242 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



Vintage of 1834, sealed with red wax, 4^. 



" " " yellow 



" 1842, " gold 



♦< .. << red 



" " " blue 



" " (Ausbruck) blue 



30 kr. 



4 " 



4 " 



2 " 



11 " 



Professor Yon Liebig subjected the wine of Castle Johannisberg 

 to a chemical analysis, of which the following shows the results : 



vintufTP Per Cent, of Alcohol. Sugar and Not-volatile 



'' By Measure. By Weight. Contents, in 100 Tarts. 



1822 13.63 10.80 3.300 



1831 13.63 10.80 2.692 



1834 14.39 11.40 2.654 



1889 15.90 12.90 3.470 



1842 15.90 12.60 3.755 



1845 15.90 12.60 6.030 



Method of Mr. J. A. Ackermann. 



Mr. Ackermann, at Nackenheim on the Main, never allows his 

 grapes to be gathered so long as they are wet by the rain or dew, 

 believing that ripe grapes already contain all the requisites, includ- 

 ing water, in their due proportions. He also allows the grapes 

 to remain on the bush as long as possible ; but has the perfectly 

 ripe ones gathered as often as necessary, thereby avoiding loss 

 by rottenness. He permits no eating of grapes, either in the 

 press-house or in the vineyard, under penalty of instant dismiss- 

 al and loss of the whole wages ; to compensate for this, he pays 

 twice as high, and pays even if the unfavorable state of the weath- 

 er should allow but a few hours of labor. 



By these simple means Mr. Ackermann produced, in the vint- 

 age of 1828, one cask of wine which formed the nucleus of admi- 

 ration of the whole district, and realized a price of 2000 florins. 

 At the same time, his neighbors could not sell theirs higher than 

 250 florins. Besides this, he produced two and a half more casks 

 which did not fetch more than 550 florins, the wine being made 

 of less ripe grapes. On the whole, he received for his three and 

 a half casks 2550 florins, while his neighbors, for their three and 

 a half casks of best quality of wine, only cleared 875 florins. By 

 his superior intelligence, whereby Mr. Ackermann understood 

 how to aid Nature, he netted a sum three times higher than the 

 others, and gained over them 1675 florins. Nay, even more ; for 

 the actual cost of production to Mr. Ackermann's neighbors 

 amounted to about 500 florins ; therefore their three and a half 

 casks left them a net balance of 375 florins, while Mr. Ackermann, 

 even allowing his expenses to be 50 florins higher than theirs, 

 had a surplus of 2000 florins — five times more than the others. 

 And if we take, as with his neighbors, only 375 florins as net ex- 

 penses of his vineyard, the rest of the four and a half times as 

 large amount of 1625 florins was the well-merited fruit of his 

 higher intelligence. 



