SPIRITS, continued:

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to be rolled over, and made up for re-gauging and re-trying.-
G. O., No. 106, 1844.

Of wines and spirits at the outports to be the same in quantity as in
London, which is limited to 3 gills, notwithstanding the bottles
used for sampling may be of greater content.-G. O., No. 16, 1847.
The samples required from each package of spirits removed coast-
wise are to be taken immediately before removal, and retained for
a period of three months.-G. O., 1st May, 1832.
When spirits are to be cleared for home use, two samples free
of duty are allowed, viz., one at the time of importation, and a
second for the purpose of sale, and a further sample is allowed
if entered for exportation. The samples so drawn are not to be
returned into the casks.-G. O., 13th Feb., 1836.

In the event of two samples having been drawn from spirits
removed under bond, another may be allowed at the port of des-
tination, and a further sample, should the goods be thence ex-
ported, such samples to be duty free.-G. O., 10th Nov., 1841.
Of spirits or wine, bottled at one time for exportation, to the
extent of one or two bottles from each parcel, may be taken by
the merchant, on payment of duty thereon.-B. M., 2nd May, 1856.
Are not to be put up for sale in less than the legal quantities,
except when at the end of twelve months the samples taken shall
not amount thereto.-G. O., No. 25, 1853.
Seized and condemned at an outport shall be offered for sale at a
price equivalent to the duty, and not realizing that amount, to be
offered for exportation; and should no bidding be then obtained,
the Board's directions must be taken, the officers reporting
whether a sale might be effected at any other and what port, with
the probable expenses incident to the removal of the goods.—B. M.,
21st Nov., 1845.

Vatted, or Racked.-Each vatting account is to be entered with
a regular rotation number in the general numerical list of ships.
-G. O., No. 41, 1850. And an average allowance of 1 per cent.
upon the proof quantity of all spirits started into vat or drawn
off into small casks is to be made.-G. O. No. 59, 1862.
Regulations for Bottling Spirits in Bond.
1stly,
A separate
bonded vault is to be appropriated for that purpose. 2ndly, The
spirits are to be drawn off into reputed quart or pint bottles, and
packed in cases of not less than one dozen such quart, or two
dozen such pint bottles each. 3rdly, No foreign bottles, casks,
or packages, except any in which goods shall have been imported
and warehoused, are to be used, unless the duties have been paid
thereon. 4thly, If any surplus quantity or sediment remain in
the cask, the duties are to be immediately paid, or the goods
destroyed in the presence of the officers. 5thly, The bottling is to
take place under the superintendence of the inspector of gaugers.
-G. O., 7th September, 1832, and 4th March, 1834.

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Perfumed.-May be drawn off in bond for exportation into bottles containing not less than one gill each.-G. O., No. 13, 1854.*

*This has been since modified to 24 tenths of a gill.

SPIRITS, continued:

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"Wine may be bottled in the warehouse in half-pint bottles for exportation only, by application to the Board in each case.-B.O., 14th January, 1845, No. 357.

Wines.-The following fractions only are to be made use of in the accounts, viz. :—

"Sixths. Upon reputed quart bottles of wine on importation.
"Twelfths. Upon reputed pint bottles of wine on importation.
"Tenths. Upon all spirits in casks, and upon perfumed spirits

in bottle.

"Thirty-seconds.-Upon wines and spirits actually measured to the 128th part of a gallon.-G. O., No. 63, 1857; and 84, 1860. WINE.-The Board have approved of the following ports for the importation of Wine in Casks, viz.:

The operation of testing wine being, until further orders, con

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In order to guard against any misunderstanding with reference to the General Order, No. 115, 1860, by which the importation of wine in wood is restricted to certain ports, the Board think it right to apprise the officers in London and at the outports that such restriction is not intended to interfere with the removal of wine under bond to ports approved for the warehousing thereof, although the direct importation of wine into those ports may not be sanctioned.-G. O., No. 1, 1861.

