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VOLUME 



ROCHESTER, SEPTEMBER 24, 1831. 



NUMBER 38. 



PUBLISHED BY L. TUCKER & CO. 



At the Office of the Daily Advertiser. 

 Terms— $2. 50 per annum, or 



$2 00 if paid in advance. 



N. GOODSELL, EDITOR. 



GRAPE WINE. 

 For the benefit of those who may feel disposed 

 to try the experiment of making wine from the 

 native American Grapes, of any description, we 

 Wve the following directions ; and as this is the 

 proper season for collecting the grapes, we hope 

 all who feel an interest in this subject, will attend 

 to it, not only for the purpose of making wine, but 

 for selecting and marking such vines of whatever 

 variety as shall appear best calculated for culti- 

 vation, either for wine or as a table grape. 



Let those who shall attempt to select and mark 

 vines remember that it is not always the sweetest 

 grape that makes the best wine, neither is a grape 

 to be rejected because it possesses astringent quali- 

 ties, but the size and shape of the clusters shoul I 

 be examined, the growth and shape of the vine 

 as to fruits, and above all whether the vine is a 

 good bearer. 



These substances are necessary to be in solu- 

 tion in the must or juice of grapes in order to 

 make a good wine, viz : saccharine matter, tar- 

 taric or some other acid and mucilage. 



With regard to the first of these, saccharine 

 matter or sugar, most fruits have more or less of 

 it, and because a fruit tastes sour, it is no proof 

 that it does not possess sugar, but that the acid is 

 in excess. An apple or grape may be called sour, 

 and yet be very rich in saccharine matter. Fruits 

 that possess the largest quantity both of acid and 

 sugar are the most desirable for making fermen- 

 ted liquors. Where there is a want of sacchar- 

 ine matter or acid in grapes, either may be sup 

 plied. artificially. The common cream of tartar 

 of the shops, is collected from the bottom and sides 

 of wine vats. When taken from the vats it con- 

 tains a large quantity of coloring matter, and oth- 

 er impurities, which are shut in by the chrystals 

 of the acid; in this shape it is called Algal, or red 

 Argal, as red grapes produce more of it than the 

 white, and of course the coloring matter is one of 

 its characteristics. To prepare cream of tartar 

 from Argal, it is dissolved in water, freed from its 

 impurities by filtration after which it is evapora- 

 ted on chrystalized. From the price which this 

 article bears in market, it is not very costly sup- 

 plying it artificially where grapes do not possess 

 a sufficient quantity of it naturally. The same 

 may be said with regard to the saccharine matter 

 the base of which is sugar, and in many instances 

 can be supplied at a cheaper rate to an inferior 

 grape, which is a great bearer, than can be fur- 

 nished naturally by cultivating a grape which 

 possesses a larger quantity, and yet is a poor 

 bearer. The sum total of these two substances 

 contained in the juice of grapes or other fruit, 

 may be ascertained by its specific gravity. For 

 the purpose of ascertaining this, let a new laid 

 lien's egg be put into the must or juice of grapes ; 

 when the egg floats to the surface it is sufficiently 

 strong for making a good bodied wine. To as- 

 certain exactly the proportions of acid and sugar 

 "vhich were contained in such a must, would re- 



quire a nice chemical analysis, but this is not ne 

 cessary. If there is an excess of acid in wine it 

 will separate from it by standing; hence such 

 wines improve by age ; but on the contrary if 

 there is not sufficient acid, a part of the sugar will 

 remain undecomposed in the liquor after the fer- 

 mentation has ceased, and will dispose such wine 

 to prick or turn sour. There is no damage to 

 the wine if the juice contains more acid than is 

 decomposed during fermentation, but there may 

 be if it does not contain enough. 



As to mucilage most fruits contain that in suf- 

 ficient quantity, and many more than is necessary 

 to promote fermentation, and the excess must be 

 got rid of by fining, else it will dispose the liquor 

 to become sour. 



From the above it may be inferred that the 

 sourest grapes are capable of making good wine. 

