380 Decembtr 1748. 



marjh grapes, but the Englijh call them/o^ 

 grapes : they have not an agreeable flavour, 

 and are feldom eaten by the inhabitants of 

 this country, who make ufe of a fmall kind 

 of wild grapes, which grow on a dry foil ; 

 pretty late in autumn when they are qwite 

 ripe, they are eaten raw, and have a very 

 good flavour, being a mixture of fweet 

 and acid. Some people dry thefe grapes 

 when gathered and bake them in tarts, &c. 

 they like wife make ufe of them as dried 

 fweetmeats. The Swedes formerly made a 

 pretty good wine from them j but have 

 now left it off. However fome of the En- 

 glifh ftill prefs an agreeable liquor from 

 thefe grapes, which they aflfured me was as 

 good as the bed claret, and that it would 

 keep for feveral years. 



The manner of preparing this fort of 

 wine has been defcribed at large in an al- 

 manack of this country, for the year 1743, 

 and is as follows : the grapes are colledied 

 from the twenty firft o^ September to about 

 the eleventh of November, that is as they 

 grow ripe : they mufl: be gathered in dry 

 weather, arid after the dew is gone off: 

 the grapes are cleared of the cobwebs, dry 

 leaves, and other things adhering to them. 

 Next a great hoglhead is prepared which has 

 cither had treacle or brandy in ; it is wafhcd 



very 



