CHAPTER XXIV. 



HOW TO USE FLORIDA FRUITS. — ORANGES. 

 ORANGE WINE, NO. 1. 



Take perfectly ripe, sweet oranges ; the riper the better, as 

 then the saccharine matter is entirely developed ; peel, and cut 

 into halves across the cells ; cut over a tub, so as not to lose any 

 .juice, and squeeze both halves hard before dropping in the tub. 

 When the tub is full, put the whole mass through a wine-press, 

 which must be so close that none of the seeds can escape into the 

 mush, as they would give the wine a bitter taste. 



To each gallon of juice add one pound of granulated or 

 loaf-sugar, and to each gallon of this mixed juice add one quart 

 of pure water. Put the whole in a barrel, leaving a space of 

 about five gallons for expansion of the vvine during fermentation. 



Orange wine has to undergo the lower fermentation, as by 

 the upper fermentation all the volatile matter and the aroma w- ould 

 escape. The barrel must be closed air-tight, and a fermenting tube 

 adjusted; the fermentation is very vigorous for the first few days, 

 and the barrel must be closely watched to prevent its bursting ; 

 the fermentation subsides gradually after a few days, then the 

 wine has to be racked off, and the lee can be filtered. The fer- 

 menting tube must be adjusted again to the new- barrel, to re- 

 main until the fermentation shall have ceased entirely. Rack 

 the wine ofi* again in about six weeks after the latter period, 

 and in a month after this second racking it will be fit for market, 

 as there is no second, or "spring" fermentation, as. with grape 

 wines. 



ORANGE ^VINE, NO. 2. 



Ninety sweet oranges, thirty-two pounds of lump sugar ; 

 break sugar in small pieces, and put it in a dry, sweet nine-gal- 

 lon cask ; place the latter where it is to remain. Have ready 

 close to the cask two large pans, or small tubs; put the orange 



171 



