416 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



Boiling and Clarifying. 



Every thing being read}'-, slack a tcacupful of lime, mix it to 

 the consistency of cream, and set it by for use. Light your fire, 

 with charcoal if you have it, for it makes no smoke, but if you 

 have none, use dry kindling-wood. If possible, so arrange your 

 rude fireplace as to let the fire reach no more than halfway up 

 the sides of the pot. Put five or six gallons of juice into the pot, 

 set it on the fire, and, when it becomes milk-warm, add one large 

 tablespoonful of the cream of lime, and mix it thoroughly through 

 the juice. Now take the whites of two fresh eggs, beat them up 

 with a teacupful of the juice from the pot, and when thoroughly 

 mixed, pour back, and stir them well through the mass ; bring it to 

 the boil as soon as possible ; hut, the moment you see the first sig7is of 

 boiling, lift the jMt off the fire, set it on the ground, and let it remain 

 quiet for fifteen or twenty minutes. You will have perceived that, 

 after adding the cream of lime and eggs, as the simmering went 

 on, a thick scum began to rise ; this you must not disturb, but al- 

 low to gather on the top, till you take the pot from the fire as di- 

 rected, and allow it to settle fifteen or twenty minutes. At the 

 end of this time carefully remove the scum, and you will find, if 

 3-0U have carefully followed these directions, that the juice has be- 

 come clear and bright, ready to boil down to the consistence you 

 require, whether of sirup or sugar. ■ Having removed the scum, 

 empty the contents of your pot into some clean vessel, which have 

 convenient. Fill up your pot again with the raw juice, and pro- 

 ceed as before. This is the process of clarifying or defeccding, and 

 is absolutely necessary, if you do not wish to have a dark, dirty 

 sirup, tasting of cane-stalks, and almost unfit for use. 



After clarifying and skimming the second potful as directed, 

 set it back on the fire, and boil down as rapidly as possible. As 

 the quantity reduces iDy boiling, keep adding fresh juice from the 

 first clarification, so as not to let the sirup get too low in the pot, 

 or it will get burned. If any scum rises, remove it with 3^our 

 skimmer ; and by following these directions, you can not fail to 

 make good sirup. The preceding remarks suppose that you have 

 only one jwt to operate with ; but it is very much better to have 

 two, as it will save twenty minutes' time, and fuel, with each ket- 

 tle of sirup you make ; because, as I have shown, you have to 

 wait twenty minutes after taking the pot from the fire to allow 

 the scum to rise and settle ; so, if you have not another potful of 

 fresh juice to put on, it is so much time and fire wasted. With 

 two pots in use, you replace the first on the fire as soon as you 

 take the other off, and proceed to boil down. Should you wish to 

 make a very extra sirup for table use, get a flannel bag, of almost 

 any shape, sufficient to hold two or three gallons, and filter the 

 juice through it after you have skimmed it; then boil down as 

 before. 



