled 

 by jug and funnel to within 3 inches of the mouth. Dip each 

 cork in a little of the wine, press it if too large, .and drive it in 

 firmly and carefully with the mallet to two-thirds of its length. 

 Examine a wired cork in a soda-water bottle before corking, 

 as it is quite necessary that our corks should become so 

 secured. When corked the bottles should be placed in the 

 cellar, iu an equable temperature of 50°, recumbent, and having 

 the date of the wine ticketed legibly over them. If I may 

 judge by my own, this champagne may be kept for an indefi- 

 nite period. 



A few days more of such hot weather as we have lately ex- 



