226 THE ART OP WINE MAKING. 



which it is intended to put the wine. They 

 should be made of oak staves, perfectly sound, 

 and seasoned ; and no stave of the wood near the 

 bark or roots of the tree should be used, as both 

 are liable to become the harbour of myriads of 

 ants. By the odour which they communicate, 

 these insects are not unfrequently the remote 

 cause of the taste of the cask, sometimes impart- 

 ed to the wine. The new casks should be suc- 

 cessively washed with lime water, salt water, and 

 finally with pure hot water. The old casks, be- 

 fore used to contain wine, should be thoroughly 

 cleansed of the tartar, which in general accumu- 

 lates in concretion at the sides and bottom of the 

 vessel, and subsequently carefully washed with 

 hot water. 



After this, some few of the casks should be 

 filled, either with wine, or hot must, which 

 should be agitated and shaken about, and then 

 emptied from one to the other till all the wine 

 vessels shall have undergone a thorough ablution, 

 and the wood deprived of any acidity it may 

 have contracted, by becoming saturated with the 

 several liquors thus introduced. Sometimes an 

 infusion of flower of peaches is used, which has 

 in general a good effect, and leaves an agreeable 

 flavour. 



When a cask has contracted a disagreeable 

 odour, such as that from mould, bugs, or other 

 insects infesting an empty wine vessel, it will 

 be prudent to omit all these cleansing precau- 

 tions, lest by the use of them, the odour should 

 be merely masked for a^ime, and re-appears after 

 the effect of the ablution shall have passed off. 



