176 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



Bacchus and Ariadne. They show a new class of wines, 

 light red in color, of great body, and very peculiar flavor. 

 Should these varieties prove to be adapted to more gen- 

 eral culture, we may expect some remarkable wines from 

 them. 



Of course these are only general hints, which are cal- 

 culated to show my wine-making friends the way they 

 must go, to make palatable and wholesome wines. I 

 shall not attempt to go into details about varieties, as 

 even these differ so much in different localities that no 

 rules for their treatment could be given ,to apply in all 

 cases. Nor do I pretend to be perfect, but I am convinced 

 more and more every day, how little I yet know, and 

 how much I have to learn. 



In all my experiments I aimed to come as near the 

 normal must of the variety I experimented with as possi- 

 ble, in the specific gravity of the water and must, when 

 mixed. I have no doubt that we also have much to learn 

 yet in the judicious mixing of several kinds of grapes. 

 Experiments in that line have already shown astonishing 

 results, and the art of blending and cutting wines, so 

 well understood and practised in the best cellars of Eu- 

 rope, is yet in its infancy here, but will, no doubt, have 

 a great influence upon our future products. But this 

 art can only be based upon a thorough knowledge of the 

 characteristics of each individual variety, and he who 

 undertakes the task must bring to it a peculiar talent 

 and highly developed taste, as well as the nicest discrimi- 

 nation of the traits of each variety. If our grape growing 

 and wine making had the experience of several centuries 

 to look back upon, we could base our operations upon 

 certain knowledge. Now we are feeling our way. The 

 pioneers who first made the clearings in our woods, 

 greatly rejoiced when chey could eat the first hoe-cake 

 from the corn their industry had planted in the wilder- 

 ness, and still more enjoyed the rolls made of their first 



