The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-08-16
1. Made into grape syrup or jelly.
5. Made into dried fruit.
There is eVerVWhere a good


5. Made into dried fruit.
There is everywhere a good local de-
mand for unfermented grape juice for
sacramental and pharmaceutical USES
If thoroughly good and wholesome
article were put on the market Ill
quantities large enough to create a taste
for it for table use, there would be an
almost unlimited demand.
To make sound, unfermented grape
juice that will keep well, requires care
full manipulation and the most fastid
lous attention to cleanness during the
process. The juice as soon as expressed
should be strained through two folds
of unbleached muslin and then run at
once into a double jacketed, covered
kettle and heated to 180 deg F., at
which temperature it must be held for
twenty to thirty minutes. It should
then be removed from fire and allowed
to stand closely covered for twenty
four hours.
At the end of this time return to the
kettle and reheat to $50 deg. F. for halt
hour, then strain through a thick,
clean, white woollen cloth into the bot
ties in which it is to be marketed. II
more convenient, the juice may be rur
from the strainer into large glass car
boys or air-tigs, holding not more than
ivegallons. These must be previously
disinfected by boiling water and should
be as hot as the juice is when ready to
be filled. The vessels, whether large
or small, must be filled until the juice
begins to run out at the opening, and
then corked tightly and the cork or
bung covered with wax or rosin to
make it air-tight. If a wooden vessel
is used to store the juice it should be
thoroughly varnished on the outside
to make it air proof. If the juice is
run at once into small bottles no further
manipulation is required. If it is tenn
porarily stored in large vessels, when
wanted for market or consumption il
must be once more heated to $50 deg.
+. and strained through woolen cloth
into the bottles When the storage
vessel is opened the entire contents
must be removed at once. If allowed
to remain twenty four hours in partly
filled vessel the juice will begin to fer
ment. This fermentation may be
stopped at any time by heating the
juice to 1S0 deg F., but the character
of the liquid as unfermented wine" "
is lost and cannot be recovered. 1t is
of the utmost Importance that the juice
OS u0dOCu W lou uSSs Il. anu H61Gu6I
less no more. If heated above $50
deg. F. the albumen of the juice will
coagulate and greatly deteriorate the
nutritive properties and the taste of
the juice will be quite spoiled.
If heated to less than $50 deg, f. the
germs of the ferment micrObe will not
be killed and the juice will soou begin
to ferment. To ensure the proper tenn
perature in the kettle a glass dairy
thermometer, costing about 90 cents,
should be inserted through a hole in
the cover and allowed to float on the
juice. Such a thermometer can be
bought Of any dealer in dairy supplies
or of Elmer & Amend, 305 Third Ave
nue., New York. In this matter guess
work will not do. NEVER, under any
circumstances, add sulphur, sulphite
of lime, soda or any other preservative
to the juice. Sugar is unnecessary
and should not be added unless the
grapes are unripe.
The manufacture of a wholesome
fermented wine is hardly possible
where one works upon a small guam
tity of culled or surplus fruit.
Good wine can be made only from
good, selected fruit and by one who
has had considerable experience. There
is no market for poor wine. Most of
the so called wine made for home use
is really "a cordial, loaded down with
sugar and frequently fortified with
raw corn or potato spirit. Such liquid
is neither palatable nor wholesome.
Our Southern grapes are naturally
over rich in sugar, and even without
the addition of sugar; hence when
fermented dead ripe, the wine is apt to
lack the wholesome acid of clarets, and
contains heavy per centage Of alcohol.
The endeavor should be to decrease the
per centage of alcohol by harvesting
the grapes before dead ripe and allow
ing the must to ferment on the pomace
not more than twenty-four hours.
For white wine the must shouldn't fer
ment on the pomace at all.
The juice should be drawn off the
pomace into clean barrels or tubs, and
left to ferment for 10 to 12 days in
dark cellar where the temperature does
not raise above 60 deg. +. After this
fermentation the wine must be care
fully drawn off the lees into we'll
scalded barrels and tightly bunged.
The bung should have hole, through
which passes a glass rod whose outside
end is bent down and dips into cup
of water. This water must be fre-
quently changed and the cup always
kept full. This permits the carbonic
acid to escape from the cask, but pre-
vents the access of air. After bubbles
have ceased to appear in the cup of
water fermentation has ceased, and
we have dry wine. 1t may now be
"fned with issinglass or white of an
egg and drawn off in bottles for sale,
Never add sugar to such wine, nor
sulphur, nor soda, nor any preserva-
tive substance whatever. Such addi-
tions render the wine unwholesome.
Usually Southern wines are not fit to
drink until at least two years old, and
they improve with age.