404 



FARMERS' REGISTER— WINES AND VINEYARDS. 



in doses from a pound to a pound and a half Olive 

 oil is more uncertain but safe: and castor oil, that 

 mild aperient in the human being, is both uncer- 

 tain and unsafe. Epsom salts are inefficacious, 

 except in immense doses ol" a j;ound and a half, 

 and then not always safe. 



From the Fincattle Patriot. 

 AV II ITEW ASHING. 



It is a very common practice to whitewash 

 rooms, walls, and liinces, with simple lime and 

 water. The result is, that a touch brings it ofl' 

 upon the hands or clothes, and a iew successive 

 rains leave almost entirely bare the materials upon 

 which it has been laid, and which are exposed to 

 the weather. On in-door work a little glue will 

 fix it so that it will not easily rub off, nor whiten 

 the dress that happens to come in contact with it. 

 Out of doors, glue alone will not answer. Skim- 

 med milk is probably the cheapest and best ingre- 

 dient that can be easily procured. Those who 

 put whithwash without any thing of this kind to 

 retain it, act on the same princijile as if they 

 should fill a seive with water, or cover a house 

 with sbino-les without nailing them on. 



WINES AND VINEYARDS. 



[For the following extracts from the Journal of a 

 recent visit to the principal Vineyards of Spain and 

 France, we are indebted to the review of that work by 

 the London Monthly Magazine. The general reader 

 may be amused by some of the details, and the con- 

 sumers of what are called old and pure wines will be 

 more interested than pleased, to learn some of the 

 isecrets of trade, concerning the age and purity so 

 highly prized. 



There are certain kinds of wine, of which the Her- 

 initage is one, of great celebrity, each of which is the 

 product of only one (and that a veiy limited) body of 

 land. The high prices of these wines have been a 

 sufficient inducement to produce elsewhere others of 

 like qualities: and their character has been established 

 long enough to give full time for attempts at imitation. 

 It is certain that the peculiar qualities of these wines 

 cannot be caused by climate, because the like cannot 

 be made at the distance of a mile — nor by the ap- 

 parent texture of the soil, nor inclination of its surface, 

 as both these could be found in many other situations. 

 The passage below concerning the calcareous soil (and 

 that not too highly calcareous) of the Hermitage vine- 

 yard, seems to indicate the cause of the value of the 

 product to be in the quality of the soil; and that the 

 peculiar quality of soil required, though not evi- 

 dent to the senses, maybe easily discovered by chemi- 

 cal analysis. It is not expected that calcareous ma- 

 nures will give the flavor of Hermitage wine to that 

 of all vines: but it would be worth trying whether 

 such manures would not improve the flavor and in- 

 crease the product of all vineyards in this country- 

 There is so little of natural calcareous soil in the old 

 settled parts of the United States, that it is most pro- 

 bable that not one vine has been planted on such soil. 

 It would be very easy to try the application on a few 

 vines; and if it was found beneficial, vineyards, from 



their small extent and great value, might be limed or 

 marled at an inconsiderable expense, no matter where 

 situated. If there should be found no other benefit, 

 an important one might be found ill this — that calca- 

 reous soil suffers much less than any other by the ex- 

 tremes of both wet and dry weather — and the first of 

 these extremes, is particularly hurtful to the products 

 of vineyards.] 



"A violent storm of wind and rain made it im- 

 possible to fjuit the house yesterday, and though 

 the rain continued to fall at intervals to day, 1 

 managed to visit, in company with Dr. Wilson, 

 the cellars of the house of James Gordon and 

 Company. The extent of these cellars is quite 

 immense — the extreme length of the largest being 

 110 Spanish varas, about 306 English feet, and 

 the breadth 222 feet; the roof is supported by rows 

 of massive square columns of mason work, and al- 

 dioughthe whole cellar is not of the above lenglh 

 or breadth, the principal division of the building 

 being only 200 by 150 feet, yet with its various 

 adjuncts, the whole extent of the cellar is equal 

 to the dimensions first stated. INIessrs. Gordon 

 and Company have also another very extensive 

 cellar, though not equal to this in dimensions. 

 Their ordinary stock of wine is said to be 4000 

 butts: this is kept in casks of various sizes, con- 

 taining from one to four butts. These casks are 

 ranged in regular rows; in some parts of the cellar 

 to the height of lour tiers. They are called scleras, 

 and are always retained in the cellars. They con- 

 tain wines of various qualities and ages — from 

 one to fifty years. The wine merchants of A'eres 

 never exhaust their stock of finest and oldest wine. 

 According to the place at which the wine expe- 

 dited to the market is intended to be sold, it con- 

 tains a larger or smaller proportion of old wine. 

 But is only in wines of very high price, that even 

 a small portion of their finest wines is mixed. 

 What is withdrawn from the oldest and finest casks, 

 is made up from the casks which approach then 

 nearest in age and quality, and these are again re- 

 plenished trom the next in age and quality to them. 

 Thus a cask of wine, said to be fitly years old may 

 contain a portion of the vintages of thirty or forty 

 *^(-^«i*5nn^ ^ ^ vf # # 



"The highest qualities of sherry are made up of 

 wine the bulk of Avhich is from three to five years 

 old, and this is also mixed in various proportions 

 with older wines. Thus, from the gradual mixture 

 of wines of various ages, no wine can be farther 

 fi-om what may be called a natural wine than 

 sherry. But, besides giving the wines, as they- 

 are prepared tor the market, mellowness and rich- 

 ness, by the additions of older wines, there is a 

 very dry kind of sherry called jJmontillado or 

 Moniilladn, which abounds in the peculiar nutty 

 flavor that distinguishes sherries, and which is 

 frequently added when that i» deficient. Being 

 very light in color, it is also used to reduce the co- 

 lor of sherries which are too high; and when, on 

 the other hand, color is required, the deficiency is 

 made good by the mixture of boiled wines, or 

 rather of boiled must.''^ 



"The lowest priced sherries are in general the 

 growth of Port St. Mary's or San Lucar, two dis- 

 tricts within ten miles of Xeres; or they are brought 

 round fi-om Malaga to Port St. Mary's, and thence 



