334 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



bung first, then place a bucket or small tub under the faucet 

 hole, remove the plug and drive in the faucet firmly. Then 

 test the wine with a glass, to see if it is perfectly clear and 

 quiet. If not you will have to let it rest for a few days until 

 it is, as it is worse than useless to bottle cloudy wine. If 

 clear, fill your bottles to within an inch of the cork when 

 drove in. It will expedite the operation if one will fill the 

 bottles, and another cork them. Sometimes the wine will 

 run cloudy at first, but be perfectly clear after a few bottles 

 have been drawn. These should be kept separate, and will 

 deposit their sediment in a few days, when they can be racked 

 again. Drive the cork in to the rim of the bottle, and let the 

 wine come to about one inch of it, after the foam has subsided. 

 The bottles should then be laid flat on their sides, so that 

 the win? will cover the corks. They can be laid on the floor 

 of the cellar, or stored in bins made for the purpose, of lattice 

 work and boards. These are generally so constructed that 

 they will hold a double layer of bottles, which can be placed 

 with their necks resting against each other. If securely corked 

 with good corks, it is not necessary to seal them, though wine 

 dealers either seal or capsule them. But as any one can easily 

 inform himself how to fit wine for the market by labeling and 

 packing in cases, if he intends to go into that trade, I shall 

 not describe all the operations necessary for that purpose, but 

 merely confine myself to the subject for domestic use, and to 

 keep some samples of peculiar vintages, as each wine maker 

 ought to do. 



When the wine has rested for a few weeks, it ought to be 

 examined whether it has made any deposit at the lower side 

 of the bottle. Should this be the case, care must be taken to 

 keep the bottle on the same side, lay it firmly on a board or 

 table and draw the cork, letting the wine run off the sediment, 

 which imparts a disagreeable taste to the wine. But if it was 

 thoroughly ripe and well clarified or filtered, this will not be 