 In short, it is desirable they should be sour rather 

 than sweet. When grapes are collected for wine 

 let them be mashed in a barrel or some other con- 

 venient way, after which let them be put into an 

 open vessel, which should be rather deep than oth- 

 erwise. Where a hogshead is to be prepared, a 

 pipe or hogshead with one head out, standing up 

 on the end,will be found to be very convenient ; in- 

 to this let the mashed grapes be put and allowed 

 to stand, being losely covered until fermentation 

 has commenced and the skins have risen to the top 

 a thick scum. When this is perceived let the 

 liquor be drawn off through a hole near the bot- 

 tom. When so drawn off it should be strained 

 through a number of thicknesses of flannel or sand, 

 in order to free it from the lees as much as possi- 

 ble When the liquor is thus prepared, the sac- 

 charine matter may be added until the specific 

 gravity as indicated by an egg shows the quanti- 

 ty to be sufficient ; after which it may be put in- 

 to the cask and the bung left out to finish the fer- 

 mentation. When the fermentation has ceased 

 it should be bunged close. In about ninety days 

 after it is made, wine should be fined by putting 

 about two quarts of skimmed milk to the barrel, 

 which should be well mixed, and the barrel bung- 

 ed tight as before. Whatever is used as saccha- 

 rine matter should be as pure as possible. Maple 

 sugar, as it is commonly made, communicates a 

 disagreeable flavor to wine, as does many of the 

 brown West India sugars. White Havana, should 

 be preferred when it can be obtained at a reason- 

 able price. Honey gives to wine much of the 

 champaigne flavor, for which reason it will be 

 preferred by many to sugar, and the same number 

 of pounds will make the must equally as rich. As 

 the process for wine making is so simple, we 

 would recommend those who can procure wild 

 grapes to make the experiment. Where a suffi- 

 cient quantity of grapes can not be procured to 

 make a cask entirely from the expressed juice, 

 water may be added previous to putting in the su- 

 gar. — 



Since the above article was written, we have 

 received from the Groveland Farmer the follow- 

 ing description of the process by which the wine, 

 which he presented to us, as mentioned in one of 

 our late numbers, was made. By this communi- 

 cation it will be seen that he mixed with the 

 grapes, an equal quantity of water and yet the] 



wine was of superior quality. It must be re- 

 membered that the grapes used, were the wild 

 chicken grapes of our forests, and that they con- 

 tain more tartaric acid than the fox grape; a prop- 

 erty highly favorable for making good wine; there- 

 fore, if a grape is used that does not possess so 

 much acid, if water is added, we are of opin- 

 ion that it would be found very important to add 

 a quantity of cream of tartar, to supply the natu- 

 ral deficiency, otherwise the wine would be too in- 

 sipid, and if the common quantity of sugar was 

 used, it might not all be decomposed, and in that 

 case the wine would be more subject to become 

 sour. The experiment of the Groveland Farmer, 

 goes to prove that a good and wholesome wine 

 may be made with us at a low price, when com- 

 pared with the. prices which we pay for the brew- 

 ed and deleterious wines now sold at most of the 

 shops as imported wines, much of which is ac- 

 tually compounded in our large seaport towns, 

 and many that were imported undergo such mix- 

 ing and alteration, as entirely to change them from 

 what they were made, and yet to show that we 

 are extremely wise in those matters, we drink 

 them, declare the price we pay for them, and cry 

 out, what an excellent glass of wine. 



Sir — I am gratified to find that the sample of 

 wine I sent you was approved by yourself and 

 friends — it was made as follows : The ripe 

 grapes were picked from the stems and crushed, 

 then measured, and the same quantity of water 

 was added. The mixture was suffered to foment 

 in a cask, of which the head was taken out, for 

 four days. It was then strained, and to the juice, 

 which was about 27 galls., was added 50 lbs. of 

 Muscovado sugar, which was well stirred to dis- 

 solve it. The liquor was then put into a cask of 

 '26 galls., which was kept constantly filled up to 

 the bung ; when the violence of the fermentation 

 was over, the bung was put over the hole, but not. 

 driven in ; some time afterwards it was stopped 

 close, and so remained till the following March when 

 it was fined with white of eggs, and one gallon 

 cogniac brandy was added. It was bottled oft* 

 when 10 month old. 



I am sir, your obd't. serv't., 



A Groveland Farmer. 



ZINC. 



As some of the eastern mechanics are adverti- 

 sing zinc hollow ware, a short description of this 

 metal may be acceptable. 



Zinc is never found in its metalic state, but is 

 dug from the earth in the form of ore. 



The ores most common are carbonates, sul- 

 phates, and sulphurets, and most of them contain, 

 besides zinc, iron, lead, silver, and alumine in dif- 

 ferent proportions. The most common ore is 

 known by the name of calamine, and is the one 

 used in the preparation of brass, which is an al- 

 loy with copper, the proportions being about two 

 parts copper and one of zinc. 



Zinc is a bluish white metal, mailable; melts 

 at about 700 ° Fah't., and is volatilized at a red 

 heat, burning with a white flame, tinged with yel- 

 low. It is much used in the arts when mixed 

 with other metals, or dissolved in acids. 



