Concerning Wine. 



251 



for making good the deficiencies of 

 Xature in our country. And why, in 

 the case of wine alone, shall we sit 

 with idle hands^ while we permit our- 

 selves to convert it into an agreeable 

 drink that barley which Nature has 

 destined for bread. Yet we always 

 hear the word 'natural wine' given 

 with an intonation, antagonistic to 

 our processes for correcting the faults 

 of Nature. There is no natural wine 

 under the fiftieth parallel of latitude, 

 for the grape itself is not there a 

 natural product. When upon a de- 

 clivity wo first blast away rock with 

 powder, hoist to tho place basketfuls 

 of earth, and plant a vine there, can 

 we call its fruit a product of Nature ? 

 And so it is. Nature is true every- 

 where ; but who bids us cultivate a 

 plant of the south on our northern 

 hills? If we tviU have it, we must 

 also supply the requisite conditions, 

 and we jnay have it. Man is, of a truth, 



'The lord of Nature, and she loves her chains, 

 Kxerts her strength in contests manifold, 

 And Irom her ^Yildness mounts all beauteous 

 at his call.' 



"• Self-interest has given a sharp edge 

 to the debate. The owners of superior 

 vinej^ards fear that, aided by science, 

 every one will produce wines of as good 

 quality as themselves, and at a lower 

 price ; and that they will consequently 

 lose their monopoly ; and in this they 

 think rightly. We will not here dis- 

 parage men who are fighting pro do/no, 

 nor will we, on the other hand, retreat 

 from the great principle, that the wel- 

 fare of all is to be preferred to the in- 

 terests of the few. If these men are 

 right in producing from their wine hills 

 the best wine possible in the simplest 

 way, then are the possessors of inferior 



sites also right in supplying the needs 

 of their harvest by proper treatment 

 and additions, and both are entitled to 

 just so high a price as they can obtain 

 in the open market. I do not reply to 

 the objections that these artificially pre- 

 pared wines are unwholesome, will not 

 keep, are not relishing : these are all 

 falsities. But that the natural wine of 

 1850 was sound, pleasant, and durable, 

 not even the advocates of monopoly 

 dare affirm. A wine with from one 

 and five-tenths to one and eight-tenths 

 per cent, of acid is not potable ; we 

 must either throw it away or improve 

 it. The need of improving wine in- 

 deed made itself known betimes, and 

 the champions of monopoly opposed 

 the idea even in antiquit}^ AYe are at 

 present acquainted with three essen- 

 tially diS"erent methods for bettering 

 wine. 



" First. Chaptalizing : adding sugar 

 to the must. 



'^ Second. Gallizing : reducing the 

 acid with water and adding sugar. 



"Third. Petiotizing : treating the 

 expressed marc with water and sugar. 



(A minute description of these pro- 

 cesses here follows, illustrated with 

 cuts ; after which the argument con- 

 tinues.) 



" It is well known that the consump- 

 tion of beer was never greater than in 

 the series of bad wine years which lie 

 between 1847 and 1857. The wine in 

 its natural state was really undriuka- 

 ble, and the injury thus inflicted on the 

 prosperity of the country immeasurable. 

 The wine producing communities were 

 brought near to beggary ; distraint of 

 property, emigration, and, in some 

 places, famine-typhus, resulted. The 

 conversion of barley into beer is ca 



