124 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 22, 1860. 
forces for the joyous occasion, and in dresses so picturesque too, 
that the artist’s fancy could liavo desired no happier union of 
colour, form, or expression. Leaving the Baroness in conversation 
with some of the old peasant women, the Baron beckoned us 
away, and led us alone to see the pressing process. I could not 
understand this mystery, but, like a wise man, held my tongue, 
and submitted,—and it was well I did. In a number of large 
tubs w r e found a set of almost naked men dancing barefooted, 
with all their force, to the music of the bagpipes, on the heaps of 
fruit which the carriers were throwing into them. I did not 
wonder we were led to this place alone, for except in some of the 
Hilenic processions of Poussin, I never saw so extraordinary a 
scene. And it is in this manner the whole wine of this country 
is prepared ! The Transylvanians, who are singularly delicate as 
to the cleanliness of their food, declare that every possible im¬ 
purity is driven off in the fermentation the wine goes through 
after, and I was not sufficiently cruel to undeceive them. The 
great object of all this dancing seems to be to break the Grapes, 
for they are afterwards subjected to the press. I need not say 
that a thousand simple mechanical contrivances might be substi¬ 
tuted for this nasty process. It is reckoned that one man can 
dance about two hours, when his feet become so cold that he is 
forced to yield his place to another. In cold weather, hot wine 
is often poured over their legs to enable them to hold out longer, 
and spirits are allowed almost ad libitum. But the greatest 
support of the wine-presser is the bagpipo or fiddle, without 
which he could not continue his dancing half an hour. During 
the whole time, he dances the regular national step, and accom¬ 
panies it with a song, which he improvises as he goes on. The 
usual termination of the vintage is a supper and a dance for the 
whole village. Transylvania is a country which will probably 
one day assume a high rank as a wine-growing district. It is 
almost entirely laid out in small hills, it is well watered, a great 
many of its strata are of volcanic origin, and the land itself is rather 
poor; all circumstances which, united to its geographical position, 
fit it for the purposes of the wine-grower. Although, even at the 
present time, no less than one-ninth of the whole population is 
said to live by the cultivation of the Vine, nothing can be more 
careless than the actual method of wine-making. All kinds of 
Grapes are mixed indiscriminately ; no care is taken to separate 
the over-ripe and those yet green from the others ; and the process 
of pressing is, as I have described it, dirty and careless. The 
cultivation of the Yine is equally neglected or ill-understood. 
Notwithstanding theso disadvantages, however, there are already 
some score different kinds of wine which enjoy a well-deserved 
reputation. Their reputation, however, is only provincial, for so 
little is this country known, that its wines are scarcely heard of, 
even among the Hungarians. They are mostly white wines, and 
are remarkable for their bouquet and flavour, as well as for con¬ 
siderable body. They are, perhaps, less strong than the generality 
of the Hungarian, but they are also less acid and thin than some 
of the finer white wines of that country. It is very characteristic 
of the state of commerce here, that there is not a single wine 
merchant in the country, and when at Klausenburg, we found it 
difficult to get even a tolerable wine to drink. Every gentleman— 
nay, every respectable tradesman grows his own wine, and he 
would rather send a hundred miles off for it, than give hard cash 
to buy it of another on the spot. Some of the most celebrated 
wines of Transylvania, and those which it would be most worth 
the foreigner’s while to inquire after, are those of the Szilagysag, 
the Kokel, and Maros. The wines of the Szilagysag, are celebrated 
for their strength and durability. They are chiefly white wines 
ol a pleasant flavour, full-bodied, and when new, are very heady. 
The highest price, in an ordinary year, of the better sorts is about 
2s. per eimer (sixteen bottles). The best are those of Tasnad 
and Szordemeter. In the valley of the Maros, the wines of 
Rozsamal, Malam-Ealva, Czelna, Gureszada, Macsa, Oklos, and 
Biibolna, are most sought after ; and, again, in the valley of the 
Kokel, or Kukiillo, those of Dombo and Bocas. The Kokel 
wines are less strong than those of the Szilagysag and Maros, 
but, perhaps, more wholesome, and equally well-flavoured. Baron 
W-, when in France, had engaged a French r igneron to 
come and stay with him some years, in order to try if he could 
make champagne from the Grapes of Transylvania. We had 
frequent opportunities of tasting the wine he produced, and 
though it was much too strong and heavy for champagne, it was 
sparkling and pleasant, far better than the stuff we had often 
drunk under that name in other countries. 
