Editors' Letter Bo.v. 



169 



more or less to do with the price ob- 

 tained. 



If a vintner can dispose of his en- 

 tire crop fur cash, as soon as the wine 

 has become perfoctl}' clear, thereby 

 maliing room for his next crop, he 

 had better do so, even at very mod- 

 erate figures. lie will find it the 

 most paying way to dispose of it, 

 even at one-third less than he would 

 obtain for smaller quantities. A num- 

 ber of such sales have been made 

 around Hermann this season, whore 

 vintners sold their whole crop, and 

 the average prices for good Avines, as 

 near as we can obtain them, have been 

 about as follows : Concord, 85 to 95 

 cents; Catawba, about $1 to $1.10; 

 Norton's Virginia, §1.50 to $2 per 

 gallon. Wo have latol}^ seen it stated 

 that thousands of gallons oi' good Con- 

 cord wine were waiting for a buyer 

 in this State, at 65 cents per gallon, 

 but can hardly believe that the wine 

 is ver}' good ; the producer may think it 

 so, for every father loves his own child- 

 ren, and we have seldom seen a wine- 

 grower, who had not a high opinion of 

 his own wine, but the buyer ma}^ think 

 differently, as he is more apt to be im- 

 partial. We think that the general 

 duty of 50 cts. per gallon on imported 

 wines will have a tendency to enliven 

 the demand, and increase the price of 

 our native wines, and if all will try and 

 make their next crop as good as possi- 

 ble, the}' will have no trouble in dispos- 

 ing of it. We will try and do our 

 share in teaching them how to do this 

 in our next three numbers, and are 

 happy to inform them, that we find no 

 difficulty in disposing of our wines 

 made here, at remunerative figures. We 

 are selling our Concord at $1 to §1.10, 



Norton's $2, Clinton at $1.50 per gal., 

 in quantities of not less than one barrel. 



White and light colored wines seem 

 to be in much greater demand, than 

 dark red, much of the Concord made 

 is now white or light colored, and al- 

 thougli to our taste it is not equal to 

 the best red Concord, yet it seems to 

 be in greater demand, and sells better 

 than the latter. Yet the Concord is not 

 a proper white wine grape and we must 

 try and cultivate more of varieties, 

 which in themselves possess no color- 

 ing matter. Such we have in the Mar- 

 tha, Coethe and Maxatawny, and as 

 they seem to be adapted to most loca- 

 tions, we would advise more extensive 

 planting of them. 



To those who ma}' wish to dispose of 

 their wines, we would advise to follow 

 the annexed rules. 



Always try to get the buyer to test 

 the wine in the cellar, from the casks, 

 instead of offering samples abroad. 

 The change of temperature, motion, etc. 

 makes even the best samples taste flat. 



If this cannot be done, see that the 

 samples, when sent, have had a rest of 

 a day or two in a cool cellar, before 

 they are tried. 



Never offer your wine for sale, unless 

 perfectly bright, clear and still. No 

 wine, however good intrinsically^ can 

 be properl}' tested, nor justice done to 

 it, as long as any lees are suspended 

 in it, or fermentation, however slight, 

 is still going on. 



Do not carry or send your samples 

 in medicine vials, or brandy bottles, 

 but in handsome wine bottles, and well 

 corked with new corks of the best ma- 

 terial. Appearances sometimes have 

 a great influence, and but few are above 

 them in the daily trade of life. — Ed.] 



