Nebraska advertiser., 1861-04-11
NO. 40.


AIr. r. Buchanan, Of Ohio, Who IS one
Of the most eminent vine growers Of this
country, thinks that "Wine farming vii
in few years, become simplifed, and al
most as easily understood ascoTn planting.
There is no mystery in il. Experience
alone must teach the proper position and
soil the right distances apart for the
vines; the most iudici0us methods Of
spring and summer pruning and as for
cultivation, keep the ground clean with
the plough or culnvaior, like corn Ger
tain rules are given in books, for vineyard
culture, as pursued in the Ohio valley.
These are the European systems, adapted
70 cur own country. Il viii be safe 70
follow these rules, until BY experimenting,
we can find better. There Is more room
for progress IN this branch Of agriculture
than in almost any other.
Making the wine Is as simple as making
cider. The great lunches are cut from
the vines, and all unsound or unripe ber-
ries picked of the bunch and thrown INTO
bucket, to make-with the addition of
sugar-vinegar, OF an inferior wine. The
perfect grapes of each days cutting are
taken to the wine house, and in the even
ing, after being mashed in o barrel with
a beetle-slem and berries-or passed
through wooden rollers in a small mill,
or put on the press, and the juice eztract-
ed. About one-third runs off without any
pressure. The outer edges Of the pomace p
are cut off for eight OF ten inches, after
the first pressing, separated with the
hands, and thrown on top, when the power
Of the screw IS applied, and another press
ing made. This Is repeated Two or three
times. The juice from the last pressing.
being very dark and aslringent, is put with
the inferior wine. The other Is 3ul In
large casks filed about fve-sixths full, 10
ferment and make the good wine. No
sugar or brandy should be added to the
best Catawba juice, or must, as il makes
better wine without, and is strong enough
10 keep well. One end Of a siphon is
placed in the bung hole Of the cask; the
other being crooked over, rests in a buck
ct Of water.
The fermentation commences IN day
or two, and the carbonic acid escapes
through the water. In ten or fourteen
days, the siphon may be removed, the
casks filed up, and the bung driven in
lightly; in q month, tightly. In md
summer the wine is drawn off into ano-
ther cask, and the lees Of the wine,
with the pomace Of the grape, is used to
make brandy.
The wine viii be clear and pleasant 70
drink in a month or two after the frst
fermentation ceases. The second fer
mentation occurs in the spring. about the
time Of the blossoming Of the grapes
this is but slight and It viii be merely
necessary to loosen the bungs when it's
over, the wine viii be clear in two or
months, and safe to bottle, bot that opera
ton had better be deferred until Novem-
| Der. And this is the whole process Of .
making still wine-the wine for general
use and, being a natural product Of the
grape, It is more wholesome than any
mixed or artificial wine, however showy
and high-priced it may be.
Let the grapes be well riPened; and
press, casks and all vessels perfectly clean,
and then keep the air from the new wine.
| by having the casks constantly bung full,
and there is no danger Of its spelling.
This is the whole secret.
II IS presumed that no one viii 90 into
wine farming largely at first; but to take ;
the precaution to test, by the cultivation
Of few acres, the capabilities Of the soil.
position and climate, and the kind Of
! grapes best suited to it."-RuraI Register.
l