426 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



[Chap. IV. 



ripens in September, the new wine ferments ; and at those times the bungs 

 must be raised, and care must l)e taken not to disturl) the barrels. Between 

 times, when there is no perceptible fermentation, the wine should be racked 

 off two or three times in a year, and at the end of a year and a half it is 

 .clear and good, but it continues to grow better with age. The red wine is 

 treated in precisely the same manner, cxce^jt that it is allowed to ferment 

 before pressure. Immediately after the pressure the wine should be placed 

 in as cool a cellar as can be obtained in the country, and should bo kept 

 there always. This cellar should have no moldy matter about it, no vege- 

 tables or salt meat in it, nor anything that can corrupt the natural sweetness 

 of the air. 



- Hed and White Wine. — Beandy. — All the white wine made in this man- 

 ner resembles hock or sauterne ; the red wine may be made to resemble 

 claret, burgundy, or port. When the berries are picked early, the red 

 wine is like claret, but has more body ; if the grapes are left upon the stem 

 until they are nearly dry, they give less juice, but the wine has a much 

 stronger body, and rivals port in strength. 



The method of making champagne is held as a secret, and we shall not 

 attempt to describe it fully. The main facts, however, are that the wine is 

 bottled about, six months after pressing ; it is again re-bottled in eight 

 months more. The bottles are laid down upon their sides in racks, and 

 a large per-centage of them are broken by the activity of the fermenta- 

 tion. 



The refuse of the press and all the sediment of the new wine may be used 

 in making brandy, which is obtained by distillation in the same manner as 

 whisky is distilled from maize or potatoes. For every hundred gallons of 

 wine about twenty-five of brandy are obtained. 



475. H'inc of TomatoeSi — We have no experience of wine from this fruit, 

 but a lady writes us from Iowa as follows : 



" Are you aware what very excellent wine can be made from tomatoes ? 

 I tried it on a small scale last year, and find it serves as good a purpose for 

 using in sickness and in cooking as the comjjounds of nauseous drugs usually 

 sold for wine. Many who have tasted it were unable to tell it from grape 

 wine. If people will use wine, it is certainly well to have it free from 

 poison, and tomatoes are so abundant that it could be aflbrded cheaply. 

 If vinegar can be made from it, it will be a blessing to the West, where 

 we have such horrible compounds under that name. The recipe : One 

 pound of white sugar to a quart of juice, and similar treatment to cur- 

 rant wine." 



476. Blackberry Cordial. — This is not wine, though an article called black- 

 berry wine is often made in the same way that wine of other small fruits is 

 made, and is a very good beverage ; but this is what the name implies, 

 blackberry cordial, and it should be provided in every family, particularly 

 where there are growing children ; it is such an excellent remedy for chil- 

 dren troubled with diarrhea and all other diseases of the bowels generated 



