MEAD. 247 



fectly fermented, they do not require the addition 

 of any brandy, as a sufficiency of spirit is gene- 

 rated during the process. 



The best temperature for carrying on fermentation 

 is about 54 Fahrenheit. Its perfection depends in 

 some degree upon the volume of the liquor ; the 

 larger the quantity, the longer the fermentation 

 will continue, and the stronger and pleasanter 

 will be the wine. There are however exceptions 

 to this rule. The peculiar excellence of cham- 

 pagne would be destroyed, if its fermentation were 

 conducted upon a large scale : it may be made 

 successfully in a gallon measure. This wine is so 

 managed by the makers as to ferment after 

 bottling. 



Dry wines and fine wines are much more durable 

 than any others ; and those that would perish in 

 cask, may be preserved many years by bottling. 



These hints will, I hope, enable the makers of 

 home-made wines to conduct the process scien- 

 tifically, and to secure generally a successful issue. 

 Cookery books and good housewives abound in 

 receipts for wine-making, which are very often 

 fanciful and absurd, recommending the intro- 

 duction of articles which, in their very natures, 

 counteract the production of good wine. Hence 

 we are sometimes presented with such miserable 

 mawkish stuff]- as disgraces the name of wine, 



