The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-10-26
THE GERMS DO 1T.
A Remarkable Discovery.

NemarkaO10 Discovery.
Our ancestors did not believe there
was anything in the world they could
not see; but the microscope has taught
them that the part of creation they can.
not perceive with the unassisted eve is
thousand times greater than what
they can see.
1t was thought that the different
grades and f1avors of wines were due
to something peculiar to the soils of the
various countries, but now the aston
ishing fact is revealed that they depend
upon millions of invisible forms of life.
Read the following interesting
article:
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21.-"Thanks to one
OF the latest discoveries of science, we are
now able to make excellent wines of yari-
Gus KINDS without resorting to the crane. -
SAID an expert of the department of agri-
culture yesterday. Take sip of this and
tell me what you think of it,
-. AS snerry' and good stuff, too" said
the VISITOR, who was making Investigations.
Apple juice; nothing but apple Juice. .
replied the professor. Nov try this
apple juice again Now this"
Sauterne, l should say
apple Juice once more" said the pro-
1essor These wines-all of them canjtal
as you nave noticed-are simply apple juice,
lermented with yeasts of different kinds
put the yeasts are wine yeasts, fetched
from famous grape growing districts in
Europe" -
You see. the flavor and aroma of sherry
Ior example, are not due to the grape Juice
from winch the wine is made, but to the
microscopic fungus germs that cause it's
fermentation. We import these germs from
the Heres district in Spain, introduce them
into fresh apple juice, and the result is
lndlstlnguishable from an excellent quality
OF sherry. It Is the same way with hook
Madeira or champagne; we simply inoculate
tne apple juice with the requisite fungi,
and they do the rest
In the soil of the district of Xeres GER
tain species Of minute fungi exist, which
noat1ng about in the air or .adhering to the
SKINS OF the ripened grapes get into the
watts OF grape juice and multiply in meal
culable numbers feeding upon it and in
cidentally giving to it a peculiar sherry
flavor. We merely substitute annie iuice
which serves equally we'll as basis and
we nave sherry wine possessing the true
navor and aroma. There are concerns in
france and other parts Of Europe that
make business now of propagating the
yeasts OF various kinds Of wines and nut
ting them up in Theoretically sealed bottles
for such uses.
The yeasts are obtained from the sedi-
ments OF the watts and to propagate them is
exceedingly easy. the only difficulty being
10 separate out and Isolate those which
produces the right sort of flavor and aroma.
You see there are an immense number Of
varieties OF such vegetable organisms and
tn quality OF the wine depends mainly
nOi vsyHj lob
fermentation. Hitherto such matters have
peen left to chance and hence the great
dlnerences In the quality of the yintapes
given vintage yielding in some years
product of much finer quality than in
others. The grapes are the same, the pro-
scoplc fungi that get into the raw grape
Juice vary in kind
For some time past brewers have fully
understood this idea as it applies to beer.
and in their establishments nothing is con-
sidered quite so important as the preserva-
ton and propagation of particular species
OF germs for accomplishing the work of
"Only recently have winemakers applied
the principle In their business but the re-
suits already obtained are wonderful They
may keep on hand their own yeasts or thew
can buy them ready bottled and guaran-
teed as to quality, putting into each vat
OF the germ culture Their can be no
doubt that the introduction of this process
in California will revolutionize the wine
producing industry of that state.
Here is a little tube containing a small
quantity of gelatine. The whitish patch
which you see on the surface of the gela-
tine is colony of wine fermenting germs,
numbering millions probably Surprising
that l wish to propagate these valuable
fungi, l remove the stopper of absorbent
cotton from the neck of the bottle and
touch the yeast patch with the tip of
platinum needle, previously heated to de-
stroy all other germs that may have ad-
aered to it. Then I place the needle point
n contact with another bit of sterilized
yelatine or some other substance suitable
or the tiny organisms to feed upon, and !
here is a fresh colony of them started.
''In this way the fungi may be multi
,lied indefinitely, but it has been found
hat the best stuff to breed them in is |
simply grape juice. That is the culture
Medium used by Jacquemin and other great |
PRODUCERS of wine yeasts in Europe. You |
'uy the stuff in bottles. as have said, and |
tut pint of it perhaps into each vat of |
resi- juice from the vineyard as soon as
possible after the grapes have been pressed. |
Immediately the germs begin to multiply,
md within few hours the fact that they
re hard at work is made evident by symp-
oms Of active fermentation. Having got |
o good start they literally crowd out all
ther and less desirable kinds Of fungi that
nay get into the must, and develop at leis-
ire the aroma and flavor most valued in
he wine.
1.-The famous Professor Workman has
een the chief worker in this new and
romising field. He took the finest Rhine
Vines, for examples, made cultures from
he vat sediments, and thus obtained pure
reeds of the most eligible micro organisms,
hen. for the sake Of experiment, he made
imilar cultures from ordinary brands and
Introduced each kind Of germ into a sepa-
ate receptacle of fresh grape juice, pre-
iously sterilized by heat, the grape Juice
cling all taken from one vat. The results
ere striking, each receptacle presently
felding, as by conjuring trick, differ
Mt sort Of wine. That which was poorest
hight have fetched Is cents a bottle, while
ne best-fermented with the selected fungi
was worth SO.
THE use Of artificially yeasts for
ed wines has been adopted extensively of
tie, and laboratories in Switzerland. as
ell as In France, are putting these bot
ed fungi on the market in large quanti-
es. 1t is found desirable to employ for
ach kind OF wine its own peculiar germs
n example, Burgundy yeast for Burgundy.
nd so fOrth-rather than to mix them IN
ach species of fungus seems to patronize
preference a particular sort of crane
nee, and does not do such good work when
oplied to any other sort. The contents of
lch vat are sterilized by heat before the |
lid culture is put in
The cider-making business OF Eurone
as grown greatly within recent years. and
Germany 1t has attained immense pro-
'rt1ons, centering at Frankfort, Pro
icers OF the article have succeeded in OBJ