174 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



keep a careful record of the operation. This was my 

 method, and I aimed always at improving the quality ; 

 so soon as I found the quality diminished, I considered 

 it time to stop, while so long as the quality improved, I 

 thought it safe to advance. Consider each variety a 

 separate subject for experiment, it will not do to trust 

 to surmises and guess work, nor can any rule be given 

 that will apply to all varieties alike. 



So far I have spoken mostly of the Labruscas and their 

 hybrids. When we come to the cestivalis class we have 

 entirely diiferent material to deal with, and while we may, 

 and can, by judicious Gallizing, improve some of them, and 

 make them smoother and more palatable, yet with those 

 which are used chiefly for medical purposes [as Norton's 

 Virginia, which has become a great remedy for dysen- 

 tery, bowel complaints, and cholera infantum], it will be 

 better to let the grapes hang until they are dead ripe. 

 Stem them before crushing, add very little or no water, 

 and ferment on the husks for a week, or even longer. 

 Their flavor is not objectionable, and the object here is, 

 to make an astringent and heavy wine, and develop all 

 the medicinal qualities which that grape possesses in 

 such an eminent degree. To make simply a good Claret 

 from it, of course it can be Gallized, and will make even 

 a more pleasant wine for every day use. This class, 

 however, also differs as much in its varieties as the La- 

 brusca. I have already cited an example of the Rulander, 

 which has a decided Sherry flavor. The Hermann, a 

 seedling of the Norton's, is another with a strong Sherry 

 character, so marked that the pure juice has too strong a 

 flavor, yet when properly Gallized it makes a delightful 

 deep-yellow wine, equal to any Golden Sherry, and the 

 white seedling from it seems to be a still greater improve- 

 ment, as it is much more delicate and juicy than its 

 parent. And here let me make a prediction, to which 

 long years of careful observation have led me, and whicb 



