PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 249 



January 5th, 1864. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely, in the chair. 



Converting Whisky into Brandy. 



The Secretary read a lengthy paper from Dr. Parker, Ithaca, N. Y., de- 

 tailing the way he obtains "pure brandy." The brandy, the Dr. says, is 

 made of five qts. of 95 per cent, alcohol, and four quarts of water, colored 

 by a little caramel, or else with baked pears and apples. And this makes, 

 he thinks, a purer brandy than most of the article sold as such in this city 

 at eight or ten dollars a gallon. 



The Chairman said as to this stuff called brandy, it is, by the doctors 

 own account, simply proof whisky, or something only equivalent to it in 

 strength, but not as good. If the alcohol was made at a whisky distillery, 

 and thus reduced, it would be whisky, but it is not all made of such a base. 

 Alcohol distillers use any kind of spirit, and sometimes it is a very base 

 article, to produce the alcoliol of connnerce, using a " column still," which 

 is an upright cylinder, divided into eight compartments. Very often the 

 very dregs of a distillery are used to make a low grade of alcohol, tliat is, 

 one of about 80 per cent. Standard alcohol is 95 per cent, when first ran 

 off, but it cannot be easily held over 93 per cent. If the alcohol is a pure 

 article, a drinkable liquor may be made by reducing, but as very little of 

 it in market is pure, and was never intended by the manufacturers to be 

 drank, it is preposterous to recommend anybody to make brandy out of it 

 by reducing and coloring. The brandy manufacturers use an article called 

 " pure spirit," that is deodorized spirit, which is far preferable to alcohol ; 

 but nothing can make good brandy but a distillation of the pure juice of 

 the grape, though a much better article than the one described by Dr. 

 Parker, can be made of pure spirit. There are manufacturing establish- 

 ments in this city where any kind of liquor you can call for will be man- 

 ufactured to order in a few days. It only requires a week to make "old 

 Bourbon whisky," and the buyer has no doubt of its genuineness, because 

 he sees the marks upon the barrels. 



Dr. Parker replies to the chairman that the main fact of his paper is 

 overlooked. It is, since no " pure brandy" can be had anywhere, farmers 

 better make their own at a cheap rate, than buy a poorer fictitious arti- 

 cle at a high rate. If we make our own, we know what we have, if we 

 buy a known adulterated article, we are ignorant of what we get. If a 

 farmer can for money buy a better article, or a safer one for family use, I 

 should like to see it, as I don't believe it can be had; of course I do not 

 call any made brandy the real article, mine or anybody's else. 



Wheat or Spelt. 



Mr. Matthias Herman, Walden, Orange county, N. Y., sends a sample 

 of an ear of wheat grown from seed sent him by his father from Germany.. 

 It was sown in a bad place and badly treated, yet ripened in July without 

 rust or any disease It yields more bushels per acre than rye or wheat, 

 but weighs lighter. The objection to it is that the grains and hulls do 

 not part easily, and for milling, for flour, it requires to be hulled. Mr. 

 Herman thinks it worthy of notice by those who cannot grow other kinds 

 of wheat. 



