FARMERS' REGISTER- MAKING CHAMPAGNE WINE. 



437 



the wine is perfectly clear; in which case, he hands 1 Demarara, and somewhat resemblin£r the maho- 



it to the worknian whose business it is to fill up 

 the bottles alter the removal of the sediment. This 

 filling up is made either with tiie wine of com- 

 merce (commcr^able) or with brandy. If brandy 

 is used, the proportion is one, one and a halfj two, 

 and four per cent. The bottles are corked again 

 with new corks well selected, which are compress- 

 ed by an iron machine, made to open and close by 

 the action of the riglit loot; the workman turns 

 the cork in the machine with his right hand. lij 

 on the contrary, corks which have already been 

 used, are employed, they are slightly steeped in 

 brandy. The corks are tied again in the same 

 way as at first. 



If there is occasion, the bottles are put in piles 

 again for a new clearing, and if after this, the 

 wine is not perfectly clear and transparent, it is 

 put aside to be carried through a new course of 



gany, if cut down in the dark, a short time belbre 

 the new moon, is one of the most durable woods 

 in the world tor building purposes; in that state at- 

 tempt to split it, and with the utmost difficulty it 

 will be driven in the most jagged, unequal man- 

 ner; cut down another tree ot the same kind, at 

 full viooi'i,, and the tree, it is said, can readily be 

 split into the finest smooth shingles, or into slaves 

 for making casks; but in this stale if ap[)lied to 

 builclmg purposes, it speedily decays. Bamboos 

 as thick as a man's arm, if cut at the dark moon, 

 will endure ten or twelve years; if at full moon, 

 they will be rotten in two or three years; and thus 

 it is with most of the forest trees. If these state- 

 ments can be relied upon, they would seem to af- 

 ford an important practical hint to those engaged 

 in getting out and preparing shij.ping timber from 

 extensive forests in our own country. Have any 



operations. The wine is not brought into market i experiments ever been tried, or any facts noticed 

 till fifteen or eighteen months after it is bottled. | by shipbuilders upon the subject? It is true, we 



believe, that the timbers of our public vessels oft 



Mixture or composition of the white wine of A'i. 



times rot while yet on the stocks and belbre they 



It is the nature of the wine of Ai, unmixed, to are completed. May not the circumstance be at 



be sparkling when it is not too luscious; but if pure 

 it would be too dear. To obtain that sparkling 

 which is so agreeable at the table, it has been ne- 

 cessary to seek long, and to try many combina- 

 tions before arriving at that now employed. 



The wines of Ai, of Pierry, of Vergenay, of 

 Craman and of Avize united, form what the mak- 

 ers call a cuvec; these wines enter into the compo- 

 eition in the following proportions. The wine of 

 Ai is six-tweltths; the other six-twelfths have not 

 a well ascertained proportion among the other 

 wines. This results from the apparent nature of 

 the primitive wine, that of Ai. 



Particular qualities of these wines. 



The wine ol' Ai is xery strong and very lus- 

 cious. 



The wine of Verzenay is heady and dry, it has 

 the property of preventing the liquor from turning 

 oily. 



That of Craman, very luscious, would by itself 

 occasion oiliness, it is employed only for its pecu- 

 liar quality, a taste of muscat wine; it also occa- 

 sions sparkling. 



The others, which are the product of the white 

 gi-ape, an acid grape, have the property of pre- 

 venting the wine of Ai from becoming oily, and 

 of contributing to its sparkling quality. 



From the Portsmoutli Journal. 

 LUNAR I^"FLUKNCE. 



If the tides of the ocean are raised from their 

 fathomless bed by the power of the silver moon, it 

 is not too much to believe that the tides of the at- 

 mosphere are subject, in a great degree, to the 

 same mysterious influence. 



In tropical climates especially, the power of the 

 moon over animal and vegetable lite, is believed 

 by many to be very great, and why not in other 

 portions of the globe also? It is stated by a learn- 

 ed writer that in Demarara there are thirteen 



tributed to the particular season and particular age 

 of the moon when the timbers were felled in tha 

 forest. 



From the Cuttivatoi', 

 RIBBOIV GRASS. 



The ribbon grass of our gardens, Phalaris 

 j^mcricana, is likely to become of great value in 

 our husbandry; it has been found to be better 

 adapted to wet boggy grounds than any other 

 species of grass; to propagate rapidly, either by its 

 seeds or by its roots; to yield a very large product 

 in hay or pasture, and to be well adapted to farm 

 stock. The first suggestion of this ftxct came to 

 us in a letter from Abedn. Robinson, of Ports- 

 mouth, N. H., who says the discovery was acci- 

 dental. 



" A neighbor," he says, " wishing to get lid of 

 some of the roots which encumbered his garden, 

 threw them into a bog, where they took root, and 

 spread over a large space of ground, excluding 

 every other plant. The water flows through the 

 roots at all seasons. The turf has become so solid 

 as to bear a cart and oxen. I walked through this 

 grass when in bloom, and never beheld a more 

 handsome and luxuriant growth. It stood perfect- 

 ly erect, full of large leaves, even, and from four to 

 five feet high. It \v[\[ produce two good crops in 

 a season, and springs up immediatel}^ after the 

 scythe. It produces excellent food; cattle feed it 

 close, and appear to be more fond of it when made 

 into hay than any other grass. I have spoken for 

 one-haif of the roots of the patch, and have ground 

 ploughed in my meadow in which I intend to 

 transplant them, at about the distance of corn 

 hills." 



On a recent visit from the Hon. E. Goodrich, of 

 Hartford, we were happy to receive, from that 

 gentleman, a confirmation of the good opinion of 

 the Phalaris which had been induce<l by Mr. Ro- 

 binson's letter. It has been found as beneficial in 

 Connecticut as in New Hampshire. Not recollect- 

 ing the particulars narrated, we would beg of Mr. 



pprings and thirteen autumns every year; for so ^ 



many times does the sap of the tree ascend to its ' Goodrich, when he sees this, to forward them to 

 topmost branches and descend to the roots. For ' us. in order that we ma_v pnbhsh thern correctlJ^ 

 example, the tvallaba, a resinous tree common in The eubject merits fiirther attention; and if our 



