266 CHYMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICTJLTUKi:. 



This apparatus presents no danger of bursting ; the va:- 

 por has such free issue from all parts, that the compression 

 is never great enough to occasion an explosion ; it is very 

 easily used, and may without difficulty be made to under- 

 go three or four heatings every day, and to furnish from 

 264 to 290 gallons of good brandy, from wine yielding from 

 itoi. 



Neither all kinds of wine, nor fermented liquors general- 

 ly, yield the same quantity or quality of alcohol : the wines 

 of the south afford more brandy than those of the north ; 

 fi-om the fi-rst there may be obtained ^ ; the average is ^ ; 

 whilst from those of the centre it is -i,. and from the north 

 from ^ to ^V- 



There is great difference in the strength of wines of the 

 same country. Grapes raised in a light, dry soily and with 

 a southern exposure, yield wine highly charged with alco- 

 hol, whilst grapes of the same kind growing in a moist and 

 strong soil, and having a different exposure, furnish wine 

 containing but a small portion of alcohol. 



The strength of wine depends upon the quantity of alco- 

 hol contained in it, but its quality and its price cannot be cal- 

 culated in the same way : the odor and taste which render 

 any kind of wine valuable, are qualities entirely independent 

 of the quantity of alcohol it contains. 



Wine rich in alcohol is strong and generous, but it has 

 neither the mellowness nor the perfume which characterize 

 some of the other kinds of wine. 



The brandy distilled from white wine has a better taste 

 than that from red wine : in the south the red wine is almost 

 everywhere distilled; but the brandy made there, though 

 very abundant, is less esteemed than that procured from the 

 white wine of the west. 



Wine which has begun to turn sour furnishes but little 

 brandy, and that of a bad quality ; it is therefore necessary 

 that wine which is to be distilled should have been well fer- 

 mented and kept ; and this explains the idea entertained by 

 many distillers, that wine should be distilled as soon as it is 

 completely fermented : this opinion however is unfounded, 

 excepting so far as it regards wine of an inferior quality ; 

 strong, generous wine, which has been well fermented, and 

 well clarified, may be distilled at any age. 



When wine has been selected for distillation, the process 

 is carried on in the following manner. 



The boiler must, in the first place, be carefully washed. 



