and their Development. 151 



be sulphured, that being dependent on the soil, the tem- 

 perature, and the variety of grapes. 



In the process of wine-making, the grapes which get satu- 

 rated with wet are only fit to make brandy. But as there is a 

 revenue derived from the import of French brandies, the colo- 

 nist is practically prohibited from making brandy for sale from 

 his own vineyard, lest he should interfere with the importa- 

 tions from France. Thus we annually put £180,000 at least 

 into the pockets of Frenchmen, which our own vine-growers 

 might transfer to their own. We have had lately, in the 

 daily papers, an instance of an insolvent who stated that his 

 insolvency had arisen from his being disallowed to rectify some 

 simple kind of spirit, after he had gone to great expense in 

 procuring the necessary plant and materials. 



But this subject of wine and brandies is only part of what 

 the culture of the grape leads us into. 



Why should we not produce raisins' and dried currants, 

 such as we now import so largely? England imports from 

 Spain and Turkey annually 20,000 tons of raisins, worth 

 ,€800,000, exclusive of the duty of .€15 a ton; and we in 

 this colony import of raisins about 300 tons annually, worth 

 about €35,000. For my part I do not see why we might not 

 annually export 5,000 tons of raisins to England, as well as 

 meet our own requirements. 5,000 tons of raisins exported 

 would be worth at least €180,000; and, with the €30,000 

 which we pay for raisins here, would be €210,000 into the 

 pockets of our Victorian vine-growers ; and if our Victorians 

 were pocketing this amount every year, it would still leave 

 15,000 tons of raisins to be imported into England, from 

 Spain and Turkey ; so that we need not be afraid of being 

 considered selfish. This curing of raisins is a simple affair ; 

 and the quality of raisins depends more on the method of 

 cure than anything else. The finest raisins are cured in two 

 methods — either by cutting the stalks of the bunches half 

 through when the grapes are nearly ripe, and leaving them 

 suspended on the vines till the watery part has evaporated, 

 and the sun dries and candies them ; or by gathering the 

 grapes when they are fully ripe, and dipping them in a ley 

 made of the ashes of the burnt tendrils, after which they are 

 exposed to the sun to dry; those cured in the first way 

 being most esteemed, and being called raisins of the sun. 



We might also do a large trade in what are called grocers' 

 currants. These are not real currants, but a kind of very 

 small black grape, which is even now cultivated to a small 



