Sec. 2G.] DOMESTIC WINTIS. 423 



and -water enough to make a gallon ; leave it in the cask one year, then 

 draw off and liottlo. 



470. Klderberry Wine.— AVe liave tasted of a wine made from oliKrlxrrii's 

 hv Alfred Speor, in New Jersey, that certainly had some excellent qnalilit-s. 

 After i)re])ariiig the .juice, like tliat of eurrants:, he requires four years to 

 ripen it. llis slatement is: 



"First year, it is kept in large casks, witli valve hungs to allow the gas 

 to escape, and at the same time prevent the oxygen of the atmosphere from 

 coming in contact with the wine. 



"Second year, racked to small casks, and moved to another building. 



"Third year, drawn off in hottles and piled away in stacks, whieli are 

 then completely covered witli sand, kept at one certain temperature the 

 year round. 



"Fourth year, they are dug out, the wine decanted in fresh liottles and 

 laid away, lieing kept in another temperature until the end of this year, 

 when they are sealed, labeled, and packed ready for 6hi|)ping. 



"The jirincipal part of the whole operation is the management of 

 the temperature in the rooms and cellars. Eaidi year, as the wine is 

 drawn oft' into other vessels, it is moved to a building kept at a dif- 

 ferent temperature frpm tlie jjrevious year, where it i.s kept unit'orm during 

 tlic whole time by means of cool vaults or stoves, as the case and reason 

 re(piirc. 



" So tliat after four years it liecomcs unchangeable, and ready for market 

 in any climate. 



"It is made from the juice of cultivated elderberries, which are nnulo to 

 grow nearly as large as the smallest-sized grajjcs, and pure without the a<l- 

 dition of alcohol or spirits in any form." 



471. Wiuc from Rhubarb Stalks.— liliubarb will yield live times as much 

 per acre as grapes, but care should be taken not to uso the stalk too close 

 to the leaf, as it will impart a peculiar flavor to the wine. Take a thirty- 

 gallon cask, put in si.xtccn gallons of rhidiarli juice, ninety pounds of sugar, 

 and water to till the cask. Nothing but the best relined sugar should bo 

 used if the best residts are desired, and it is still better to dissolve the sugar 

 and boil it, witli the addition of a spo«nfid of sulphuric acid to every live 

 or six gallons, before mixing it witii the juice. Tliis must be allowed to get 

 cold before using. 



Anotlier formula says: "Trim olf the leaves, and grind and i>re;.s (lie 

 stalks in any cider-mill. To each gallon of juice add one gallon of water 

 and six pounds of refined stigar, and lill tho casks, leaving tlio bungs out. 

 A moderately cool cellar is the best place t.) keep it. Fill up ooca-oionnlly. 

 either from juice kej>t on jmrpose or with sweetened water, so that the in;- 

 j)urities which rise to the surface while fermentation is going «>n, may bo 

 worked off. "When sufficiently fermented, which will re(piiro from one to 

 two or more months, bung tiglitly. an<l let it remain till winter, wlicn it may 

 be rackeil oft" into other casks, or bottlc<l. Some persons rctino it before 



