238 GRA.PE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



make tlic best possible wines out of grapes fully ripe, after throw- 

 ing out the unripe and damaged ones ; the same as it does on him- 

 self to produce from grapes not seasonable yet a wine of very good 

 quality, by adding such ingredients as are necessary to the fabri- 

 cation, comparing them to those of the ripe fruit. 



The grape-fruit, from its blossoming to maturity, has to go 

 through three distinct terms : 



1. The Formation. 



2. The Growth. 

 8. The Maturing. 



During the last the formation of the sugar stuff takes place, 

 which afterward produces, by the wine-making process and fer- 

 mentation, the alcohol — the spirit that gives the juice its strength 

 and fire. 



In some very favorable years may still be added, 

 4, The Refining. 



This, however, is but seldom attained by all berries of a grape, 

 and never by all the grapes of one and the same bush, except by 

 the application of artificial means. 



The refining period takes j^lace at the expiration of the life of 

 the berries, when the small pedicles which unite them to the main 

 one dry up, and do not allow any farther circulation of the sap. 

 Then begins a partial evaporation of the watery elements, the sug- 

 ar element in the mean time remaining unchanged. The juice, 

 hereby excluding farther sugar formation, gets, by concentration, 

 sweeter — therefore improving. The same result is achieved in 

 France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, where it is even customary, by 

 giving the pedicles or stalks of the grape a full twist at the time 

 of maturing, and allowing the grapes to hang on the bush after 

 this as long as possible. 



Still another point needs remark, tending to show the policy of 

 leaving the grapes hanging — the longer the better. The better 

 to appreciate the importance of it, however, we shall have to look 

 a little closer into the structure of the berries. 



Take, for instance, a healthy berry ; open the inside by a cross- 

 cut, and you will seemingly behold a sort of jelly surrounding the 

 seeds. By a closer look, however, we see distinctly fibres^ which 

 cross each other in different directions. These fibres form the 

 partitions between numerous small cells. In the berries not yet 

 matured, various acids, as acids of apples, wine, grapes, etc. ; bitar- 

 trate of potassa ; some traces of salts, albumen, and water, form 

 the entire contents of these cells. By the maturing process of the 

 fruit, "grape-sugar" is formed from the elements of the fibres 

 and a part of the superabundant acids and water. 



This change first takes place on the surface of the berry, under- 

 neath the skin, and develops itself, on account of the exterior 

 warmth which causes the maturing, only gradually toward the 

 centre. Ilerc we have the reason why the juice of berries not 



