Air Treatment Again. 



31& 



pure taste. Sometime ago, when he had 

 made it, he had communicated to me 

 his surprise that the crude juice was 

 literally covered with wasps, hornets, 

 &c.,, while hardly an insect would 

 touch the purified juice. The cause is 

 quite obvious : the insects don't find the 

 albumen in it that is necessary for their 

 sustenance ; white refined sugar con- 

 tains none of the microscopic, rough- 

 looking insects that live by millions in 

 the crude sugars. My theory to with- 

 draw the nourishment from the mico- 

 derms applies here with equal force. 



Yesterday I received from R. A. 

 Blankenhorn, Carlsruhe, an extract 

 from Part IV Annelen du Penologie, 

 on "the favorable efl!ect of increased 

 access of air to must in the progress of 

 its fermentation." From this it is cer- 

 tain that air-treatment spreads rapidly 

 amongst the German vintners. He 

 says, "The air-treatment has alread}^ 

 become a fact so fixed in wine cellars 

 of Upper Baden that no must not air- 

 treated is allowed to go into the cask." 



By the failure <>»f my customers for 

 air-treatment to pay up promptly, I am 

 prevented from visiting the Southern su- 

 gar States as I contemplated, to introduce 

 my process in the sugar plantations, 

 being positive of increasing the pro- 

 ceeds of the planters at least 25 per 

 cent, by the prevention of all souring 

 and fermentation by enabling them to 

 have the juice rapidly housed and out 

 of the cane, and to finish the work as 

 the other machinery of the establish- 

 ment permits. Also by avoiding all 

 molasses (that will sour and ferment) 

 but producing only fine sugar, and un- 

 souring syrups of superior flavor ; and, 

 by the greater simplification of all pro- 

 cesses of their sugar houses, to utilize 



by fermentation and distillation the 

 immense amount of scums and spent 

 cane, now to a large extent thrown 

 away for want of time, ability and fa- 

 cility to work it ; while the product of 

 such distillation is incomparably supe- 

 rior to the abominable spirit now gen- 

 erally produced from the sugar leav- 

 ings. 



[Translated from the Fariiiur Zuituiij;'.] 



On the 22d of this month (Aug.), a 

 week ago yesterday, I commenced the 

 air treatment of my Delaware must. 

 Friday evening fermentation was com- 

 pleted, and the must no longer sweet. 

 That must showed 90 degrees (Oechsles 

 scale), and I shall rack it to-morrow 

 (31 August) into another cask. This 

 evening I think my Concord, which was 

 subjected to the treatment last Friday, 

 will be finished. Several of the more 

 extensive grape growers of Illinois were 

 with me within the last three months,and 

 they also intend to try the process after 

 trying the results of the experiments 

 made by me last year. The results of 

 this season's experiments by sevei'al 

 others will, I hope, practically demon- 

 strate the great benefits of air treat- 

 ment beyond a doubt, and it will be a 

 pleasure to me if I can assist in futher- 

 ing the distribution of the process. At 

 a meeting of the grape growers of this 

 vicinity, which took place j^esterday, I 

 reported on the favorable results of air 

 treatment, and I do not doubt that most 

 of them will follow my example next 

 year, especially if they can see and try 

 samples of it next November, while their 

 wines are j^et unfinished. 1 ()U2;ht to 

 remark that fermentation took place in 

 a temperature of 80 to 90 degrees; that 

 some water and sugar had been added 

 to the must, and that I only experi- 



