146 The Connecticut Pomological Society 



with a reasonable addition of the best granulated sugar, dissolved 

 in hot water, and poured into the fermenting vat. 



White wine, or "Sauternes," is made of white grapes crushed 

 and pressed, and fermentation takes place in the barrels. 



These young wines need a racking ofif in December; that is, 

 a change of barrels, taking only the clear wine. A racking of? 

 is required again in March, then in June, and October, for the 

 first year. After the first year they will need racking off only 

 twice a year, remembering always the strictest cleanliness, to 

 avoid bad germs altering the wine. 



The "orchard king," J. H. Hale, owes his successes to 

 striving to improve the quality of his fruit, not only once, but 

 always. Let us do the same in this line of viti and viniculture. 

 How can we expect to attract the attention of consumers if 

 our products are not superior, in some particulars at least, to 

 others made in other parts of this great country of ours ? 



Our New England fruit has a better taste than southern 

 or western grown. It is the same with our perfectly ripened 

 and aged wines. On my European trip, last September, when 

 in Paris, some 1895 claret was mistaken for French "Burgundy" 

 or "Macon." The bouquet and aroma were identical. Our 

 Society knows only of progress and improvements; let us then 

 apply these principles in our vineyards, striving for quality, and 

 not only for quantity. 



Would it not be to our mutual advantage to grow the best 

 grapes, so, instead of contenting ourselves with $35 per ton 

 for Concord, Worden, or the like, we could get $60, $80 or 

 $100, or perhaps more ? These prices are paid currently in New 

 York city arid state for choice varieties yielding a superior juice. 



On my return trip I made the acquaintance on the steamer 

 of Mr. Charles Masson, vice-president of one of the oldest 

 wine companies in America, the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, 

 in Rheims, N. Y. Besides over one hundred acres of vine- 

 yards owned by this company, they buy every vintage hundreds 

 of tons from growers. During the long conversations on viti 

 and viniculture, he named, besides the old, the newer varieties 

 of grapes, not generally cultivated in Connecticut, which are 

 successfully raised in New York state, around Lake Keuka. 

 They are as follows : 



