375 



long, with sides 10 feet high to the wall plates, and a gable afford- 

 ing another few feet in the centre will answer the purpose ad- 

 mirably. 



In this all the machinery and fermenting vessels can be com- 

 fortably lodged. 



One more condition must not be overlooked : the fermenting 

 shed must be one apart from the maturing cellars, lest the germs of 

 fermentation which, during wine making, float about in abundance 

 in the air, get access to and disturb the wine of previous years. 



As a good deal of water is used about the fermenting shed, 

 both before and during wine making, the surroundings should be 

 so drained that there is no accumulation of dirty liquids, which 

 would foul the air. The building should not be damp, as moulds 

 are not only injurious to casks and other wooden vessels, but also 

 cause the wine to become tainted during future keeping. 



CASKS AND VATS. 



Two classes of materials are more commonJy used in the con- 

 struction of these vessels, viz., wood and bricks and cement. 



Timber for Wine Casks and Vats. 



The wood best suited for coopering work is the oak, which, 

 in that capacity, stands without rival. Of oaks some are more 

 suitable than others. The best variety is a sub- variety of Quercus 

 robur, or European oak, viz., Quercus pedunculata, or Slavonian 

 oak, from the forests of Croatia, Hungary, and Russia, where 

 its grows on the alluvial flats flooded by the Danube. The 

 soil of these flats is exceptionally suitable for the growth of the oak 

 tree, which, for the purposes of shipbuilding, cabinet and joiners' 

 work, and for coopering, must embody special features. This oak 

 supplies these requirements, which are: equal proportions and 

 dimensions and qualities, show the compactness, uniformity, and 

 elasticity of the fibres, and the absence of knots and borer holes. 

 Apart from these physical properties, it also contains a fair propor- 

 tion of tannin and a special sugar called " quercite," which has on 

 the wine a very beneficial effect, causing it to clear readily, and 

 imparting to it a peculiar but faint fragrance, without at the same 

 time adding to it an excess of extracted matter, which is to be 

 found in chestnut and other timber. 



Amongst other kinds of oaks used by coopers are also the 

 Burgundy oak, the Dantzig or Mem el oak, and the American oak. 

 The latter, which is useful for providing those wider boards through 

 which manholes are cut out in the larger sized casks, is less compact 

 than the Slavonian or Dalmatian oak, and it also at first imparts a 

 somewhat bitterish taste to the wine. 



Besides the oak, other timbers, such as the chestnut, the 

 acacia, and the redwood of California (Sequoia), supply wood 

 suitable for staves. 



