REPORT OP COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION 251 



when the chute was blocked and the must running all over the floor, and 

 the teamster showing the fellow behind how quickly he could get rid of 

 his load. 



It was in 1896 that must pumps for handling pomace were first used and 

 this was the first radical change in wine making machinery. The crushers 

 and stemmers before this time had undergone many degrees of improvement 

 and had reached a state whereby a machine could be utilized for removing 

 the stems from the berries, and so perfectly was this work done, at that time, 

 that no difference could be detected between berries removed one at a time 

 by hand from a bunch of grapes, and those removed by the machine. It was 

 the first must pump, however, that created a new era for the winemaker. 



The first must pumps used were of the plunger type with a long stroke. 

 The piston was raised past openings in the cylinder, a hopper large enough 

 to hold a quantity of must to cover these openings was fitted around this 

 cylinder, the hopper was placed below the crusher discharge and the must 

 allowed to run into the hopper and through the openings into the cylinder. 

 The plunger then descended on to the must and forced it into the pipe line, 

 which conveyed it to any part of the fermenting cellar. 



After this method came in vogue, wineries ceased to be built against 

 a hill and were placed out in the open and could be extended indefinitely as 

 the business grew. The pipes being closed, there was no danger of vinegar 

 flies gathering on the chutes, and many other dangers of the spoiling of wine 

 were removed. About this time the centrifugal pump was tried in many 

 places, but never proved successful as a must pump. Under some conditions 

 it would work, but as soon as the grapes started any fermentation the gas 

 would collect in the runner and the pump would stop operating. The rotary 

 pump was tried later, but it did not have durability, the tartar would wear 

 away the cylinders and their life was too short for economy. 



A cross between a centrifugal and a rotary proved fairly successful and 

 can be found in use at the present time, but they are objectionable as 

 their efficiency is only 31 per cent of the power applied. This class of 

 machine was rapidly replaced by the all-closed-in type of a plunger pump 

 which sucks the must from underneath the crusher and delivers it into the 

 fermenting tanks without being further exposed to the atmosphere. 



The must pump, therefore, abolished at one stroke the long, costly and 

 unsatisfactory elevators, the expensive and dirty chute system, and did away 

 with the high towers in the buildings, allowing a clean, sweet, light build- 

 ing to be used for fermentation purposes. The pump would handle the grapes 

 at one-quarter of the cost that they could be handled with the elevator and 

 the chute system, in addition to which one man could watch the place where 

 the grapes were discharged in the tanks and also where they were were 

 being delivered to the crusher by the team. 



It is by the aid of the must pump that our large plants are now able with 

 one large unit to crush as much as 25,000 tons of grapes during one season. 



The must pumps are not alone in their advancement, for the same 

 amount of improvement will be found in all the different branches of the 

 viticultural industry. 



