Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1866-04-20
RHRUBARB WINE.

The American Sherry or Wine Plant wine is
made from the stalks of a superior kind of Rhu-
barb known as the Myatt Linaeus Rhubarb.-
This plant was first cultivated by one Myatt, Of
England. 1t was ascertained few years since,
by expressing the juice from the stalks and mix
ing equal parts of juice and rain water, and add :
adding three pounds of good sugar to gallon Of
this mixture, and giving it proper age, a very
palatable wine could be made.
Many were very soon making experiments in
this new enterprise. While some were success
fll, others found themselves in possession Of an
article hardly entitled to the name of wine.--
Yet now l believe it is claimed that a superior
wine eau be made from this plant; a wine equal
TO the best wines of Europe. An Intelligent
gentleman from near Cleveland, who is extcn-
sively engaged in raising the Catawba grape for
wine purposes, aud has for the past year been
travelling thro' the wine regions of the old world
to inform himself upon wine matters, says he
did not see any wines in Southern Europe any
better than the wine plant wine, of its age; and
believes it TO be impossible to make Catawba
superior to it. For medicinal purposes in cases
of darrhea, dysentery, bloody flux, and con-
stpatiOn of the bowels, it is highly recOmmen-
ded by physicians, both east and west Our
druggists selling it for 90 per gallon, and
We are informed that itgives very general sat
isfaction. Like other wines it improves very
much by age.
WeaFe informed that one producer at kala-
mazoo, last fall made 1900 gallons of wife, and
has already been offered for his entire lot, by a
Chicago house, $3.50 per gallon, but declines
accepting the offer. He holds it at SO so per
gallon. The most of this wine is sold while
it is very young, yet in reality it is not fit for
the market until it is I6 months old. Setting
the hills y feet apart each way, about $500
hills can be set on an acre of ground. The
ground, if sufficiently fertile, will produce from
one 10 two gallons 10 hill the first year after
setting out. One gentleman made from IOI
hills 337 gallons of wine the first year, and sold
the same by the cask when only few months
01d, for $2.25 per gallon. The sugar adds
about one-fiith 10 the bulk so in reality it only
takes 91s pounds per gallon. Sugar dealers
think that proper quality of sugar can he
purchased the present season for IL cents per
pound by the cask, which will cost about 30
cents to make gallon of wine. We think it is
safe TO calculate that it will fetch, when one
year old, by the wholesale, So per gallon, which
will make it profitable investment. There is
no danger of flooding our market with pure
wine, for at least many years to come as we are
informed by Sup't Joseph C. G. Kennedy, Of
Washington, of the Sth census bureau, in his re-
port on domestic wine, that we made in the year
1860, $50, 900 gallons of wine in all the States
and territories, and we also paid over 81 100000
Gas reported through custom houses) for foreign
wines. About nineteen -twentieths of all the
wines used in our country are fictitious arti-
Gle, SO in reality we are using about so, 600 OOC
gallons of a material called wine Another
fact worthy to be borne in mind is that a pure
wine is temperance agent of great value, as il
is rare occurrence TO find a drunkard in the
wine producing countries of the old world
Sup't Kennedy recommends it as our only SAFE
resort TO relieve our country from the terrible
and alarming evils of intemperance. Farmers
and Horticulturists would do well to look into
this matter. Allowing it to do one-half as wei
as represented, it will pay well,
Yours, J. NJ s.