JBidldiny IVine Cellars. 



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one in partnership. It is much 

 cheaper, comparatively, to build a 

 large cellar than a small one. But 

 neither you nor your partners must 

 be of a jealous disposition. You 

 must bo inclined to work harmoni- 

 ously, each giving the other an equal 

 chance. If you are not willing to do 

 that, better wait and build one for 

 yourself alone, when you are able. 

 Some people have such a surly, sour 

 disposition that even wine, that most 

 genial gift of God to man, will make 

 them quarrelsome. It you have such 

 a disposition, or find it in any of your 

 neighbors, don't you build a cellar to- 

 gether. It would prove to be the 

 "■ apple of contention " among you, 

 and this is a fruit which grape grow- 

 ers should not cultivate. 



To those who intend to build a cellar 

 with limited means^ say not over 

 •$2,000, we think the arrangement 

 of our friend Moore (May number, 

 page 135) an excellent one. It is 

 convenient and cheap, but we think 

 he has done a good deal of the 

 work himself, and charged it very 

 low, or he could not have made it for 

 ^1,400. Better add $600 more if you 

 want to be on the safe side, and it will 

 still be a cheap cellar. 



Let us now look at the requisites of a 

 good wine cellar a little closer. 



1st. If you intend to keep wine in 

 it over summer, it should be so con- 

 structed as to keep an even tempera- 

 ture, summer and winter. To attain 

 this, choose the north or east side of 

 a hill, (provided always that you are 

 in the hills,) and make the cellar for 

 storing 3-our wine about twelve feet 

 deep. This I would prefer to arch 

 over, either with stone, or brick as it 



may be more convenient, for it will 

 keep a more even temperature. If 

 the hill is steep enough to allow you 

 to make the door even with the earth, 

 you will find it a great convenience in 

 handling casks, loading and unloading, 

 etc. You can build an approach in 

 front, which need not be ai-ched, to 

 store your empty casks, etc. Make it 

 on as dry a place as you have, for 

 water is a great nuisance in a cellar. 

 If the cellar is too damp, the casks 

 will always be and look mouldy, which 

 is neither agreeable nor useful. 



2d. It should be in a convenient 

 place — a place to which you can take 

 your grapes with the least trouble 

 and labor, and from which 3"ou can 

 ship your wine with the greatest 

 ease. 



3d. It should have the pi'oper di- 

 mensions. There should be room 

 sufficient for two rows of casks, one 

 at each side, and space enough in the 

 middle to roll and handle casks, rack- 

 ing, etc. A good sized cask, say 500 

 gallons, is about five feet long and 

 high. Allowing IJ foot of space at the 

 wall, to enable you to get around 

 them freely, it will take 6J feet on 

 each side, or 13 feet on both sides. 

 The passage in the middle should be 

 at least 5 or 6 feet, which will make 

 it 18 or 19 feet. Between 18 and 20 

 feet will therefore be the proper 

 width for two rows of casks. 



4th. You want a fermenting room 

 or cellar, as much as you do a cellar 

 for keeping your wine, and this 

 should not be kept at as low a tem- 

 perature as your cellar to keej) fer- 

 mented wine. What is, therefore, 

 more natural and convenient than to 

 build it above this ? It need not be in 



