HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 241 



them, was held on Saturday, 19th inst., at the house of Mr. A. W. Frank. 

 Thirty-eight samples of wine, distinguished by a number on each bottle, 

 were offered for competition, and a sealed paper containing the names of 

 the proprietors of the different samples was deposited with the Secretary, 

 and not opened until the award of the premiums had been made. 



The Committee in making their examination, divided the samples into 

 parcels of five, from each of which the best specimens were chosen, and 

 from these after a second examination, the specimens adjudged to be enti- 

 tled to the premiums, were selected. 



In forming their judgment, the Committee paid special attention to the 

 aroma (bouquet) — that delicate and very sensitive quality, which constitutes 

 one of the excellencies of the still wines of this region. The slightest in- 

 attention to neatness and to the exclusion of the defective grapes, or of any 

 foreign substance whatever, in the manufacture of the wine, will have an 

 unfavorable influence on this important characteristic. Even the addition 

 of sugar, in small quantities, to the must, for the purpose of increasing the 

 strength, should be avoided, since its unfavorable influence on the aroma, 

 injures the quality of the wine more than the increased strength can atone 

 for — delicacy of flavor, and not strength, being the quality most desirable 

 in our wines. 



The taste for wines which, in this country, was originally formed al- 

 most exclusively on the coarse, strong, alcoholic wines of Madeira, Spain 

 and Portugal, is beginning to improve, and it is an important duty of this 

 Association to speed the progress of this improvement, until the pure, 

 light, delicate and wholesome wines of our own country, with that of France 

 and Germany, shall exclude entirely the intoxicating wines, and liquors 

 bearing their names, of domestic manufacture, and the remembrance of their 

 use and influence, be among the mournful memories of past misfortunes and 

 errors. The cultivation of a refined and discriminating taste in wines, and 

 providing such wines as satisfy such taste, will give a support to the cause 

 of temperance which neither compulsory laws nor voluntarily associations 

 can yield, for intemperance, like other crimes, cannot be exterminated by 

 laws, but, like them, must be subdued by correcting the taste, and increas- 

 ing the knowledge of mankind, so that they may know the good and pre- 

 fer it to the evil. 



It is a duty of this and all similar associations, to continue their require- 

 ments of all the makers of wines within their influence, that no foreign 

 substance of any kind should be permitted to mingle with the juice of the grape, 

 and that perfect purity should be, them with sine qua non. By a proper at- 

 24 



