The complete servant / Being a practical guide to the peculiar duties and business of all descriptions of servants, from the housekeeper to the servant of all-work, and from the land steward to the foot-boy. With useful receipts and tables

by servant Samuel Adams; Sarah Adams

To make Wine settle well.

Take a pint of wheat, and boil it in a quart of water, till it burst and become soft; then squeeze it through a linen cloth, and put a pint of the liquor into a hogshead of unsettled white wine; stir it well about, and it will become fine.

To make a Match for sweetening Casks.

Melt some brimstone, and dip into it a piece of coarse linen cloth; of which, when cold, take a piece of about an inch broad and five inches long, and set fire to it, putting it into the bung-hole, with one end fastened under the bung, which must be driven in very tight: let it remain a few hours before removing it out.

To make Oyster Powder.

Get some fresh oyster-shells, wash them and scrape off the yellow part from the outside; lay them on a clear fire till they become red hot; then lay them to cool, and take off the softest part, powder it, and sift it through a fine sieve; after which use it immediately, or keep it in bottles well corked up, and laid in a dry place.

To make a Filtering Bag.

This bag is made of a yard of either linen or flannel, not too fine or close, and sloping, so as to have the bottom of it run to a point, and the top as broad as the cloth will allow. It must be well sewed up the side, and the upper part of it folded round a wooden hoop, and well fastened to it; then tie the hoop in three or four places with a cord to support it; and when used, put a can or pail under it to receive the liquor, filling the bag with the sediments; after it has ceased to run, wash out the bag in three or four clear waters, then hang it up to dry in an airy place, that it may not get musty. A wine dealer should always have two bags by him, one for red, and the other for white wines.

To bottle Wine.

When wine is made fine and pleasant, it may be bottled, taking care afterwards to pack it in a temperate place with saw-dust or leather. After which it will not be fit to drink for at least two months. Never use new deal saw-dust, as that causes the wine to fret, and often communicates a strong turpentine smell through the corks to the wine.