Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-09-19
yITICULTURAL NOTES.
Received from the State Viticultur
Commission at San Francisco.

Received from the State yiticultural
Commission at San Francisco.
Samples of condensed must that have
been produced by the apparatus now in
operation at the Bugbey vineyard, near
Folsom, were brought into the office of the
State Viticultural Commission this week.
showing the result OF the operation on
must of Mission, Zinfandel, Fehcr Szargos
and Roussanne Golden Chasselas, So
/ called). The must, when reduced, showed
generally about go per cent of sugar and
could be made heavier if desired As this
Is the first attempt to operate this apr aratus
on this coast, The experimental results are
attracting attention. 1t possible that the
apparatus will be moved. as soon as the
/ work is finished at the Bugbev VINEYARD
either to San Francisco or to some point in
Sonoma or Napa county, to continue the
work already begun. The Commission
Will soon receive five gallons of must of
each OF the varieties condensed, to test the
value of such material in wine-making.
So far as the assistant of The State
Analyst has been able to pursue the micro
scopic studies on feTmenfs this wear. II
appears that compressed yeast made al the
/ Potrero near this city. which was cxperi
/ mented with last year by the Commission
/ Is practically pure for the purpose of
starting small tubs of must in fermentation.
| in the beginning of wine-making opera
/ tons. Samples of this compressed Yeast
for experimentation will be sent out bv The
| Commission on demand of those who
desire to test the advantage OF the same
During the vintage the Commission will
undertake to propagate a wine yeast to be
| treated in a similar manner to This
! compressed yeast, in order to ascertain
whether better result can be obtained
without the use of this compressed material
already on the market From the eyperi
ments last year, and continued during this
year, with early crops Of grapes, it appears
| that one ounce of this COMPRESSED Yeast is
ample. in preparing a fermenting mass fo
be used to assist tanks, to the ton of cranes
used, If for red wine; if for white wine.
one-half an ounce would be sufficient. al
though a further experimentation may re-
suit in more exact rules The method of
using this compressed yeast is to first dilute
1t IN blood-warm water, mixing, if in small
| quantity, the fresh must day before com
menclng lamentations. Place the Yeast
tub IN a warm place. By using such ma
| terlal to start fermentation promntlv
1t has been found by the Commits,
sion this year that prompt and recuIar
| lamentations can be obtained even
! though the temperature is prevailiuglv low
| The influence of temperature, in starring a
| tank Of must into fermenting. appears 10
vary after the germs of ferments are once
! developed. 1t seems to require a certain
! degree OF heat to develop the spores of the
| germs into activity, but by Introducing
| activity OF the germs at the start so great a
| heat is not required. After mixing the
| termenting must in the tank. it is essential
to stir the whole tank several times dav
| until the violent lamentations begin. so as
to distribute the germs thoroughly through
out the whole must. Those who will make
experiments with this material can Obtain
samples for the work by ADDRESSING tbe
Commission, it being requisite that they
| shail report the result in comparison with
other methods. Where the weather
| is warm, and it is known that fermen-
| tauon starts very promptly and continues
| regularly, there will be little use probably
| IN applying this means of assisting develop
| inent OF the yeast germs in the must; but
| ID many cases where fermentation is known
to be difficult, and where it starts in slow
ly, such an assis auce will avoid probably.
imperfect lamentations such as freouentIv
trouble the wine subsequently,. More COM
| plete reports will be made on this subject
AFTER the present vintage. The compressed
yeast to which reference has been made is
not, properly speaking, a beer Yeast al
though 1t is a product of material out of
which beer Is usually made tits carefuIIv
prepared at the factory here for the purpose
OF obtaining pure article The Yeast as if
rises to the top is skinned off cleansed
| washed, and expressed. Under the micro
scope at the Nit:caltuTal Commission the
germs contained in this yeast are iden-
tlcal with those that are obtained from
grape must, developed by the side
of the same material and without any aid
There are, however. so many differences in
yeast germs developed naturally that il is
necessary to continue these observations
before hnal Judgment on the subject is
given. The theory that has been advanced
with reference to the assistance in starring
a prompt fermentation consists in this
hat together with grapes that are mashed
III the fermenung tanks many germs of
dlllerent lamentations other than those
that are desired in wine making are liable
to be introduced or deyeloped. slow
ianguid fermentation fayors the develop-
ment OF the false germs, whereas a rand
aicoholc fermentation prevents the devel-
opment OF the other germs and secures
complete vinus result and leaves the
Hlne IN conGlion SO that in the spring
following the usual fermentation that
taxes place then is avoided. Ordi-
nary 1erlnent9ilons are conducted on
the chance theory. The wines when
crushed are left to develop their own
germs which may be more or less com
pIete according to The desire of the wine
maker; whereas, by Introducing trup wine
germs III the beginning, in an active state.
much OF the danger of future accident NAV
be avoided. Whether this theory will
mold true IL practice, as is believed. remains
10 be demonstrated this wear on LARGER
scale than heretofore. There are known 10
be several foims Of alcoholic germs pro-
duced IN natural lamentations. 1t is the
desire Of the Commission at the present TO
investigate to what extent any one of these
forms may be more or less beneficial and
III what manner the development of the
forms required for the best work can be
favored.
The lamentations that have beolIn
throughout the valleys of the coast conn
ties with the earliest ripening grapes.
indicate that wines this year will be full
body and rich in color. In the Livermore
valley last Monday the Chauche Noir
grapes were picked and found to contain 30
per cent. of sugar, and requiring the addi-
ton Of considerable portion of water to
secure fermentation thoroughly. Crahb's
Black Burgundy marked at that time a
per cent. In the Napa valley the same
varieties have not yet attained the same
period of maturity, but are rapidly pro-
crossing. During the coming week in the
counties near the bay, the operations of
wlne-m3king will be under full headwav.
and from this time on the wine-makers
will be as busy as men can be under SIM
liar circumstances.
Reddirg and Shasta Notes.
From B. B. Minor, who has been operat-
ing in quartz mines in Shasta county for