AND WINE MAKING. 



203 



gatliering are clean wooden or tin pails, and sharp knives, 

 or better still, the small shears spoken of in a former 

 part of this work. Each gatherer i^ provided with a pail, 

 or two may go together, having a pail each, so that one 

 can empty and the other keep filling. If there are a good 

 many unripe berries on the bunches, these may be put 

 into a separate pail, and also all that are soft, as they 

 will make an inferior wine. The bunch is cut with as 

 short a stem as possible, as the 

 stems contain a great deal of 

 acid and tannin ; every unripe, 

 dry, or decayed berry is to be 

 l^icked out, so that none but per- 

 fectly sound, ripe berries remain. 

 We also need a carrying vat, 

 to carry the grapes to the mill 

 or wagon, if the vineyard is any 

 distance from the cellar. This 

 is made of half-inch j^ine lum- 

 ber 3 feet high, 10 inches wide 

 at bottom, 20 inches at top, 

 being flat on one side, where it 

 comes against the back ; it is 

 bound with thin iron hoops. It 

 is carried by two leather straps 

 running over the shoulders, as shown in figure 31, and 

 will contain about 8 or 10 pails, or 2 to %^ / ^ bushels 

 of grapes. The carrier can easily take it through the 

 rows and lean it against a post until filled, and then carry 

 the grapes directly to the press room, if close by, if too 

 far, place tubs or vats on the wagon, into which the 

 grapes may be emptied. The utmost cleanliness should 

 be observed in all the apparatus, and no tub, vat, or pail 

 should be used which is in the least mouldy, as the must 

 will at once acquire any foreign taste. Everything should 

 be perfectly clean and sweet, and a strict supervision 



Fig. 31.— CARRYING VAT. 



