366 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



Dec. 



Wjne SnoTJLD BE Made Without Sugar. — Dr 

 Flagg, of Cincinnati, well known for his connec- 

 tion with Nicholas Longworth in the extensive 

 production of native wine?, contributes for the 

 Country Gcnlhman, the following protest against 

 recipes for sugared wines: 



It is not by mashing up sour, wild, unripe 

 grapes with water, sugar and whisky, i hat our 

 farni'Ms are to become wiue-groweis, however 

 well the mixture may please the palates of unso- 

 phisticated women and children, and hard work- 

 ing men, whoso olfactories never knew any other 

 wine than Madeira of American manufacture. 

 Tell theni that good wine is never made of sugar" 

 in any part of the world, and that to weaken with 

 water, or strengthen with spirits is downright 

 wickedness! The grapes must be fully ripe, 

 dropping off ripe, and to render them so, the 

 vines must grow on stakes or very low trelliseg. 

 The expressed juice must then be put into clean 

 " wine green " casks, and cared forvery much in 

 the same way good cider is managed. This done 

 faithfully, and the product will be wine that will 

 not ferment over again in the stomach, deranging 

 the livers and muddlirg the brains. 



All tricks of adulteration and debasement our 

 people will take to naturally enough by mere vir- 

 tue of their natioality, and without being told. 

 After they shall have learned how to make good, 

 pure wine, when they may, for home use, make a 

 cheap beverage in the following way: Into a 

 l.irge cask fiing the cheese from the wine-press, 

 after all the juice is extracted, or else well mash- 

 ed wild grapes of good flavor, till the cask is half 

 or two-thirds full ; then fill up with water, and 

 add one pound of sugar to the gallon of water ; 

 let the fermentation begin and complete its work 

 in the cask, and then draw of the clear wine and 

 put away in as cold a cellar as you have, and 

 keep it well filled and closed up. Drink it with- 

 in the year. 



— <•» 



The Strawberry. 



It is interesting to observe the increased at- 

 tention which is now being given in all parts of 

 the country to the finer fruits of the garden. Our 

 agricultural and horticultural exohmges contain 

 numerous and tignificant references to the sub■^ 

 ject, together with tha proceedings of sundry 

 fruit-growing associations, extracts of which 

 may prove instructive to our readers. 



The great point of interest at the present time 

 relates to varieties, as it is found not to pay to 

 cultivate the old common or mixed kinds in com- 

 parison with certain sorts recently introduced. 



Believing it better for beginners to introduce 

 only one or two superior kinds rather than to ex- 

 periment on many at first, we call attention to 

 the variety to which the largest share of com- 

 mendation is now being given. It is of Belgian 

 derivation, with an awkward French name, Tii- 

 omphe de GanJ. 



Gand being the name of a town specially cele- 

 brated for horticulture, this name indicates at 

 once the origin of the berry and its supposed tri- 

 umphant superiority. By degrees it has been ' 



."uccessfutly introduced and tested in this coun- 

 try, until now it ranks quite at the head of the 

 finer varieties. 



The fruit grower's society of Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania, in their report of 1860, described the fruit 

 referred to in the following terms: 



" Triomphe de Gand, Hermaphrodite ; fruit of 

 the largest size, bright scarlet color, firm flesh, 

 flavor high and rich, juicy and melting. Plant 

 very vigorous, hardy both in winter and summer, 

 a free, rapid grower, a good bearer, and alto- 

 gether a superior sort." 



In 1861 the same society reports: "Triomphe 

 de Gand fully maintains last year's description, 

 and increases in productiveness and the size of 

 the fruit. Should be in every collection, however 

 small." 



In 18-59, a correspondent of the Gardener's 

 Monthly says : " From a truss of Triomphe eight 

 ripe berries were plucked at one time, measuring 

 in the aggregate 2.25 feet in circumference (an 

 average of about three and three eighths inches 

 eaeh). They were magnificent in appearance and 

 delicious in flavor." 



In 1860 another correspondent writes as fol- 

 lows : 



" After a trial of three years, Mr. Knox places 

 at the head of the list of strawberries the Tri- 

 omphe de Gand. The plants are thrifty, liardy 

 and vigorous growers, bearing their truit well up, 

 wh'ch renders it easy to be kept clean. .They 

 are also wonderfully productive, and the fruit is 

 not only usually of a very large size, but uni- 

 formly so, and throughout the season, which is 

 longer with it than with most other varieties. 

 The flavor is everything which could be desired. 

 It is of a very beautiful crimson color, glossy,. 

 and altogether lovely. It keeps well after being 

 picked, retaining its beautiful color and firmiiess, 

 and carries better than any other variety." 



Similar teslimonials were offered from Long 

 Island and Western New York at the last meet- 

 ing of the American Pomological Society. 



At the recent floral and strawberry exhibition 

 in Chicrigo no fruit received more attention and 

 more praise than a limited number of Triomphe 

 de Gands which were grown in this immediate 

 vicinity. 



This latter fact proves that a fruit so highly 

 lauded in other portions of the country, is also 

 adapted to the soil and climate of the Northwest. 

 Of the strawberry in general, the Gardener's 

 Monthly, one of the most ponular horticultural 

 magazines of the day, speaks in the following 

 enthusiastic terms : 



•Of all fruits, the advent of the strawberry is 

 the most welcome. Epicures may cast their long- 

 ing eyes at embryo hutches as they pass through 

 their grape houses — and the men of heavy means 

 and proportionate patience see all humbler fruits 

 eclipsed in the anticipated luxuries of their pear 

 orchards; but to the mass of the per pie all these 

 are ob«cured by the strawberry. That is the 

 fruit for the million. It is very interesting to 

 note the great progress which this strongly re- 

 publican fruit has made in its hold on the hearts 

 of the masses. From forming a dish that might 

 only be set before a king, and which, if history 

 tells truth, even a royal person has been known 



