354 A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY. 



are annually trimmed quite close, in the latter part of August. No especial disease has become 

 common, though there are years when a large portion of the young fruit on each stalk shrivels 

 and falls; and other seasons when the grapes are not only small, hut are also acid and watery. 

 This was the case in 1851. Generally his vines yield well, each plant affording two thirds of 

 a gallon of juice. In the province of Aconcagua, vines in thrifty condition produce one and a 

 third gallons on an average, whilst in Maule they scarcely afford one third of a gallon. Acon- 

 cagua is famed throughout the land for its aguardiente. In process of time they can no 

 longer properly be called vines; for they become rough, gnarled masses, only five feet high, yet 

 exceeding half a foot in diameter, and at most have but two wreathing chaplets about the 

 crown. 



As the fruit begins to ripen towards the latter part of March, there are two classes of depre- 

 dators to be watched and driven off birds by day, and dogs by night. Aye, dogs! and they 

 destroy more grapes than their feathered fellow-pilferers. Day and night, from the moment the 

 fruit is edible, the vineyards are perambulated by "pajareros" and "vinateros;" one body by 

 sunlight the other after dusk. Both of them are charged to prevent depredations. That they 

 may travel with rapidity across the vineyards, a portion of the pajareros are mounted ; while 

 others on foot, to compensate for leisurely motion, repeat shrill cries at intervals. Dogs only 

 attempt thefts at night. Against them the vinateros are armed with lassos to capture, and 

 stones attached to thongs of hide, with which they can produce a noise as loud as the report of a 

 pistol. They also constantly iterate shouts and screams, so unlike the pajareros that a 

 foreigner, if not instructed by the patron, might think some dreadful assault going on quite 

 close at hand. 



According to the propitiousness of the season, the vintage begins, in the province of Santiago, 

 between the 1st and 15th of April. Three weeks will be occupied in expressing 40,000 gallons 

 of grape-juice, working from sunrise until 9 or 10 o'clock every night. During this time the 

 peons are allowed grapes a discretion, and almost invariably gain flesh under the fruit diet. 



11 El lagarejo " or the tank in which the grapes are thrown to be trodden, occupies one end 

 of the "bodega," a large building filled with earthen jars called " tinojas," each of which will 

 hold from 200 to 240 gallons. "El lagarejo" is built of brick and cement, is twenty-five to 

 fifty feet square, two feet above the level of the floor, and some twenty-five to thirty inches deep. 

 Between it and the body of the bodega is ic el lagar " a smaller though similarly constructed 

 vat, nearly on a level with the floor. This, in turn, communicates with a tinaja, usually, 

 sunk below the surface. An aperture between "el lagarejo" and "el lagar," for the passage 

 of the must from one to the other, is guarded by wire gauze, filtration also taking place before 

 reaching the tinaja, from which the jars occupying the body of the edifice are filled by porta- 

 ble tubs, or the liquor is at once conveyed to the kettles to be boiled. 



A coarse sieve made with strips of raw hide netted across the bottom of a deep frame, and 

 large enough for three men to work at, is placed within the lagarejo, and near an open window, 

 through which the fruit is tumbled as the carts bring it from the vineyards. As the whole force 

 of the estate is employed in cutting from the vines, attending the carts, or in the bodega, 

 those engaged at the sieve in rasping fruit from the stems are kept busily employed. No selec- 

 tion is made of unripe or decayed berries for inferior uses, but all fare alike, and the stems, 

 gathered in bunches, after being rinsed in a tinaja of water by another person, and suffered 

 to drain for a few moments, are thrown aside as of no further use. By night a sufficient quan- 

 tity of grapes will have been gathered to fill the lagarejo from twelve to eighteen inches deep 

 on a level ; the sieve is removed, and the bodega lighted in preparation for the expression of the 

 juice. But its mud walls are so blackened, and its roof is so covered with dust and webs, that 

 the feeble rays of candles scarcely penetrate the gloom, and serve rather to increase than to 

 diminish the wildness of the ensuing scene. In a little while those who have been engaged in 

 the vineyards all day make their appearance at the doorway prepared for the tramp. Their 

 feet have been washed in the running brook close by, and themselves stripped of all clothing 



