1847 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
183 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 
Domestic Wine. —We have received from a gentle¬ 
man whose name we regret we are not at liberty to 
mention, a sample of wine, being a part of his own 
vintage. The grapes were the Isabella and Black Ham¬ 
burgh varieties, and the wine was made in imitation of 
champagne, which it closely resembles. We have been 
obligingly furnished with the recipe by which this wine 
was made, which we publish, in the hope that it may 
be useful to others: 
“ The recipe for making this wine I took from some 
agricultural paper. The process of its manufacture 
was simple, and is as follows: The grapes were about 
one-third Isabella, and the remainder Hamburgh. They 
were well ripened, and were put into a clean barrel and 
pounded till thoroughly mashed. They were put into 
a cullender and pressed with the hand till the liquid was 
separated from the pulp. The juice was then strained 
through a fine sieve, and put into stone pots, and al¬ 
lowed to stand five or six days, frequently skimming the 
impurities from the surface. After standing as above 
stated, 17 pounds of refined crushed sugar was added 
to 8 gallons of juice, and the whole stirred till the sugar 
was dissolved. It was then allowed to stand in the 
stone pots 36 hours, still skimming the impurieties as 
they rose to the surface. It v as then put in bottles 
and allowed to stand twenty-four hours before corking; 
after which the bottles were well corked—the corks cut 
close to the bottle, and the muzzle of the bottle dipped 
into melted sealing-wax, so as to exclude the air, and 
the bottles were then put in the cellar.” 
To Preserve Eggs Fresh. —Turn water upon un¬ 
slacked lime, in quantity sufficient to cover the lime. In 
a short time a scum will rise upon the surface. Then 
drain off the whole water, and add fresh, and repeat the 
operation until no more skum rises. Stir up the lime 
and water, aud put in your eggs, so that they are com¬ 
pletely covered. This wholly excludes the external air, 
and preserves them in the finest order. I have now 
eggs which have been kept in this way eight months; 
and on being broken, cannot be distinguished from those 
which are fresh layed. A lady "who gave me the re¬ 
ceipt, stated that she had preserved them perfectly 
good in this way for two years. The repeated satura¬ 
tions with water seems necessary to destroy the too 
great causticity of the lime; otherwise its strong affini¬ 
ty for the carbonate, the material of the egg shell, causes 
its decomposition. J. B. 
Preparation of Coffee. —Coffee, when properly 
prepared, is a delicious and nutritious beverage; but 
judging from that which we frequently meet with, the 
best modes are seldom practiced. In Silli/nan’s Jour¬ 
nal , we find a notice of a memoir on Coffee by the dis¬ 
tinguished French chemist, M. Payen. The results 
brought out by his chemical researches agree exactly 
with facts previously known in regard to this article. 
A great error in the preparation of coffee, is that it is 
burned too much, by which the liquid, when it is brought 
to the table, is destitute of agreeable flavor, and has a 
bitter, unpleasant taste. The reason of this is shown. 
“ Coffee roasted only till it becomes slightly red, pre¬ 
serves the maximum of weight and of aroma, but gives 
out less coloring matter. In this state, 100 parts are 
found to have lost 15, while 100 vols. have increased to 
130. Roasted to a chestnut color, as is commonly 
done, the loss is 20 per cent., while the increase in vol¬ 
ume is from 100 to 153. This swelling of the grain 
depends upon the property which the nitrogenous mat¬ 
ter deposited within the tissue has of puffing up remark¬ 
ably when heated. 
“ If the heat is continued until a dark brown color is 
produced, and the grain is covered w T ith a sort of glaze, 
the loss is twenty-five per cent., while the original quan¬ 
tity of nitrogen, 2.45 per cent., is reduced to 1.77, 
being, a loss of one-fourth.” 
The soluble matter was also found to be much great¬ 
er in the coffee subjected only to a low degree of burn¬ 
ing—the brown giving 16.15, the chestnut-colored 
19.00, and the red 25.00 per cent. The difference in 
“the aroma,” it is added, “ being nearly the same, the 
lower degree of roasting will produce not only the best 
and most nutritious beverage, but one free from the 
harsh and bitter flavor caused by the action of too high 
heat upon the nitrogenous matter.” 
Milking.-— I am much pleased to see that “ Mary ” 
and “ Ann ” have given their experience in churning 
butter, and beg to inquire if they do not think there 
should not be more care and cleanliness used in milk¬ 
ing than is generally. The bag of the cow and the 
teats cannot well be clean when the cow passes much 
time in the yard, and the milk must catch many hairs 
and particles of dirt. 
The udder might easily be washed with a cloth and 
cold water, which, besides the cleanliness, would be 
much better for the cow. I should like to know what 
farmers’ wives and daughters think upon the subject. 
Queens County. 
Preserving Tomatoes. —A correspondent of the 
Cultivator, in a late number, intimates that preserv 
ing tomatoes is a humbug. Doubtless untried experi¬ 
ments may be frequently published. But we should 
always remember that a single failure does not prove 
that success is impossible. I have known persons fail 
repeatedly in making soda biscuit, and give up in despair; 
and yet afterwards become- accustomed to the process 
so as to make soda biscuit with more ease and certainty 
than any other kind of bread. 
My wife has been in the habit for several years, of 
putting up tomatoes for winter use, and has kept them 
good for a year and a half. She says they must be 
stewed a long time—five or six hours at least. They 
are then well seasoned with salt and pepper; bottled 
and corked tight, and kept cool. Ours are usually set 
in the earth in the cellar bottom. My family are very 
fond of it, either cold or warmed, with beef steak or 
roast beef. X. Y. Z. 
Preserving Green Currants Fresh. —M. S. Wil¬ 
son, of Lenox, Mass., preserves green currants in dry 
glass bottles, corked and sealed tight, placing them in 
a cool cellar. Green gooseberries may be preserved ill 
the same way. He adds, “ In this manner green cur¬ 
rants have been preserved in my cellar for years. I 
have green currant pies on my table at all seasons of 
the year.” 
To Remove Spots from Leather Gloves. —Sus¬ 
pend them in a glass jar, closed, over a portion of the 
strongest liquid ammonia. The gaseous ammonia gradu¬ 
ally removes the spots; but great care is to be taken 
that the liquid does not touch the gloves, or the color 
will be badly injured. 
