PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 205 



France, Germany and Switzerlnnd, and many parts of Austria, especially 

 the valley of the Danube, grow immense quantities of grapes, yet they are 

 in north latitude from 50 to 55, and even higher, which is ten degrees 

 further north than New England. 



In grapes there is tartrate of potash, a small quantity of nitrogen, and 

 a small quantity of tannin; this is principally confined to the skin and 

 seeds of the grape. The grape juice when it comes from the grape con- 

 tains ninety-six per cent, of fluid, which when evaporated down leaves 

 twenty-four per cent, of extractive matter, including all the non-volatile 

 parts. Grape sugar is composed of six parts of oxygen, six of carbon, and 

 six of hydrogen. The tartrate of potash seldom exceeds two per cent. 

 The tartar appears in what is called the bitartrate of potash. More or less 

 sulphate of potash is found in grape juice, also sulphate of soda, also the 

 muriate of lime, also the sulphate of lime, also the phosphate of lime, also 

 the nitrate of lime, also the tartrate of lime, also common salt, also the 

 tartrate of alumin, but they are in small quantities; but these salts are not 

 necessary to produce good wine, and if they are present in large quan- 

 tities they have an injurious effect on the taste of the wine. Grapes grown 

 on soil containing much nitrate of potash, nitrate of lime, magnesian earth 

 and ammonial salts, are said to be injurious to the taste of wine; and, in 

 order to remedy the bad taste of the wine, the amount of sugar in such 

 grapes ought to be increased to 28 or 30 per cent. The red wines abound 

 in tannin, which gives them a constrictive taste, while the cream of tartar 

 is found in the white wines and gives them a laxative quality. The sweet- 

 est grapes produce from 20 to 28 per cent, of sugar; these grapes can 

 only be grown in a warm climate and in favorable seasons. The acids of 

 the grapes, when ripe, which give them mostly a flavor, are in small 

 quantities — scarcely seven parts in one thousand. The best wines are 

 made in northern climates; and the best fruits for flavor, all over the 

 "world, are found above the 36th degree of latitude, grown in hilly coun- 

 tries, where good air and good water are found, and on the primitive 

 formations of rocks. The goodness of all fruits depends much on their 

 being well ripened: 100 lbs. of good ripe grapes yield on an average from 

 65 to *I5 per cent, of wine, of which 18 to 24 per cent, is grape sugar. 

 The best grape-growing country in Hungary is between 46 and 52 degrees, 

 north latitude; this is farther north tlian Quebec on our continent. The 

 grapes used in Hungary for wine usually ripen at the end of September, 

 but are not picked until after the first snow falls, which is in November. 

 The berries remain on the vines until they shrink up to raisins; these dried 

 berries make the. best wine — indeed, the great secret of making wine is to 

 get the grapes as ripe as possible; and the secret of all good fruit is that 

 it is healthy, grown in a healthy climate, where there is good water, a 

 primitive soil, and where the fruit is retained on the tree until it becomes 

 thoroughly ripe; and if it ripens late in the season — any time after the 

 autumnal equinox — so much the better, and the longer it will keep. 



THE METHOD OF PREP.VRING GROUND FOR REARING ORCHARDS AND FRUIT TREES. 



When a person undertakes to set out fruit trees of any kind, or grape 

 vines, or to plant fruits to grow for trees, the first thing to be done is to 



