The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a FarmBradley, Richard
Science
The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm
Bradley, Richard
Cooking -- Early works to 1800; Cooking, English
of the Vessel frequently cool'd or refresh'd with Water, which will stop
the ferment. Again, some will not ferment as they ought to do, and then
they must be set in warmer places, which will raise the ferment.
In very bad Years we may help our Wines with a small quantity of Sugar,
perhaps a Pound to a Gallon of Juice, to boil together; but whether we add
Sugar or no, we must be sure to take the Scum off the Wines as it rises
when they are boiling.
In the colder Climates, we ought not to press the Grapes so close as they
do in the hot Countries, because in the colder parts of the World, and in
places the most remote from the Sun, the Skins of the Grapes are much
thicker, and carry a Sourness in them which should not be too much press'd
to mix with the richer part of the Grape; but in the hotter Climes, the
Skins of the Grapes are thin, and the Sourness rectify'd by the Sun, and
will bear pressing without injuring the finer Juices.
There is one thing which I shall mention with regard to the Endeavours that
have been used to make Wine in the Island of _St. Helena_; a Place so
situate, that it lies as a resting-place between these Northern Parts, and
the _East-Indies_, and so remote from other places, that could there be
good Wine made there, it would be of great help and assistance to the Ships
that sail that way: But I am informed by a curious Gentleman, who has had
many good Accounts of that Place, that the Vines which have been planted
there, are of such sorts, as bring the Grapes ripe and rotten on one side
of the Bunch, and green on the other at the same time, which surely can
never make good Wine. But upon enquiry, they are only such sorts of Grapes
as grow in close Clusters, and therefore the side next the Sun must be ripe
much sooner than the other; for the Climate there is so violent hot, that
there are no Walls used behind them to reflect the Heat to ripen the Backs
of the Bunches.
Therefore, I suppose that the best way to have good Wine made in those
Parts, is to furnish that Place with Vines which may bring their Grapes in
open or loose Bunches, such as the Raisin-grape, and some others, which do
not cluster; for then the Sun would have an equal effect upon all the
Grapes, and good Wine might be made of them: But the worthy Gentleman who
told me of this, has, I hear, sent to _St. Helena_ a Collection of such
Grapes as will answer the desired end.
This is likewise the Month when Saffron appears above ground; sometimes
sooner, sometimes later, according as the Season is earlier or later. This
Year, 1726, I was in the Saffron Country, and in the beginning of _August_
the Saffron-heads or Roots had shut up so long in the flowering part, that
the Planters were forced to put them into the Ground: I mean, such as were
design'd for new Plantations, which is sooner by near a Month than they
used to sprout, though they lay dry in Heaps, the Weather had so great an
effect upon them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account