AND WINE MAKING. 291 



the temperature will not fluctuate too much. The cli- 

 mate in this State is peculiar, the days are sometimes 

 very hot, while the nights are nearly always cool. Nearly 

 all of the fermenting rooms are simply board sheds, with 

 only one thickness of boards between the inner and outer 

 atmosphere, so that the changes inside are almost as sud- 

 den as those outside. This should not be; if the fer- 

 menting room cannot be built of stone, it should at 

 least have double walls of boards, with the intermediate 

 space filled with sawdust, spent tan, or other non-con- 

 ducting materials, so that it will keep as even a tempera- 

 ture as possible. Sudden changes interrupt fermenta- 

 tion, and are very injurious. Negligence and slovenli- 

 ness during the whole process of wine making has a great 

 deal to do with a poor product. Everything, from the 

 boxes in which the grapes are picked to the cask in 

 which the young wine is to perfect itself, should be clean; 

 as should the crusher, press, fermenting vat, and the 

 whole building, which should also be well ventilated, so 

 that the air is pure. I have seen many so-called wineries, 

 which looked more like slaughter houses than the cleanly 

 establishments in which wine, the noblest fluid which 

 God has given to man, is to be made and perfected. If 

 mould and dirt are left on the fermenting vats from one 

 year to the other, until the air is sour and fetid with the 

 smell of decay, how can we expect wine, the most sus- 

 ceptible liquid that we can handle, to taste and smell 

 fresh and pure ? Before using the vats for ferment- 

 ing, they should all be washed with a solution of sal soda, 

 and the floor and press-room should be scrubbed every 

 few days during wine making. Casks can easily be kept 

 clean and pure by fumigating with sulphur, when empty, 

 but before using they should be washed to free them 

 from the taste and smell of sulphur, which also tends to 

 prevent fermentation. 



Improper handling afterwards, also has a great in- 



