254 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



when kept over three years, while Cabernet Sauvignon, 

 Burgundy, Riesling and Traminer will need more time 

 to bring out their best qualities. Wines that had per- 

 fect fermentation are in no danger of disease. 



CHAPTER LIV. 



PURE WINE AS A PROMOTER OF TEMPERANCE. 



I have no fault to find with those who honestly be- 

 lieve that they should abstain from everything which 

 contains the least particle of alcohol, yet I desire to 

 enter a solemn protest against denouncing wine as nec- 

 essarily a source of drunkenness. It is not the moder- 

 ate use, but the abuse of any article of daily food or 

 drink, which constitutes intemperance, and I am as sin- 

 cerely and strongly opposed to such abuse of wine as any 

 one can be. I regard wine as one of the best gifts of a 

 beneficent Creator to mankind. The same Being who 

 "causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for 

 the service of man," also gives "wine that maketh glad 

 the heart of man" (Ps. 104; v. 14, 15). This gift is 

 too good to be abased, but is designed to be used, like 

 other good things, in moderation ; to promote health 

 and happiness, and not to degrade to the level of the 

 brute. It should drive out of use such fiery, alcoholic 

 drinks as poor whisky, brandy, and those vile decoctions 

 which are sold under the names of sweet Catawba, An- 

 gelica, port and sherry, which often contain as much 

 spirit in disguise as the first-named. Pure light wine as 

 a general beverage is one of the most effective promoters 

 of temperance that can be found, and the nations with 

 whom it is in common use are the most sober and temper- 



