Wine Grapes Cu rra nts. 113 



juice is pressed out and left to ferment, thus 

 producing wine. 



64. Vineyards cover about 700,000 acres of land in 

 France, and the value of the wine produced there some- 

 times exceeds that of the whole cotton crop of the United 

 States, which is about $200,000,000 annually. 



65. Considerable wine is manufactured in the States of 

 California, Ohio, New York, and Missouri. 



66. Wine is made also from currants and berries. 



67. New vines are raised from cuttings of the previous 

 year's wood. 



68. Brandy is made from wine by distilling it, which is 

 done by evaporation and condensation. (See page 18.) 



69. Grapes contain considerable sugar (about a fourth 

 is sugar), which, when fermented, produces alcohol. 



70. From Spain we get our raisins, which 

 are grapes dried and prepared ; and you will be 

 surprised to hear that the currants which you 

 have eaten in cakes and puddings are not the 

 fruit of what we call currant bushes, but really 

 a very small kind of grape which grows in 

 Greece, and is prepared there for shipment to 

 the United States and other countries. 



71. Besides grapes, the countries of Southern 

 Europe raise grain and vegetables in abun- 

 dance ; even between the rows of vines you may 

 see wheat, or corn, or beet, or other plants 

 growing. There are also great orchards or 

 groves of mulberry trees, which feed the silk- 



