Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/263

LEFT VINE 225 VINEGAR wheat soil. Turf taken from such land, stacked in narrow ridges for a winter, may be chopped down in the spring, and if clay is in excess, it should have burned clay or old lime rubbish mixed with it in the proportion of 1 to 10. The best manure for a vine border is one into which findy-ground bones, horn shav- ings, and other phosphatic manures en- ter, not forgetting potash. It is well to avoid stable manure, as that very fre- quently breeds fungi. On the other hand, cow manure sours the soil, and should also be avoided. An authority, while investigating the system of vine culture on the banks of the Rhine, found that growers there confined the cultivation to soil nearly all made up of the scoriae and debris of the rocks, and avoided soil which in England was found most suit- able; but the explanation was that, while the soils in question would grow grapes well, they did not yield wine of the de- sired bouquet. The vine is easily propagated in a va- riety of ways — by layers, by cuttings, by eyes; also by budding, inarching and grafting, as well as by raising from seed. The common method of establishing vine- yards for open-air cultivation in grape- growing lands — as in California — is to trench the soil where the land is hard, and to plant young canes at distances of from three to four feet apart, and four to five feet between rows, placing a stake to each young vine for its support. In the second year fruit can be produced, though it is better for the ultimate suc- cess of the vineyard not to crop till the third. Another method — more laborious and costly, and showing in greater ulti- mate advantage — is to put the vine cut- tings in "nursery rows," to let them form roots there (as with gooseberry cut- tings), and then transplant. Much of the labor required for growing grapes either in the open or under glass is de- voted to pruning and training the plants. Various systems of pruning are in use. for securing greater vigor in the plant, to obtain more and better fruit, to keep up a constant supply of fruit-bearing wood, and to maintain the fruit-bearing portion, not on the extreme branches only, but near the ground. Nothing can well be less like the great vines grown under glass than the ordinary vine of a French or German vineyard, the vines being kept to some three or four feet in height, so that the uninitiated thinks rather of a raspberry garden than of a vineyard. In Italy greater luxuriance is allowed, and vines are even trained on trees pruned for the purpose. In the United States, especially Cali- fornia, the development of viticulture has been great and rapid. Early attempts were made to grow foreign grapes in the open air, but none of these met with success E. of the Rocky Mountains. Till the Californian grape industry developed, the growing of foreign grapes in the United States was under glass, and tor dessert purposes. Four native Ameri- can vines (of some 10 found wild) are used for wme making, the most impor- tant being V. Lambnisca. VINEGAR, a solution of acetic acid, usually containing from 2 to 5 per cent, of acid, and minute proportions of vari- ous ethers and other substances accord- ing to the sources whence it is derived. It is a product of the oxidation of alco- holic solutions, and may consequently be prepared from any body containing al- cohol, or capable of being transformed into that substance. In practice it is prepared from malted barley or other grain (malt vinegar), from wine of in- ferior quality (wine, French or Orleans vinegar) from dilute solution of spirit (spirit vinegar) and from cider (cider vinegar). Wood vinegar, a product of the destructive distillation of wood, is used chiefly in connection with chemical operations, and though deficient in flavor, and other qualities it is in extensive use as a table vinegar, and for the various other purposes to which common vinegar is usually applied. The circumstances which are necessary for and favor the production of vinegar are, (1) an alco- holic solution (or a solution capable of developing alcohol) containing not more than 10 per cent, of spirit; (2) a suitable temperature, which may range from about 45° to 100° F.; (3) free access of atmospheric air- and, (4) the presence of substances which promote acetification or oxidation of the alcoholic solution, the chief active agency being the vinegar fungus Mycoderma aceti, which acts as a carrier of oxygen to the solution. There are two principal processes by which ordinary vinegar is prepared, termed respectively (1) the old or slow process; and (2) the quick process. The slow process is still largely used in the preparation of French or wine vinegar, and it is also used in making British malt vinegar. In the manufacture of the latter there are a number ol preliminary operations analogous to those employed in brewing. A mash of mixed malt and unmalted barley is prepared, and the wort is permitted to ferment. After com- pletion of the fermentation the liquor is run into barrels, the tops of which are open but tied over with coarse canvas and stored away in darkened but mod- erately-heated chambers where there is free access of air. There the acetous fermentation takes place slowly during