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DRINKS.

63

and

preparing

the

fruit,

fining,

bottHng,

and

storing.

A

correspondent

of

the

Gardeners

Chronicle

gives

a

receipt

for

beer

wine,

a

beverage

which

has

puzzled

many

connoisseurs.

The

curious

may

find

it

also

quoted

in

Vine's

brochure.

The

manufacture

of

home-made

wines

is

familiar.

An

excellent

wine

is

sometimes

made

from

a

mixture

of

the

fruits

above

mentioned,

as,

for

instance,

that

from

gooseberries

and

currants.

All

home-made

wines

are

prone

to

run

into

acetous

fermentation

without

the

addition

of

a

due

proportion

of

pure

spirits.

Plums

or

sloes,

with

other

ingredients,

can,

it

is

said,

be

turned

into

excellent

fruity

port,

the

''very

choice"

kind,

silky,

soft,

and

full

bodied.

A

wine

said

to

be

agreeable

is

also

made

from

the

red

berries

of

the

mountain

ash

or

service-tree

{pyrus

aiicuparid).

Birch

wine

is

still

made

in

some

parts

of

England.

Morewood

gives

a

long

receipt

for

its

manufacture.

Like

most

other

wines,

it

improves

greatly

with

age.

This

is

especially

true

of

parsnip

Avine.

From

potatoes

which

have

suffered

a

sort

of

malting

from

frost,

a

tolerable

wine

has

been

obtained.

It

is

said

but

there

are

people

who

will

say

anything

that

a

great

portion

of

the

champagne

drunk

in

this

country

is

made

from

sugar

and

green

gooseberries.

Rhubarb

wine

has

been

affirmed

to

be

synonymous

with

British

champagne.

The

reader

anxious

on

this

subject

may

consult

Dr.

Shannon's

elaborate

Treatise

on

Brewing.

Cowslip

wine

is

all

too

like

some

of

the

Muscatel

wines

of

Southern

France,

and

the

wine

of

the

Sambucus

nigra

has

been

more

than

once,

through

some

unlucky

accident,

confused

with

Frontignac.