Editors' Letter Box, 



59 



other articles, besides alcohol^ are i be turned into acetic acid, if atmos- 

 produced ; too much of the alcohol ■ pheric air is not carefully excluded, 

 evaporates, and the same is liable to ; To be continued. 



EDITOES' LETTERBOX. 



Hagerstown, Jfd. 



To Grape Culturist : 



Every body feels that there is some- 

 thing artificial in the scale of Fahren- 

 heits Thermometers, and that the Cen- 

 tigrade scale would be more natural, 

 and easily remembered, and that it 

 Avould have been better if it had been 

 popularized. We are beginning the 

 wine business in a scientific manner, 

 and we ought to use a per cent must 

 scale instead of an awkward thing 

 that requires calculation every time 

 to reduce it to a per cent idea. All 

 Avritings say per cent ; we read of 24 

 per cent being the proper amount of 

 sugar in goo'd must. It is much bet- 

 ter to say that Concoi'd must contains 

 20 per cent, than that it weighed 86". 



I hope that those reading this, will 

 see it as I do, and sa^' per cent in. 

 stead of degrees. 



II. 



The must scale or saccharometer 

 has only for its object to determine 

 the specific gravity of the juice of 

 grapes. If the scale, for instance, 

 shows 86" it means simLply, that the 

 must is 0.086 times more dense, or 

 heavier than water, the specific gravity 

 of Avhich is 1.000. Of such must we 

 would then say it weighs 1.086. When 

 Ave suppose, therefore, that a must of 

 this weight contains 20 per cent sugar; 

 this supposition is only founded upon 



experiments made with European 

 varieties of grapes, and Avhich in this 

 countr}", Avith different A^arieties of 

 grapes, Avould only be reliable in a 

 very few cases, because the must con- 

 tains also a number of other ingre- 

 dients, Avhich diffier according to the 

 variety of grapes. We shall intro- 

 duce next fall, after careful experi- 

 ments Avith oixr native grapes, an ap- 

 paratus, Avhich Avill show the amount 

 of sugar contained in the must, in a 

 more direct manner, than it can be 

 done by Oechsle's scale now generally 

 in use anions; our A'intners. 



Mr. W. J. Brown, Ashville, K C. 

 — The Hei'bemont Amines you mention, 

 Avhich haA^e been healthy before, but 

 noAv rot badl}', are A'ery likely ex- 

 hausted. We Avould cut them back 

 closeh', not allow them to bear too 

 much fruit for a year, and fertilize 

 them AA'ith the rich vegetable mould 

 3'ou i->peak of. The stones would not 

 do them any good. The shade of the 

 appletrees they haA'e been trained on, 

 would also be apt to induce disease. 

 The Herbemont nods in the sun, and 

 can hardl}' get too much of it. 



We Avould advise you to plant a 

 small piece in the open ground, Avith 

 that A'ariety, Avhi'jh must be the grape 

 •for the South. 



Editor. 



