ven washing them with clean water as soon as they are empty.

2166. There are various modes of fining wine: isinglass,
gelatine, and gum Arabic are all used for the purpose. Whichever
of these articles is used, the process is always the same.
Supposing eggs (the cheapest) to be used,--Draw a gallon or so
of the wine, and mix one quart of it with the whites of four
eggs, by stirring it with a whisk; afterwards, when thoroughly
mixed, pour it back into the cask through the bunghole, and stir
up the whole cask, in a rotatory direction, with a clean split
stick inserted through the bunghole. Having stirred it
sufficiently, pour in the remainder of the wine drawn off, until
the cask is full; then stir again, skimming off the bubbles that
rise to the surface. When thoroughly mixed by stirring, close
the bunghole, and leave it to stand for three or four days. This
quantity of clarified wine will fine thirteen dozen of port or
sherry. The other clearing ingredients are applied in the same
manner, the material being cut into small pieces, and dissolved
in the quart of wine, and the cask stirred in the same manner.

2167. _To Bottle Wine_.--Having thoroughly washed and dried the
bottles, supposing they have been before used for the same kind
of wine, provide corks, which will be improved by being slightly
boiled, or at least steeped in hot water,--a wooden hammer or
mallet, a bottling-boot, and a squeezer for the corks. Bore a
hole in the lower part of the cask with a gimlet, receiving the
liquid stream which follows in the bottle and filterer, which is
placed in a tub or basin. This operation is best performed by
two persons, one to draw the wine, the other to cork the
bottles. The drawer is to see that the bottles are up to the
mark, but not too full, the bottle being placed in a clean tub
to prevent waste. The corking-boot is buckled by a strap to the
knee, the bottle placed in it, and the cork, after being
squeezed in the press, driven in by a flat wooden mallet.

2168. As the wine draws near to the bottom of the cask, a thick
piece of muslin is placed in the strainer, to prevent the
viscous grounds from passing into the bottle.

2169. Having carefully counted the bottles, they are stored away
in their respective binns, a layer of sand or sawdust being
placed under the first t