ON THE ART OF MAKING WINE. S3 



But, while on the subject of the juicy fruits, I 

 may as well notice a part of the current practice 

 which appears ill founded, and often attended 

 with bad consequences. This is the large pro- 

 portion of water, and consequently saiall proper* 

 tion of fruit, which is generally used, an usage 

 apparently originating in a misplaced economy. 

 If we attend to the common practice of making 

 wine from grapes, that which ought to be .the 

 model fdrallour imitative operations, we shall 

 that no water is used, but that the whole fluid is 

 composed of the juice of the fruit itself. If we 

 now attend to the current practice, as recom- 

 mended in our own domestic receipts, we shall 

 find that the juice, of the fruit rarely forms more 

 than one-fourth of the whole liquor, and often 

 much less, the proportion of fruit bcino- seldom 

 more than four pounds, including the solid matter 

 it may contain, to eight pounds of water, and 

 three or four pounds of sugar ; and this propor- 

 tion is fixed with no regard to the ripeness of the 

 fruit, a circumstance of considerable importance. 

 The consequences resulting from this sparing use 

 of the fruit are highly injurious. It is plain, that 

 the artificial must, thus compounded of water, 

 sugar and juice, must contain a much less quan- 

 tity of the vegetable extractive matter, and of the 

 native acid, than that which I have formerly 

 shewn to be absolutely essential to a perfect aiiiJ 



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