252 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF VITICULTURE 



After the grapes are crushed and fermentation has taken place, the 

 pomace is removed from the tanks by various means, and delivered to the 

 presses. I cannot pass this important branch of the industry without men- 

 tioning some of these improvements. 



After the old log press, already mentioned, came various kinds and styles 

 of screw presses. The one most generally used and giving universal satis- 

 faction is the one which has a central screw secured at the bottom projecting 

 through the bed on which the cage, carrying the pomace, rests. This cage is 

 filled with pomace, blocking is placed over the pomace and the nut screwed 

 down, the bed of the press carrying all of the strains, the pomace being on 

 top of this bed. When the nut is screwed down it presses the pomace in a 

 satisfactory manner. 



The hydraulic presses, of which there are several kinds, are also freely 

 used in the wineries. They are provided with two movable cars and baskets, 

 one of which is being filled while the other one is being pressed. These cars 

 are usually arranged so that they can be rolled in between fermenting tanks 

 and the pomace filled directly into them. After being filled they are rolled 

 to the press for pressing. 



The hydraulic press is the favorite with all of the wine makers where 

 a dry wine is desired, but in the districts where grapes are cheap, the con- 

 tinuous presses are most commonly used. This type of press will extract 5 

 per cent to 10 per cent more juice from the grapes than the hydraulic press. 

 This figure is given as a result of numerous tests taken at different wineries 

 covering several years of time where both these types of machines have 

 been in operation. 



The juice from the continuous press is not so clear as that delivered by 

 the hydraulic press. This is due to the friction of the screw on the pomace 

 grinding some of the skins while pressing out the juice. There have been 

 many different styles of continuous wine presses, each one having something 

 that appealed to the man who made it, but up to the present moment none 

 of them have entirely overcome the grinding up of the skins and the subse- 

 quently cloudy pressed wine. 



The continuous press has one fault but many virtues, and with it the 

 pressing of a season's pomace has lost its terrors to the wine maker. It was 

 the continuous press that first caused the conveying systems to be installed 

 to carry the fermented pomace from the tanks to the press. 



The first system of conveyors used was built with chain and cleats in 

 much the same manner as the grape elevators. These were placed in the 

 runway between two rows of fermenting tanks and the pomace shoveled out 

 of the tanks into these conveyors which discharged into the press. But as 

 the diameter and height of the fermenting tanks increased, the tanks became 

 too high to shovel over the top, so conveyors were placed under the tanks, 

 and a hole cut through the bottom and the pomace delivered through this 

 hole into the conveyors. Here another trouble was met, all the wine did not 

 flow out as it was supposed to do when the hose was attached, but a large 

 quantity remained in the pomace and as soon as the plug in the bottom was 

 drawn out the rush of wine and pomace could not be stayed and it was soon 

 found necessary to abandon the conveying system below the bottom of the 

 tanks. 



