Can ^Vlne he Aerified with Impunity. 



203 



pan}", quite a large portion arc of re- 

 cent introduction. Probably only a 

 very few of them will be found wor- 

 thy of being extensively planted. 



The most common fault with new 

 varieties is their liability to mihlew, 

 and the consequent loss of foliage. 

 Among the great number of new sorts 

 which have been brought before the 

 public within the last few years, only 

 a very small number are found to pos- 

 sess that degree of hardiness requisite 

 to carry fruit and foliage through the 

 long summer of our latitude, unim- 

 paired. 



The Cliff Cave AVine Company do 

 not, therefore, look to the experimen- 

 tal portion of their vine^-ard as a 

 probable source of immediate profit. 

 Aside from the great interest which 

 attends the testing of new varieties 

 of fruit, those having the direction of 

 the affairs of the company have felt 



it to bo their duty to contribute their 

 share toward determining what varie- 

 ties of the grape were most likely to 

 become of real value to the vintners of 

 this portion of the Mississippi valley. 



The propagation of grape plants for 

 sale is now quite an important branch 

 of the business of this company, and 

 it is intended to make this interest a 

 permanent dopartmcni. 



Their proximity to the city of Saint 

 Louis enables the companj" to choose 

 between selling the grapes in market, 

 and turning them into wine. Up to 

 the present time a large portion of the 

 fruit has been marketed in SaintLouis, 

 at satisfactorj^ prices. A small quan- 

 tity of wine was made in 1868, and 

 last season (1869) that portion of the 

 crop which was converted into wine 

 yielded about 2,800 gallons, mostly o^ 

 the Concord variety. 



C. W. Spalding, President. 



CAN WINE BE AEEIFIED WITH IMPUNITY? 



The above question is naturally sug- 

 gested by the few remarks made on 

 my essay on wine racking, published 

 in the June number ; and when the 

 same are made by an eminently prac- 

 tical mind, like Mr. Geo. Husmann, 

 the new theory is worthy of further 

 elucidation for fear that, being in con- 

 flict Avith the practical experience of 

 the older wine countries, it might 

 cause fatal mistakes with vintners, in 

 their haste to put it into practice, be- 

 fore our American experience has full}* 

 demonstrated that with us the reverse 

 is true : that Avine can be aerified with 

 impunity; and here, when I say loiiie, 



let it be well understood that I do not 

 mean must. 



Cursorily, and as briefly as the sub- 

 ject will permit, I propose to open the 

 discussion by submitting a few of my 

 doubts, trusting that our practical and 

 observing vintners will follow with a 

 record of their experience ; we may 

 then, perhaps, in time, arrive at a near 

 solution of this most important ques- 

 tion. 



Supposing that the aim of the vint- 

 ner is always to obtain aAvine of supe- 

 rior quality, let us first consider the 

 chemical change Avhich takes place in 

 wine by the free admission of air; it 



