AGRICULTURE. 255 



whereas dry wines have ordinarily from eight to fourteen per 

 cent. The larger the percentage of alcohol above ten, the 

 slower the fermentation ; and when port has twenty per cent., 

 it may be kept for weeks in the open bottle in a temperature 

 of 70 with very little perceptible alteration ; whereas a light, 

 dry wine will begin to turn in a day. Our principal sweet 

 wines are the Californian, ports, sherries, and Madeiras. 



The still wines are those which do not eifervesce when the 

 bottle is opened, and they include all the strong wines. The 

 sparkling wines are those which effervesce when the bottle is 

 opened, as sparkling champagne. 



Sometimes water is thrown on the cheese as it comes from the 

 press, and after standing a couple of days it is pressed again, to 

 make a very light wine called "Piquet." 



Wine is defined to be " the fermented juice of the grape," 

 and therefore " Angelica " is not properly a wine, though it is 

 usually classed under that title. It is very sweet grape juice, 

 preserved from fermentation by brandy, and is considered a 

 proper drink for ladies, though it contains twice or thrice as much 

 spirit as dry wine. There are many ways of making it : one 

 is to mix a quart of brandy with a gallon of fresh grape juice; 

 another, to boil the grape juice down to half its bulk and add 

 an eighth of brandy ; another, to let the grapes shrivel on the 

 vines, and add a tenth of brandy to the juice, and so on ; and 

 it is said that some is made without any brandy. 



182. Defects of our Wine. Most of the wines of Cali- 

 fornia are strong, lacking in delicacy of flavor. The climate 

 in the Sacramento basin, and on the coast, south of 35, is so 

 warm that light wine cannot be made conveniently. After 

 ripening commences, it proceeds so rapidly that before much 

 work can be done, an excess of sugar is produced. Spain, 

 Portugal, and Italy make strong wines, while the valleys of 

 the Garonne, Marne, and Rhine, farther north, supply a lighter 

 article. The correction of this evil is to commence pressing as 

 soon as possible after a sufficient quantity of sugar has been 



