SPAIN: WINE, RAISINS, AND OLIVES. 135 



press into a large vat-like hole, made out of bricks and plastered 

 with Eoraan cement. It is dipped out from here with buckets 

 like water from a well, the juice being almost as thick as tar. 

 Then it is taken to large vats or barrels. In large establishments 

 the barrels or vats are made of oak, but in smaller establish- 

 ments there are large earthen jars holding from ten to two hund- 

 red and fifty gallons. 



When the juice is poured into these jars or tanks, to each ten 

 gallons of juice one gallon of aguardiente or brandy is put. It is 

 then left to ferment slowly, no more care being taken of it for six 

 months, when it is drawn into a new barrel. As is well known, 

 the Malaga wine requires six to eight years to make it good and 

 marketable. It is very heavy, and extremely sweet. Not much 

 is used by Americans; England and Kussia consume the most 

 of it. 



The residue — skins, stems, seeds, etc, — after being thoroughly 

 pressed, is put into a large cemented vat ; a large quantity of wa- 

 ter is thrown on, washing it thoroughly. This artificial juice is 

 let run down into a well made of bricks and cement, where it is 

 left to form itself into vinegar, and, when ready, it is drawn off 

 and sent to market. 



Besides the above-described drying-plots of forty-five degrees, 

 there are here also twenty to thirty drying-plots which are almost 

 level. The floor is similar to the ones described. The width is, 

 however, twenty-five feet, and, instead of being covered in the 

 night or rainy days with boards, a canvas is used, so arranged 

 that it can be brought on or off the ground by drawing a cover 

 across a pole. This seems to be the better method, as much labor 

 is required to lift the boards, which must be done by two men, 

 and piece by piece. 



There are two drying-places in the vineyard and two packing- 

 houses, to one of which is attached the wine-house and press. 

 There are no cellars, the wine being kept in a large room in a 

 stone house. 



In the same place are raised and dried fifteen to twenty thou- 

 sand pounds of figs, which are dried in the same manner and 

 upon plots as the grapes ; only instead of being lightly pressed 

 into the bags and boxes, they are solidly pressed ; for the more 

 they are pressed, the more saccharine they become. Figs require 

 ten to fifteen days in curing. The pressure must be just heavy 

 enough to flatten the figs without smashing them. The fig-trees 



