WINE AND SPIRIT TRADE. It will be convenient to treat this subject under two sub-headings.
Wine Trade. The wine trade of England has been governed fur a century and a half almost wholly by n particular treaty with Portugal, called the Methuen Treaty ; chiefly by creating an artificial taste for that particular wine which happened to be most easily procured. During many centuries, almost the only foreign wines consumed in England were French. In 1693, a change began, by favouring Portu gal wines with a lower import duty ; the favour was increased in 1697; and in 1703, Mr. Methuen negotiated a treaty, whereby England engaged to admit port wine at a duty of one-third less than that on French wine ; on condition that Portugal received English manufac tured goods on favourable terms. The English wine-drinkers, in fact, were sacrificed to the English manufacturers ; and the effects have been apparent from that day to this. During the greater part of the last century, England took twenty times as much Portuguese wine as French wine, until the taste for the latter became almost extinguished, except among the wealthy classes. The wine-growers on the Douro and the great merchants at Oporto, finding they had nearly a monopoly, worked it in the usual way to their own profit. Au Oporto Wine Company, established in 1754, purposely diminished the extent of the vineyards, with a view of keeping the price wholly under their own command ; and this policy was successful until quite recent times. Almost every gallon of port wine was sent to England ; other countries either did not like it, or would not pay the price demauded for it. The natural flavour and quality of the wines of the Upper Douro arc almost unknown in England, and probably would not be relished ; they are strongly flavoured for the English market, and require to be kept many years iu the wood and in bottle, before they acquire the qualities familiar to English port drinkers.
In 1819 a reduction was made iu the duty on French wines ; and in 18:31 the duty on all foreign wines was equalised—after 123 years of favouritism to PortugaL The consumption of port did not, however, yield to this change; because the English had become accustomed to the taste of that wine, and had not yet learned to appreciate the light wines of France. So signally was this the case, that in 1842, eleven years after the equalising of the duty, the English consumption of French wines barely amounted to one gallon for every sixty persons : the total con sumption of all wines was about a quarter of a gallon per head, whereas, so far back as the year 1700, it was a gallon a head. It is well known that wholesome wine, of fair quality, can be exported from France at sixpence per bottle ; and it still remains to be seen to what degree England will be able to avail herself of this advantage. It was stated before the Committee on the Wine Duties in 1852, by Mr. Forrester, an extensive wine-grower in Portugal, that no port is brought to Eng land with less brandy in it than three gallons to a pipe of 115 gallons; and that the ratio varies from this minimum up to a maximum of 17 gallons. Unfortunately, too, many other substances besides brandy
are added iu all except the best kinds of port.
From 1697 to 1785, the quantity of foreign wine imported anneally never varied far from 2,000,000 to 3,000,u00 gallons ; from 1786 to 1851 it varied from 4,000,000 to The Portuguese wine (port) maintained an ascendancy over Spanish (sherry) till about 1830 ; since which year the balance has been rather the other way. The difference in the above-named quantities was in the Imports ; the home consumption, from 1830 to 1861), remained remarkably constant, never deviating far from an average of 7,n00,000 gallons. The duty remained steady during that period (about 5s. Gd. per gallon, or Ild. per bottle), and the consumption barely increased as rapidly as the population.
At present, port is gradually giving place to sherry. The entries for home consumption of all kinds of foreign wine, in 1860, were as follow :— Of this total quantity, 3,001,413 gallons belonged to the class of re wines, and 4,356,779 to that of white. The most noticeable feature i that year was the advance in the French wine In 1857,185£ and 1859, the French wine drunk averaged about 600,000 gallon annually : in 1860 it was nearly double. This resulted from only few months' operation of the new tariff, which opened the way for th introduction of French wines at a moderate duty. By the Custom Duties Act, passed August 28th, 1860, foreign wines, during th remainder of that year, were to pay 38. per gallon, and colonial wine 2s. 9d., plus 5 per cent. From and after January 1st, 1861, all wine pay Is. per gallon, if containing less than 18 per cent. proof spirit ; th duty rises to 2s. 11d., according to the alcoholic strength. Ther seems something reasonable in this, making the stronger wines pay th higher duty—provided the mode of testing the quality be not to complex and troublesome. [ALeoeotomerev.] We may here remark that Sykes 'e Hydrometer [HYDROMETER] i declared by the legislature to be the official means of deciding th alcoholic strength of wines and spirits ; but as wine is now to be esti mated by the quantity of spirit it contains, attention will naturally bi paid to the easiest mode of making the estimate. Mr. Phillips, chemis to the Revenue Department, has reported favourably of Crockford'i I'atent Spirit Indicator for wines. This apparatus is based on tin principle that the boiling point of any spirituous liquor depends on the quantity of contained alcohoL It consists of a spirit-lamp and stand a boiler and condenser, and a thermometer with a moveable scab graduated to show the degrees per cent. of pure spirit, and fitting wits an air-tight plug into the boiler. There is a tin vessel to hold water which flows thence through a flexible tube to the inlet of the con denser ; a similar tube is attached to the outlet whence the water rum to waste. The boiler is provided with a condenser, which returns to whatever portion of the alcohol is exhaled, so as to include it in the estimate of the sample.