has procured for him there the title of "Legislator of Vinification."
It had been the fault of most preceding writers on this subject, to prescribe, as proper for every soil and climate, a system of management which had been found the best in one particular district. It was the object of Chaptal, to examine the different methods of procedure in different districts, with reference to the general principles of chemical science—to ascertain what was due to the influence of climate, seasons, soil, exposure, and culture on the plant—to explain the nature of each of the substances which is contained in the juice of the grape, and the influence exercised by it on fermentation, and its result; and thence, to deduce general principles, by the application of which, to the circumstances in which he found himself placed, each cultivator wrought from rules for his guidance.
It was the compiler's wish to present, as shortly as possible, in the following pages, the information necessary to enable any person to commence, and conduct, the operations of the vineyard and wine cellar, as far as written instructions were capable of doing so. He has, therefore, abstained from following Chaptal into historical details and disquisitions, not immediately related to the subject in hand. He was also anxious to notice the
