First prepare a fresh empty cask, that has had the same kind of wine in it which is about to be racked, then match it, and rack off the wine, putting to every ten gallons two ounces of oyster-shell powder, and half an ounce of bay salt, then get the staff and stir it well about, letting it stand till it is fine, which will be in a few days; after which rack it off into another cask, (previously matched) and if the lees of some wine of the same kind can be got, it will improve it much.—Put likewise a quart of brandy to every ten gallons, and if the cask has been emptied a long time, it will match better on that account; but if even a new cask, the matching must not be omitted. A fresh empty cask is to be preferred. This method will answer for all made wines. _To rack Foreign Wine._ The vault or cellar should be of a temperate heat, and the casks sweet and clean. Should they have an acid or musty smell, it may be remedied by burning brimstone matches in them; and if not clean, rinse them well out with cold water, and after draining rinse with a quart of brandy, putting the brandy afterwards into the ullage cask. Then strain the lees or bottoms through a flannel or linen bag. But put the bottoms of port into the ullage cask without going through the filtering bag. In racking wine that is not on the stillage, a wine-pump is desirable. _To manage and improve poor Red Port._ If wanting in body, colour, and flavour, draw out thirty or forty gallons, and return the same quantity of young and rich wines. To a can of which put three gills of colouring, with a bottle of wine or brandy. Then wisk it well together, and put it into the cask stirring it well. If not bright in about a week or ten days, fine it for use; previous to which put in at different times a gallon of good brandy. If the wine is short of body, put a gallon or two of brandy in each pipe, by a quart or two at a time, as it feeds the wine better than putting it in all at once. But if the wines are in a bonded cellar, procure a funnel that will go to the bottom of the cask, that the brandy may be completely incorporated with the wine. _To manage Claret._ Claret is not a wine of a strong body, though it requires to be of a good age before it is used, and, therefore, it should be well managed; the best method is to feed it every two or three weeks with a pint or two of French brandy. Taste it frequently, to know what state it is in, and use the brandy accordingly, but never put much in at a time, while a little incorporates with the wine, and feeds and mellows it. If the claret is faint, rack it into a fresh-emptied hogshead, upon the lees of good claret; and bung it up, putting the bottom downwards for two or three days, that the lees may run through it. _To colour Claret._