202 ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ORANGE WINE. 



"The constantly extending ravages of the phylloxera have in- 

 duced the inhabitants of certain wine-growing countries to con- 

 sider from what fruit a product may be obtained that will most 

 resemble the juice of the grape in appearance, taste and bouquet. 

 Experiments have been made and the fact has been established 

 that the liquid extracted from the orange would constitute a re- 

 source on which to fall back. The first trial made showed that 

 when the oranges have attained their full development they are 

 unfit for this purpose ; and that they must be selected, not when 

 fully mature and superabounding in sugary principle, but before 

 they are fully ripe, and while they still possess an appreciable 

 amount of citric and malic acids. 



"The experiments hitherto made are still too limited, and the 

 methods of fabrication too rudimentary, to justify placing the 

 article on the market. 



"This very important question arises: If ever success be 

 obtained in its production, can a sufficient quantity of the fruit 

 be secured to replace the grape, and if so, what will be the rela- 

 tive cost of wine from the vine and the orange? 



"If attention be turned in this direction, we shall doubtless 

 be provided with some sort of liquor, probably of excellent 

 quality ; but we very much doubt that the orange or any other 

 fruit can compete with the grape." Town and Country Journal. 



The following, by Mr. Edward Preuss, is from the Semi- 

 Tropic California: 



"I was for six years a resident of the State of Florida, and 

 there and in the adjoining Southern States followed the occu- 

 pation of wine-making for five years. All my wines, still and 

 effervescing, which I made from the vitis sulpina or vitis ro- 

 tundifolia varieties, were acknowledged by connoisseurs to be 

 of excellent quality. Encouraged by my success as a wine 

 maker, I tried to make wine from the sour and bitter-sweet 

 oranges which are indigenous to Florida, and my labors were 

 crowned with success. The first orange wine which I made 

 from sour oranges at Sanderson, Bakers county, Florida, was 

 sold at Jacksonville, Florida, for three dollars per gallon, and 

 the wine was then only eight months old, and will probably 



