THE 



GRAPE CULTURIST. 



Vol. II. 



SBPTEMBEE, 1870. 



No. 9. 



SEPTEMBEE. 



AVORK FOR THE MONTH, 



This will be mostly confined to wine 

 making, as the Hartford, Delaware, 

 Concord, North Carolina Seedling, 

 and manj" others will have to be 

 gathered this month. 



It will assist the ripening and swel- 

 ling of the fruit very much if the 

 vines are hoed and plowed once more, 



so that the ground may be in a con- 

 dition to absorb all dew and mois- 

 ture. Shade the fruit wherever j^ou 

 can, so that it can ripen fairly. By 

 loosening a young cane now and then 

 and tying it over the fruit, you can 

 assist wherever the leaves may have 

 dropped. 



TWITCHELL'S ACIDOMETEE. 



We had the pleasure to receive one 

 •of these instruments from the inven- 

 tor a short time ago, and after sub- 

 mitting it to a thorough trial on some 

 eight varieties of wines, we confide nt- 

 1}' recommend it to our readers, as the 

 onh' safe and practical instrument of 

 the kind we have seen yet, and which 

 any person of common intelligence 

 ■can use with perfect safety. The in- 

 ventor says of it, " The action of this 

 instrument is based upon the well es- 

 tablished fact, that, when an excess of 

 carbonate is added to a liquid con- 

 taining an acid, there will be given 

 oif carbonic acid gas in exact propor- 

 tion to the amount of acid there was 

 in the liquid; and by measuring the 

 volume of the gas given off, the 

 •amount of acid in the liquid can be 

 ■determined, while the instrument is 



so divided as to give the exact per 

 cent, of acid without any calculation 

 or table of corrections." 



All the acidometers formerly in use 

 were very unsafe in the hands of any 

 but a practical chemist, as the solu- 

 tion of ammonia is influenced by the 

 least exjDOSure to the air, and it re- 

 quires some practice even to deter- 

 mine the exact coloring of the liquid. 

 They were therefore of verj" little 

 practical value to the majority of 

 grape growers, and thus Twichell's 

 Acidometer, being both safe and sim- 

 ple in its application, fills a want long 

 felt by the grape growing public. 

 We annex a cut kindly furnished us 

 by the inventor, with directions for 

 its use. See advertisement about the 

 price of these and other instruments. 



Editor. 



