478 



FARMERS' REGISTER— OBSTACLES TO VINE CULTURE. 



who avowed the same thing. What "trois-six" 

 is, it is not possible for me to say from the name; 

 but I presume it is alcohol, of a certain degree of 

 strength. Be this as it may, I am satisfied it is 

 only a recent practice in France, and I doubt iis 

 extension l)eyond the country where it is said to be 

 adopted. Whether the practice is good or bad, I 

 have no experience to determine; but it is very pos- 

 sible that the preference is given in that country 

 io s|)irit over sugar, because the latter is much 

 Nearer than the Jbnner, in proportion to its ef- 

 feet. 



there is no light, or any change of temperature, 

 must, if it were sound when put in, remain sound 

 for many years, though it be not a very strong 

 wine. 



Ojs the causes of failure lie vine cul- 

 ture AXD WINE MAKING. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Columbia, S. C, Novemher 15th, 1834. 



In the No. for the present month of the Far- 

 There are various other processes of making I mers' Register, you request that light may be af- 



wines of particular qualities, and in certain dis- 

 tricts; but, as I am not practically acquainted with 

 them, I shall only notice them very briefly. In 

 places where they wish to make a strong wine, 

 Avithout the addition of either sugar or brandy, 

 they reduce the must by boiling, — evaporating a 

 quantity of its water, — whereby the proportion of 

 the saccharine matter to the liquor is increased. 

 Others attain the same object by laying the very 

 ripe grapes on an extensive floor on straw; so that 

 they dry almost to raisins. The great objection to 

 either of these modes of proceeding, in a country 

 of beginners, is, that the quantity of wine made is 

 thereby considerably diminished, and Ave naturally 

 <enough aim at quantity as well as quality, and 

 •It appears to me more economical, to supply the 

 deficiancy of sugar, by sugar itself, than to do it by 

 evaporating a part of the liquor. 



There is another subject, intimately connected 

 with wine n)aking, which I have not yet noticed. 

 It is the cellar, A good cellar — one calculated 

 to keep light and delicate wines — ought to be so 

 .deep that no change of temperature is experienced 

 in it throughout the year. It should also be rather 

 dry than damp; for too much moisture is injurious 

 to the casks. If I had such a cellar, I could easily 

 make and keep wine without sugar; but in such 

 a6 W8 have here, — dug only one, two or three feet 

 deep, and merely covered by the floor of the house 

 over it — such wine would probably be too oflen 

 aflfected by the changes of temperature, to resist 

 long. I have seen champagne upAvards of thirty 

 ■years old, that had been kept in a cellar at least 

 tAvei)ty-five feet deep, and it was as brisk as if it 

 had only been two or three years old. We have 

 then, as yet, no chance of getting accustomed to 

 the use of very light AA'ines, which are gentle in 

 their eflects, tonic, exhilarating, and not producing 

 intoxication, unless drank to a very great excess; 

 and even then, the consequences of intoxication, 

 by such Avine, are not as injurious as that produced 

 by the stronger ones, If^ howe^'er, intoxication is 

 the object, it is much more readily obtained by 

 brand)^ itself", Avithout resorting to the farce of 

 drinking it mixed with ivine and calling it exclu- 

 eively by the latter name. 



Where they haA^e good and deep cellars, it is not 

 usual to put the AAdne into them before it has been 

 drawn off its first lees; but it is kept until that 

 time iR Avhat is called a "celier," which corres- 

 ponds more Avith our cellars here. A good cellar, 

 then, ^should be tAventy-five or thirty feet IjcIoav 

 the surface of the ground, vaulted Aviih stone or 

 Jjrick, and haA'e apertures leadinu' to the external 

 air. Wiiic, in good casks Avell filled, or still bet- 

 ter, in good bottles filled to very near the cork — 

 about three-quarters of an inch at most — Avell 



forded on the causes that have hitherto operated 

 against a complete success in the culture of the 

 vine, in an extended or more general Avay; for, as 

 you truly say, "the best proof has not yet been 

 furnished by the successful and profitable general 

 results of the labors of any one individual." A a 

 you honor me especially Avith this request, I must 

 do my best efforts to do what seems to me very 

 difficult, after the many disappointments Avhich I 

 have m5'self sufl'ered, and Avitnessed in others. 

 Great, hoAvever, as these disappointments hav^e 

 been, they have chiefly been so as compared Avith 

 our unreasonable expectation; but not so as to 

 deter the Avell Avisher to so good a cause, from 

 persevering in his efforts. It is true that, as you 

 say, "there is no doubt as to our being able to raise 

 delicious grapes, and sometimes abundant crops 

 of them — and also that ti-om them excellent Avine 

 has often been made." WhercA^er good grapes 

 can be raised, it is indisputable that Avine can be 

 made, and its quality AviU depend on the soil, cul- 

 ture, kinds of grape, and particularly on the skill 

 of the person that makes it. Although little has, 

 as yet, been made for sale in this country, some 

 has been sent to a considerable distance, AA-hich 

 Avas so AA'ell relished as to induce an order for a 

 quantity three times greater than the first sent, and 

 the order has been complied Avith. Besides this, 

 seA'eral gentlem.en have been noAV for some years 

 in the practice of making Avine fully sufficient for 

 the consumption of their household. All this ia 

 Avorthy of attention—but yet Ave cannot deny that 

 it has not yet been made a profitable object of 

 culture, and the causes of failure are probably 

 many, and one in particular, impossible to correct: 

 I mean the irregularity of our climate. Among 

 the others ma}^ be reckoned, that the experiments 

 hitherto made haA'e been on too large a scale, AA'hich 

 precluded the multiplying of them as much as 

 they should have been. I knoAv a gentleman who, 

 before he had any experience, began Avith tAventy 

 to thirty acres, and he has noAV about fifty or more 

 acres in cultivation. Experiments on such a sub- 

 ject are very expensive, on account of the length 

 of the time required to complete them, by which 

 the patience of the experimenter is ofien exhausted 

 before he could have calculated on a result; but, 

 if the trial has been made on a large scale, the 

 expense attending it may also have frequently 

 Avarned the imprudent, though patriotic zealot, 

 fliat hj- seeking thus for Avine, he may lose his 

 bread. 



In order to have reasonable hopes of success in 

 such an enterprise, every point of difficulty is to 

 be considered; and in a countr}- Avhere such a 

 culture is first attempted, the points to be ascer- 

 tained are many — first, as to soil, exposition, and 



corked and waxed, and kept in a collar Avhere climate. It i.s Aer}" eAndent, thai a satislactoiy 



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