Clihate op TiiANSl’LVANlA.—Towards the middle of January 
the cold became excessive. At eight o’clock in the morning of 
the tenth of that month, the thermometer stood at 22° of 
Reaumur, or 50° Fahrenheit below freezing. This is a greater 
degree of cold than has been known at Klausenburg for many 
years ; indeed, it is colder than a common winter at St. Peters- 
burgh. The winter in general, however, is exceedingly severe in 
Transylvania, and I know no better instance to prove how much 
other circumstances, besides the latitude, influence the climate 
of a country. Klausenburg is 13° south of St. Petersburg!), and 
5° south of London; yet, owing to its geographical position, it 
has five months’ winter of almost arctic severity. The contrast 
is rendered still more striking when we recollect that the summers 
here are so hot as to produce the Grape and Water Melon in the 
open air. This was the first time I ever felt a really painful 
cold, and on going out I found it affect, my eyes severely. The 
breath froze on the moustache and whiskers, and though I heard 
of no noses being lost, several ladies had their ears frozen in 
close carriages, as they were going out to parties. The bread 
they' brought us in the morning was mostly frozen, and we heard 
that the liqueurs had frozen during the night, and broken their 
bottles. I was surprised one day to see a peasant, who was 
talking to another in the square, resting his band on the head of 
a roebuck, which appeared so tame that it stood quietly by his 
side; but in a few seconds, when the men parted, I was still 
more astonished to see him set the animal exactly in the same 
position on his shoulders, and walk oft' with it. In tact, all tho 
I game and meat was frozen, and required a gradual thawing 
before it could be used. 
Teeading-out Coen. —As we pursued our journey', early as 
it was in tho year, we had several opportunities of remarking the 
old custom of treading out the corn by oxen or horses, so often 
and so beautifully alluded to in sacred history. It is commonly 
performed in the open field where the corn is cut. A flat piece 
of ground is prepared, by paring and beating till it is quite hard, 
for the “threshing-floor the corn is then strewn over it; and 
a hoy with a long whip stands in the centre, and drives the 
animals round the ring till the whole is sufficiently cleaned. It 
is still considered in Hungary the part of a miser “ to muzzle 
the ox that treadeth out the corn.” I cannot explain the 
pleasurable feeling produced by an actual illustration of this 
kind, simple as it is, of images which have been familiar to the 
mind from our earliest infancy, but of which we have never felt 
half the force or beauty till actually before our eyes. 
Watee Melons. —We were now (near Pest) in the country 
of Water Melons, and just in the season. Although this delicious 
fruit keeps but a very short time, and can only bo eaten fresh, it 
is an important article of cultivation here. In addition to the 
number consumed by the men, children, and pigs,—for the 
latter often come in for their share before all is over,—a great 
number is sent by the Theiss and Danube to Pest, Pres burg, and 
Vienna. At Pest, the September fair is called the Melonen 
Markt , from the quantity of this fruit brought up the river at 
that time. A fine Water Melon, of the size of a man’s head, costs 
about twopence English money on the plains. It is difficult to 
convey a notion of the luxury of this fruit in a hot climate, and 
especially in travelling over dusty roads. Some Hungarian 
writer considers it a special gift of Providence to the Puszta, to 
compensate for the bad water found there. The common Melons 
are fine here, and even cheaper than the Water Melons. The 
wine of the plains is not, to my taste, to be compared to that of 
other parts of Hungary. It is strong, but it is deficient in that 
flavour which the mountain lends its Grapes. The Tobacco of 
the plains is also strong, but considered deficient in aroma. 
Among the crops most common here, and most strange to the 
Englishman’s eye, are those of Sunflowers and Pumpkins; the 
first cultivated for the oil they yield, the second used for fattening 
the pigs,—( Paget's Hungary and Transylvania.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Gakden Plan (R. I'. S .).—We must never return plans, nor answer 
privately. We criticise your plan on the opposition that the house is 
on the south side of it, at the bottom or opposite the centre between Y 
and X. You are capital clown to II; there change the Musk edging to 
Perilla for some variegated Geranium. All the rest are good, except the 
edgings of Portulaccas, which are too small for the other plants. Ilumens 
to be in the centre of the seven beds, instead of in four only. It is a very 
intricate garden, but, on the whole, well planted. 
Yakious {S. II. II. IT .').—Your bulb is Zaphyranthes atamasco, as far 
as we can make out front a bruised specimen. If the flower-buds are 
much tinged with purple before expansion, and pure white when they 
open, it is true atamasco; if not, it must be one ot the many allied bulbs in 
Zephyranthes apd Cooperia. “ Tibrothamnus diffusus, Grenesia eluso- 
