VINEGAR. 



MV. Mottier has also found and destroyed it 

 but it is rarely met with in vineyards. 



The Insects found most annoying, are a green 

 worm that feeds on the vines just as the fruit 

 buds appear, ami before they blossom, eating off 

 the tender bunches, and doing great mischief if 

 not promptly destroyed. The Canker, or Mea- 

 //;/<,' Worm (of which the above may be a va- 

 riety) is sometimes found on the leaves and 

 youii^ shoots. The Curcnlio, so destructive to 

 the plum, has occasionally been found on the 

 grapes; they can be readily shaken down on 

 a sheet, by a sudden blow on the stake, and 

 destroyed. If ever permitted to get domesti- 

 cated in a vineyard, this insect would be im- 

 mensely destructive. 



The Rose-bug, Dr. Shaler says, has been ob- 

 served in some vineyards in Kentucky, but it is 

 rarely met with here. 



A large brown beetle, or bug, will frequently 

 sting the young tender branches of the vine in 

 summer, making a wound that subjects the 

 branch to be broken off by strong winds. They 

 can be watched and picked off, late in the evening, 

 or early in the morning. All horticulturists 

 are familiar with the spring and the early fall 

 ctitri-pillar, and of course, would not permit 

 either to get a foothold in the vineyard. 



Frost. Late spring frosts have some years, 

 but not often, been highly injurious, especially 

 to vineyards near .v /////// stream* of water, damp 

 wood.-, or in cold situations. The mo> r 

 within the memory of Mr. Buchanan, occurred 

 on the 9th of May, 7th of May, and 15th of 

 April, of three successive years, when the buds 

 had so far put out, that their loss was not replaced 

 by the pushing out subsequently of the latent, 

 or twin bud, which partially overcame the loss 

 of the first bud in the latter year, 1849. 



In warm and sandy lands, with a gravelly sub- 

 stratum, the buds are in some years pushed 

 forward prematurely by warm autumns, so as to 

 be killed by the severe frosts in winter. See 

 WINK. 



VINEGAR is the acetous and acetic acids of 

 the chemist, containing a variety of foreign ad- 

 mixtures, some colouring matter, and an ethe- 

 real substance or spirit, which gives it a grateful 

 aroma. Vinegar has been known from a very 

 early age. It was by far the earliest known 

 acid of commerce. That it was drunk in re- 

 mote periods, diluted with water, by the labour- 

 ers and soldiers, is very certain. It is repeat- 

 edly mentioned in the Old Testament. But then 

 they had several descriptions, one of which, a 

 kind of small wine, which they called pesca or 

 sera, is supposed to be that offered to Ruth 

 (Ruth, ii. 14), and to our Saviour by the Roman 

 soldiers (Mutt, xxvii. 48). The stronger va- 

 riety of vinegar is alluded to in another place 

 (Prov. x. 26). They mixed it also with nitre, 

 or, properly speaking, natron, which was an 

 alkali that, by neutralizing, destroyed its sharp- 

 ness. " As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that 

 singeth songs to a heavy heart." (Prov. xxv. 

 20.) They made it in those days from wine. 

 (Numb. vi. 3.) It is known to every one, that 

 when wine or beer is exposed to the influence of 

 the atmosphere, it becomes sour or acid ; now 

 this acid is the acetic. In the wine countries it 

 is chiefly made from the produce of the vine, 

 weak or low wines ; the shoots of the vine, &c , 

 beinii also employed for that purpose. Tt may 

 be readily made from merely sugar and water. 



VINEGAR. 



That of commerce in England is usually made 

 from wort from malt liquor or cider. Vinegar 

 is of a yellowish or reddish colour, an acid taste, 

 and pleasant odour. Its specific gravity is com- 

 monly between 1-0135 and 1-0251. It usually 

 holds in solution various foreign substances, such 

 as colouring matters, sulphate of lime, mucilage, 

 sulphuric acid, and the ethereal spirit already 

 mentioned. Vinegars differ greatly in strength 

 and in purity. The best known in England for 

 domestic purposes is the French white wine 

 vinegar ; but the Vinaigre d'Orleans, made from 

 the red wine of the Orleanois, is that most es- 

 teemed in France ; and that imported from 

 Bourdeaux, although named Champagne vine- 

 gar, is often made from red wine. The density 

 of French vinegars varies from 10-14 to 10-22. 

 The free sulphuric acid in British vinegar is per- 

 mitted by the English excise laws to the amount 

 of one part in one thousand, but it is often added 

 to four times that amount. 



Vinegar is readily purified from its impurities 

 by distillation, and in this form is the transpa- 

 rent distilled vinegar of commerce. But even 

 then it is united with a considerable portion of 

 water. 



The specific gravity determines this point. 

 Thus, at 10-14 it contains 10 per cent, of real 

 acetic acid, at 10-22 15 per cent., at 10-2518 

 per cent., at 10-35 26 per cent , at 10-60 50 per 

 cent., and so on, until it reaches 10-635, which 

 is the strongest liquid acetic acid. 



When deprived of all impurities and water, 

 by chemical means, pure acetic acid is com- 

 posed, according to the analysis of M. Berze- 

 lius, of 



Fart.. 



Carbon 46-83 



Oxygen 46-82 



Hydrogen 6-35 



100- 



Some plants contain acetic acid naturally. M. 

 Vauquelin found it in the sap of various trees, 

 and in the chick-pea. Scheele detected it in the 

 elderberry. It has been found also in the date 

 palm tree, and in several others ; and few plants 

 exist in which acetic acid in the form of salts, 

 such as the acetates of lime or potassa, is not 

 found. 



In England, for domestic purposes, it is pre- 

 pared in several very considerable manufactories 

 from a mixture of barley or malt with water, by 

 keeping the wash exposed in open vessels to the 

 influence of the atmosphere, in rooms heated to 

 a particular temperature. The formation of the 

 acetic acid in this manner is in these works pro- 

 moted by the addition of a certain small propor- 

 tion of acetic acid. 



An excellent vinegar for domestic purposes 

 may be readily made by exposing a mixture of 

 one part of brown sugar by weight with seven 

 parts of water and some yeast, in a cask whose 

 bung-hole is only slightly covered over (as by a 

 piece of gauze pasted down to keep out insects), 

 for some weeks to the action of the atmosphere 

 and the sun. The acetic fermentation and the 

 goodness of the vinegar are promoted by the ad- 

 dition of vine leaves. 



Although vinegar is familiarly used in small 

 quantity as an agreeable and useful addition to 

 food, yet in large quantities it interrupts diges- 

 tion, and induces emaciation. In combination 



1099 



