THE CULTIVATOR. 
103 
Household. Affairs. 
“ To make Currant Jelly .—Take the juice of red currants 1 lb. 
sugar 6 oz. Boil down. Ur, 
Take the juice of red currants and white sugar equal quantities, 
stir the mixture gently and smoothly for three hours, put it into 
glasses, and in three days it will concrete into a firm j- lly.” 
For making Currant Wine , numerous methods have beeen pub¬ 
lished. The juice of the currant consists, principally of water, 
saccharine matter and vegetable mucilage. Its convertion into 
wine is effected by what is termed the vinous and spirituous fermen¬ 
tations, which transform the saccharine matter into alcohol. If the 
must, or expressed juice, is deficient in saccharine matter, the fer¬ 
mented liquor will be weak and vapid, and run into the acetous, or 
vinegar, and sometimes into the putrid fermentation. Hence the 
practice of adding sugar to the must, to give it body, &c. The 
more violent the spirituous fermentation, the more the strength of 
the liquor will be dissipated; and therefore the process should pro¬ 
gress as slowly as possible, and under a temperature not exceeding 
70°. The vinous and spirituous fermentations not only convert the 
sugar into spirits, but they separate the mucilage, or yeast, from the 
liquor, in a great measure, which' latter then becomes clear and 
transparent. If the fermentation, in wine or cider, is checked, by 
natural or artificial means, before the saccharine matter is convert¬ 
ed into spirits, the liquor remains proportionably sweet; but when 
the conversion is complete, the product is what is termed dry li¬ 
quor. If the mucilage is left in the cask after it has performed its 
office, it is apt to commingle again with the liquor, render it turbid, 
and induce, under a warm temperature, the acetous fermentation. 
Hence the practice, in some cases, of conducting the vinous fer¬ 
mentation in open vessels, and of then separating it from the scum 
and lees; and in other cases, of racking it off, before the action of 
summer heats upon it. We shall give directions for making wine 
in both these modes. The first is from the American Philosophical 
Transactions, and the latter from our friend Judge Patterson, of 
Columbia, who successfully adopted it for many years. For our¬ 
selves we prefer the latter mode, though we think the brandy su¬ 
perfluous, where 80 lbs sugar are employed in the fabrication of a 
barrel. 
First mode. —“ Gather the currants when they are fully ripe, and 
dry, break them in a tub or vat, then press and measure the juice, 
to each gallon of which add too gallons of water, and to each gal¬ 
lon of the mixture put 2§ lbs. sugar; agitate the whole till the su¬ 
gar is dissolved, when it may be barrelled. The juice should not 
be left to stand during the night, as the fermentation ought not to 
take place till all the ingredients are compounded. Lay the bung 
lightly on the hole to prevent flies, &,c. creeping in, and in three 
weeks bung up, leaving only the vent hole till it has fully done 
working, which will be about the latter end of October. Rack into 
a clean cask the spring following. For a barrel of 28 gallons will 
be required, 8 gallons currant juice, 16 gallons water, 4 gallons 
sugar, or 60 lbs. 
Second mode , in which the vinous fermentation is managed in an 
open vessel. Pick and press the currants as before, and add two 
gallons of water to one of juice, and 80 lbs. sugar to a barrel of 
82 gallons. Stir well, and cover the must, in an open vessel, with 
a linen cloth, place it where the temperature is from 60 to 70°, and 
next day skim off the impurities which rise to the surface and stir 
again the liquor. Repeat this operation as long as the scum rises. 
Then barrel, rejecting the lees, adding 2£ gallons good brandy, and 
bung close. No racking is required. 
In the last mode the vinous fermentation is completed before bar¬ 
relling. The spirituous soon follows, if the temperature remains 
as high as 60°, and abates in 6 to 12 days. 
If the wine becomes foul or ropy, take half an ounce of chalk in 
powder, half an ounce burnt, alum, the white of an egg and a pint 
of spring water, beat the whole in a mortar, pour it into the cask, 
and roll it ten minutes; and as soon as the wine becomes fine rack 
it off. 
Sea weed Manure —Fleets of boats, to the number of sixty or seventy, 
are daily arriving at Galway with sea-weed for manure, from Cunnamara, 
Arran and the county Clare, which is purchased with avidity, and convey¬ 
ed on carts all over the country, in various directions, even to the distance 
of forty or fifty miles into the interior.— Galway paper. 
