1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
291 
j®omt0tic ®conomg, Brnpfs, $zt* 
Currant Wine.— ^-A palatable and wholesome wine— 
or at least useful t{ as a medicine,” in many cases—may 
be made from the currant. We have, in former years, 
made wine from the red currant by the following recipe, 
which was considered of so fine a quality as to be 
ordered by the physicians for their patients, in pro* 
ferenee to the imported kinds. Its cost was not over 
fifty cents per gallon. Though rather late in the 
season, we publish the recipe at the request of several 
correspondents. 
To each gallon of clear juice was added two gallons 
of water, and to each gallon of the mixture was added 
three and a-half pounds of good brown sugar. After 
the sugar was dissolved, the liquor was put into good 
barrels, placed in the cellar ; and when the fermentation 
had subsided, it was bunged tightly. In February, one 
gallon of the best fourth-proof brandy was added to the 
barrel. In May following, it w r as bottled. Like other 
wines, it improves with age. 
White wine may be made with white currants, using 
the same proportion of white sugar as is named of 
brown, for the above—the liquor to be treated in the 
same way except that no brandy is added. 
The following recipes are from Mrs. Rundell’s u Do¬ 
mestic Cookery .” Elder wine is considered an excel¬ 
lent remedy in influenza, sore throat, &c.; and black 
currant wine highly useful in “ summer complaints,” 
dysentery, &c. 
Elder Wine. —To every quart of berries put two 
quarts of water, boil half an hour, run the liquor and 
break the fruit through a hair sieve; then to every 
quart of juice put three-quarters of a pound of Lisbon 
sugar, coarse, but not the very coarsest. Boil the 
whole a quarter of an hour, with some Jamaica pep¬ 
pers, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, 
and when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with 
toast and yeast to work, which there is more difficulty 
to make it to do than most other liquors. When it 
ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, 
and stop up. Bottle in the spring or at Christmas. 
The liquor must be in a warm place to make it work. 
Black Currant Wine.— To every three quarts of 
juice, put the same of water unboiled; and to every 
three quarts of the liquor, add three pounds of very 
pure moist sugar. Put it into a cask, reserving a little 
for filling up. Put the cask in a warm dry room, and 
the liquor will ferment of itself. Skim off the refuse, 
when the fermentation shall be over, and fill up with 
the reserved liquor. When it has ceased working, pour 
three quarts of brandy to forty quarts of w r ine. Bung 
it close for nine months, then bottle it, and drain the 
thick part through a jelly-bag until it be clear, and 
bottle that. Keep it ten or twelve months. 
To Remove Marks from a Table. —If a whitish 
mark is left on a table, by carelessly setting on a 
pitcher of boiling water, or a hot dish, pour some lamp 
oil on the spot, and rub it hard with a soft cloth. 
Then pour on a little spirits of wine or Cologne water, 
and rub ii dry with another cloth.—The white mark 
will thus disappear and look as well as ever. 
Dryed Apples. —Some varieties being much more 
tender in their texture than others, dissimilar kinds 
should be kept separate, to prevent one portion stewing 
too much, while another remains hard. 
Dried Peaches. —The following is said to be an ex¬ 
cellent mode of drying peaches and plums. The fruit 
is first skinned by being placed a short time in a strong 
alkaline solution, (ley, or solution of potash,) the stones 
are then removed, and they are dried in a slow oven. 
Preserving Apples. —It is asserted that plaster or 
gypsum, from its soft texture, and the compact, air¬ 
tight bed which it forms, is one of the best substances 
to envelope fruit for preserving. The saw-dust of the 
maple, which imparts no bad flavor, after being tho¬ 
roughly dried by fire heat, has been found excellent for 
imbedding rare fruit, when kept in a dry cool place. 
Making Vinegar.- —Nearly every one knows that in 
the conversion of cider to vinegar, exposure to the air 
is essential. The more thorough this exposure, the 
more rapid will be the formation of the vinegar. The 
Ohio Cultivator says, “ we have seen this effectually 
done by causing it to run slowly from a barrel placed 
up stairs, through an aperture in the floor and ceiling, 
on a loose pile of fine sticks or shavings below, through 
which the air could pass freely, then draining into a 
cask into the cellar.” 
Vinegar from Beets. —It is stated that the juice 
of one bushel of sugar beets, will make from five to six 
gallons of vinegar, by washing, grating, expressing, 
and exposing, two weeks to the air in the barrel, with 
a gauze-covered bung hole. 
To Prepare Rennet. —Take a gallon of blood-warm 
water to each rennet; soak, after stirring, for 24 hours; 
strain the liquor and let it settle, saturate with salt, 
and skim off any scum. 
2tn0U)er0 to (Ecrrapmiftmts. 
Cherry for a Name.— L. W., Middleburgh, Scho- 
haire county, N. Y. The cherry sent appears to belong 
to the family of mazzards. You say it was a “ sprout ” 
from a tree brought from England by Sir William 
Johnson. If that tree was budded, it is probable the 
stock was a mazzard—as it is common to bud on such 
stocks—and hence your tree, being taken from the 
root, would produce the same kind as that stock, and 
not the kind wdiich was budded on it. 
Black Earth. —Z. S. €., Wcsthampton, Mass. If 
the black earth of which you speak, contains consider¬ 
able vegetable matter, or partakes of the character of 
peat, it will pay the cost to make it into a compost 
with animal manure. Try plaster on your land, at the 
rate of a bushel or two bushels per acre. 
White Thorn from Seed. —J. C., Brandon, Vt. 
We are not acquainted with any better way of raising 
this plant from seed, than to gather the haws in the 
fall when they are fully ripe, and plant them about 
two inches deep in any good loamy soil. All kinds of 
thorns are slow in germinating, and the plants do not 
all show themselves till the second summer after they 
are planted. If any of our friends know a better pro¬ 
cess than that mentioned, we would thank them t© 
make it public. 
Spaying Heifers. —A Young Farmer, Roswell, Ga. 
You will find full directions in regard to this operation 
in our August number. 
Bone Dust. —J. R. S., Clarksville, Ga. Bones ar® 
ground in mills prepared for the purpose. They as© 
ground to various degrees of finenesss, as is desired. 
Chinese Geese. —J. F. S., Weldon, North Carolina. 
Very fine geese of this kind can be had of Messrs. H. 
& A. Mesier, of Wappingers Creek, Dutchess county, 
N. Y., at $5 per pair. We do not know any reason 
why they would not do as well in your section as here. 
They are a very handsome and prolific kind, breeding 
twice and sometimes three times in a season. 