As respects wine imported as merchandise, the Board are further of opinion that in any instance in which despatch in the delivery. is urgently required, and the wine cannot be immediately tested, the merchants may be at liberty to clear the wine upon payment of the highest rate of duty, the amount overpaid, if any, being returned to the merchant when the wine shall have been tested and the actual strength ascertained, the officers observing in every case to draw duplicate samples from each cask, keeping one in reserve, in order that should any question arise as to the correct ness of the test, a further testing may take place, but if no question arise on the testing, the reserved sample is to be delivered to the merchant.-G. O., No. 118, 1860.

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In bottles imported on and after January, 1861, is not allowed to be started into casks for the mere purpose of obtaining admission at a lower rate of duty, the indulgence is confined to cases in which, from the condition of the article, the operation is necessary, and can only be granted upon special application to the Board, in each instance setting forth fullyall the circumstances.-G.O.,No.36,1861. "Testing and Sampling Regulations.-1stly. That the merchant in every entry, whether for duty or warehousing, describe the wine according to the strength, viz., as containing less than 26 degrees of proof spirit, or containing more or less than 42 per cent., as the case may be.

2ndly. That in lieu of the present practice of drawing a sample for
testing from one cask in eight, one cask only of each mark be
selected, and that a sample thereof be forwarded, together with
the merchant's description as above, to the laboratory or port
approved for testing, unless the wines shall appear to be of differ-
ent strengths and qualities; in which case the inspector of gau-
gers in London, or the surveyor at the outports, will cause as
many samples as he may deem necessary to be drawn and for-
warded for further testing; or unless the wines shall appear to
be of a strength of 40 per cent. or upwards, in which case each
cask is to be sampled and tested.

44 3rdly. That in London, the inspector and the gauger, and at the
outports, the surveyor and the officer who gauges the wines, be
held responsible for the selection of proper samples, both as regards
quality and number; and that to insure the safety of the Revenue
in this respect, the officer gauging do first carefully examine the
quality, observing to call the attention of his inspector or sur-
veyor to any case of doubt or diversity; and that the inspector
or surveyor do in all cases, by re-examination of a sufficient num-
ber, check the operations and judgment of that officer.

66 4thly. That the samples be forwarded for testing under the regulations at present in force.

5thly. That with regard to wines which may be entered at the
higher rate of duty of 2s. 6d. per gallon, as containing less than
42 degrees of proof spirit, if the officers stationed in the labora-
tory are satisfied from the taste and general character of the sam-
ples of such wines forwarded to them for testing, that the wine is
clearly within the limit of the class under which the wine is
entered, say containing less than 40 per cent. of proof spirit, the
operation of actual testing need not to be resorted to, but the
quality may be at once written off as under 42 per cent. All
wines, however, entered as containing less than 26 degrees of
proof spirit, and all wines supposed to contain 40 per cent. of
spirit and upwards, to be subjected to the actual operation of
testing.-G. O., No. 33, 1862.

Importers of wine are to be allowed the option of describing the
strength in their entries as "Unknown," it being distinctly under-
stood that when wine is so described, or when the strength is
given as being under 26 degrees, one cask in every mark or brand
will be sampled and tested, and where the number of casks may

WINE, continued:

exceed eight, one in eight, or more, will be sampled at the discretion of the officer. In cases, however, where the merchant may elect to describe his wine as above 26 and under 42 degrees, in accordance with the requirements of the G. O., No. 33, 1862, the same will be sampled and tested as directed by the regulations therein prescribed.--G. O., No. 44, 1862. "Fortifying.-No more than 10 per cent. of proof spirit shall be used in the fortifying of any wine in bond, nor shall any wine be fortified in bond to a greater degree of strength than 40 per cent. of such proof spirit.--25 Vict., cap. 22.

Fortifying. On a request being made to the controller of accounts
in London, or to the collector at an outport, 10 per cent. of proof
spirit may be added to wine in bond; but in the request it is to be
stated "to be fortified under the regulations of the G. O., No. 21,
1858, limiting the strength of wine for home consumption to 40
per cent. of proof spirit ;" and should the wine after being fortified
appear to the officers to contain above 40 per cent. of proof spirit,
they are to cause the same to be tested, and if it should exceed that
strength, it is not to be delivered at the wine duty. If any proof
spirit beyond 10 per cent. be required for fortifying wine in bond,
it can be only allowed upon application by the merchant to the
Board, stating the circumstances which require the additional
spirit to be used; and the officers are in such cases to ascertain the
strength of the wine, and to report the same, with their observa-
tions;
and if the application be granted, and the wine when fortified
be found to have been raised above 40 per cent., it is not to be
delivered at the wine duty.-G. O., No. 21, 1858.

in cases may not be warehoused in the same room with spirits and
cordials.-B. O., 9th May, 1844.

