Birch Wine.
THIS wine must be made at that time of the year when the liquor from the birch-trees can be best procured. This is in the beginning of March, when the sap is rising, and before the leaves shoot out; for when the leaves come forward, and the leaves appear, the juice, by being long digested in the bark, grows thick and coloured, which before was thin and clear. The method of procuring the juice is, by boring holes in the body of the tree, and putting in fossets, which are usually made of the branches of elder, the pith being taken out. You may, without hurting the tree, if it is large, tap it in several places, four or five at a time, and by that means save, from a good many trees, several gallons every day. If you do not get enough in one day, the bottles in which it drops must be corked close, and rosined or waxed; however, make use of it as soon as you can. Take the sap and boil it as long as any scum will rise, skimming it all the time. To every gallon of liquor put four pounds of good sugar, and the thin peel of a lemon. Then boil it half an hour, and keep skimming it well. Pour it into a clean tub, and when it is almost cold, set it to work with yeast spread upon a toast. Let it stand five or six days, stirring it often. Then take a cask just large enough to hold all the liquor, fire a large match dipped in brimstone, and throw it into the cask; stop it close till the match is extinguished, then tun your wine, and lay the bung on lightly till you find it has done working. Stop it close, and, after three months, bottle it off.