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Rhubarb Wine

Take fifty pounds of rhubarb, wipe it with a wet cloth, and bruise it well. The easiest way of doing this is to lay it on a clean table, and crush it with a flat-iron. Put it into a tub or bowl, and pour over it ten gallons of cold water; let it remain nine days, stirring two or three times a day. Strain off the liquor, and to each gallon put three pounds of loaf sugar, the juice of a lemon, and half of the rind. Put it in the cask with two ounces of isinglass, and leave it unstopped for a month, then bung it up, and let it stand in a very cool but not damp place for twelve months, when it will be ready for bottling. A little brandy may be added to the wine, if liked, but it is quite unnecessary. The middle of May is the best time for making rhubarb wine, as the fruit is then full of sap. Time, six weeks to prepare. Probable cost, varying with the price of the rhubarb. A quantity of rhubarb at this time of the year ought to be got for very little. Sufficient for about eighteen gallons of wine.