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may be removed to another port on a partial examination. -B. O., 10th February, 1854. Mixing Wines-When parties desire to mix wines in bond, application to the Board is unnecessary, provided the case fall within the permission of the law, viz, "to mix any wines of the same sort, erasing from the casks all import brands;" notice is, however, to be previously given to the controller of warehousing accounts, and special application will still be required for any indulgence in respect of mixing or blendiug wines in bond not provided for by the law. Each vatting account for wine must be entered with a regular rotation number in the general numerical list of ships, and the lees may be destroyed without payment of duty.-B. M., 27th March, 1852, and G. O., No. 41, 1850.

Vatted Wines of the same sort and brand may be drawn off from the vat to the original casks and brand, on a written request, addressed to the Controller of Accounts, without the special permission of the Board.-B. M., 17th May, 1856.

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Merchant's name may be branded on casks of mixed wine.— Whenever the Board's sanction has been obtained for mixing in bond, wines of different sorts or countries for exportation only, all the casks containing the same should be indeliably marked with the word "mixed," whereupon the merchant's name may be branded on such casks. The same course to be adopted in respect

WINE, continued:

to spirits of different sorts when mixed in bond under G. O., 7th June, 1838; B. M., 5th Dec., 1838; and G. O., 11th June, 1839. It will be the duty of the gauger to take care to note in his book that the casks have been properly marked.-G. O., No. 59, 1856. Unsound may be admitted as vinegar, under the following conditions, viz.; that the wine be satisfactorily ascertained to be unsound; that in all cases crude vinegar to the extent of not less than 20 per cent. be mixed with the wine in the presence of the officers, and that they be empowered to increase the quantity if deemed necessary.*-B. M., Feb. 3, 1855. Two per cent of acetic acid in lieu of vinegar has been allowed to be used, on application to the Board.

may be fined in bond, with sweet finings, provided the quantity added do not exceed 1 per cent.-G. O., No. 91, 1857. This order was not intended to put any restriction upon common finings. -B. M., 30th Nov., 1857.

in bottles, duty to be charged on the actual number of full bottles, including that which is open for tasting.-B. O., 22d Nov., 1826. Bottling in bond for exportation is allowed in imperial quarts or pints; or in half-pints on application to the Board, under condition that the contents of the cases into which they are packed are not less than one dozen reputed quarts.—B. M., 29th Nov., 1859, and B. M., 19th June, 1846.

Wine may be drawn off into stone bottles of 4 or 5 gallons for exportation upon special application to the Board in each instance. -B. O., No. 357, 14th Jan. 1845.

Unless the officers have reason to suspect that they contain spirits, cordials, or other articles chargeable with a different rate of duty, bottles entered as containing wine are not to be opened. -G. O. 26th March, 1836.

*

for bottling, removed to the bottling vaults, from which a portion may have been bottled or exported, may be racked from the lees for home consumption, upon condition that the merchant pay the duty upon the quantity ascertained immediately after the operation.-G. O., No. 86, 1856.

Entered for Exportation shall not be examined unless in the presence of the merchant, his agent, or an officer of the dock company. In the case of bottled wine intended to be shipped in the same docks in which it has been bottled, the searchers are to make the examination at the time of packing, providing the exporter request it; and when bottled wine is to be removed to another station for shipment, the gauger may certify the quantity on the bill, the packages being removed to the place of shipment in charge of licensed carmen, and, unless suspicion of fraud be entertained, no re-examination shall be required beyond one or two packages out of each shipment.-B. M. 19th Dec, 1849. Mixed for Exportation-may be coloured and sweetened in bond, and marked "mixed and sweetened wines."-B. M., 15th July, 1856.

* Wine in bottles, having become foul, may be disgorged, or started into casks, fined and re-bottled, on special application to the Board of Customs.