THE CULTIVATOR—OCT. 1835. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOU, AND THE MIND. 
~"CHAPTAL T S CHEMISTRY. 
We have been kindly presented, by the publishers, with a copy 
of Ciiaptal’s “ Chemistry applied to Jlgriculture,” a 12mo. 
volume of 366 pages, translated from the French, and recently 
published by Hilliard, Gray & Co. Boston. 
The American public are under great obligations to the fair trans¬ 
lator, and to the publishers, for giving us this valuable work in an 
English dress. Count Chaptal, the author, was one of the most 
eminent chemists of the day, and one of the best and most exten¬ 
sive practical farmers in France. While he taught the great prin¬ 
ciples of science, or laws which regulate matter, he illustrated 
their use and application to rural labor, not only on the farm but 
in the more humble business of the dwelling. “In order,” says 
lie, “to make a useful application of science to agriculture, it 
must be profoundly studied, not only in the closet, but abroad in 
the fields.” He was a man of practical science, and of scientific 
practice. His work possesses an advantage over Davy’s, because 
it is more recent, and embraces the modern discoveries in che¬ 
mistry ; and particularly because it is more practical, and better 
adapted to the understanding and business of the farmer—the prin¬ 
ciples of science being illustrated and established by the writer 
himself, in an extensive agricultural practice. The volume is cal¬ 
culated to become in the hands of our intelligent and enterprising 
yeomanry, a valuable means of advancing the condition of our 
husbandry, and of our husbandmen, and of elevating their charac¬ 
ter. While, in the language of the translator, it “sheds all the 
light of modern science upon the humblest details of rural labor; 
and while it increases the productive skill of those who are en¬ 
gaged in practical husbandry, it at the same time ‘ advances them 
in the dignity of thinking beings.’ ” 
In his introduction, the author dwells upon the enervating influ¬ 
ence of sedentary and city life ; he ascribes to agriculture, the 
means of counteracting this influence, and of preserving to a coun¬ 
try its health, strength and good morals; considers it the purest 
source of public prosperity, and ranks the agriculturist first in use¬ 
fulness among men. He speaks of the abject condition of the 
agriculturist in past ages :—“ Without emulation, without know¬ 
ledge, and nearly without interest, the thought of improvement 
scarcely presented itself to his mind and he contrasts the for¬ 
mer with liis more recent condition, when “ the farmer recognized 
his strength, and felt himself rising into the true importance and 
dignity of his state ; when intelligence was extended to the busi¬ 
ness of the fields ; the means of ameliorating the soil, and im¬ 
proving its productions, were established and increased; and 
private interest was united to the public good. At that period, 
agriculture took a new impulse ; and since then its progress has 
been rapid. The nature of soils has been better known ; the cul¬ 
tivation of artificial meadows has been extended ; and a rotation 
of crops has been established upon principles recognized in all those 
countries where agriculture has made the most progress. The 
number of domestic animals has also progressively increased, and 
with them, the manures and the labors which form the basis of 
agricultural prosperity.” 
We leave the reader to determine, whether he belongs to the 
ignorant, abject class of past ages, or to the more enterprising one 
of recent times. If he is young, and his habits are not fixed, we 
conjure him, as he regards his future prosperity and happiness, to 
strive, by all honest means, to gain admittance into the latter class. 
Let him bear in mind, that excellence and distinction, in any ho¬ 
nest calling, is only to be achieved by industry and perseverance ; 
and that the reward is generally proportioned to the labor which 
it costs. Though all do not “earn their bread by the sweat 
of their brow,” those who do so have the best relish for, and par¬ 
ticipate most largely in, the substantial enjoyments of life. 
Upon the pleasures and advantages of science to the agricultu¬ 
rist, Count Chaptal very justly and eloquently remarks : 
“ It remains to us, at this day, to improve agriculture by physical science. 
All the phenomena which it presents, are the consequences necessarily result¬ 
ing from those eternal laws by which matter is governed ; and all the opera¬ 
tions which the agriculturist performs, serve only to develop or modify these 
laws. It is, then, to the acquisition of a knowledge of these laws, in order 
to calculate their effects, and modify their action, that we ought to direct all 
our researches. 
