122 BUSH-FRUITS 



The value of blackberry wine or brandy in bowel 

 troubles is well known. It is reported that blackber- 

 ries preserved in one of these forms were found by 

 army surgeons to be the only sure and sovereign 

 remedy against chronic diarrhoea, proving effectual 

 whenever taken in time, even after all other medicines 

 had failed. If the previously prepared wine or brandy 

 is not available, the water from blackberry roots 

 freshly dug and steeped, will usually serve the pur- 

 pose equally well. This, though an old-time household 

 remedy, has lost none of its effectiveness with the 

 passage of time. 



Various recipes are given for the manufacture of 

 wine> one of which I copy from an early edition of " The 

 Gardener's Monthly." "Express the juice through 

 a thick cloth, to prevent any pulp mixing with it. To 

 one quart of juice add two quarts of soft water (cold) 

 and three pounds of sugar. Let it then stand in a 

 wide -mouthed vessel, until fermentation ceases, which 

 will be sometimes after two months. Be careful while 

 fermentation is going on to keep the film skimmed 

 clear from the top of the liquid daily, and to keep the 

 vessel full to the top. A small vessel of the liquid 

 should be kept for filling up the large vessels as the 

 skimmings are removed. When fermentation ceases, 

 strain the wine into bottles. The wine keeps better 

 in large quantities, and to that end put it into large 

 stone jugs, corking and sealing them." 



Another recipe adds a quart of boiling water to 

 every gallon of the crushed fruit, before expressing the 

 juice, instead of adding cold water afterwards. It also 



