a 
1 Max., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 193 
“mousy.” As the acids named have been produced at the expense of some of 
the alcohol in the wine, it follows that, for brandy-making, such wine is im- 
poyerished of its alcohol proportionately to its degree of acidity, and of such 
wine 7 to 8 gallons are required to make 1 gallon of proof brandy. 
The following table gives the maximum amount of the raw material required 
to make 1 gallon of proof brandy :— 
5 gallons of sound wine. ~ 
8 gallons of sour wine. 5 
8 gallons of grape pomace from the fermenting vat, plus 4 gallons of 
water. 
8 gallons of lees or of piquette. 
16 gallons of wash. 
16 gallons of pressed skins and 8 gallons of water. 
Cost or Propucrrion or tHE Raw Marenrran. 
By “raw material” with reference to brandy-making, I mean sound wine 
especially prepared for the purpose, and also the refuse of the fermenting house 
and of the wine cellar, which would, unless utilised for that purpose, be to a 
great extent wasted. I will assume, in order to arrive at an approximate 
estimate of the eost of the production of white wine for the purpose of making 
brandy, that a large stretch of the second-class land of this State, such as is 
met with, say, in the region of the Swan, the Murray, or the Ferguson and 
Preston Rivers, and consisting of light loam overlying a sub-soil of gravell 
ochre-coloured stiffish loam or of limestone formation, with abundance of fresh 
water ata depth of from 10 to 30 feet from the surface, and with a good and 
reliable rainfall of 28 to 30 inches. 
That kind of country is often under stunted Jarrah, Red Gum trees, with 
occasional patches of Blue or Flooded Gums, Stinkwood, Wattle, Banksia, and 
Sheoak (Casuarina), or under Tuart Gums and Blackboys and Banksia. 
Numerous small vineyards have been very successfully established upon the 
latter kind of country, and present a healthy and thriving appearance, bearing 
well and producing a wine clean and free from the peculiar “ earthy taste” 
sometimes noticeable in wine made from vines grown on rich alluvial bottom 
lands. In arriving at the following estimate the high cost of labour and horse 
feed at present ruling has been taken as a basis for working out the cost. I 
also assume that provision has been made the previous year for striking vine 
cuttings in a nursery, as, in this climate, rooted vines give far more satisfactory 
results than vine cuttings when a vineyard is planted. Attention to this detail 
would cheapen the cost of rooted vines by £2 an acre, or £200 for a 100-acre- 
vineyard :— 
First Year. 
Cost per Acre. 
Les 
bi ah 
Grubbing and clearing ... ne m @ O @ 
Fencing... st; et 015 O 
Ploughing and harrowing ae. x U & @& 
Plotting and digging holes Dot ion OK) 
Planting... car: 7 vex iO © 
Cost of rooted vines and fertilisers 110 0 
Baiting for grubs... i on oo (Wy 
Scarifying and hoeing ... ae reel) Om 
£13 10 0 
Interest at 7 per cent. on capital oo Ol 
£14 8 6 per acre, 
or for 100-acre vineyard, £1,442. 
