GATHERING THE GEAPES. 85 



6. EverytHng, except tlie good, sound, ripe berries, 

 should be carefully picked out, and particularly those 

 dried up kernels — so frequent in this country — ^the 

 result of the blue rot. 



7. Leaves, which casually drop among the gathered 

 grapes should be thrown out. 



It is easy to see from the preceding rules, that ga- 

 thering grapes requires care and attention. I think 

 buckets and tight barrels are better for the purpose of 

 holding the gathered grapes, than baskets. The skins 

 of American Grapes are, to be sure, tougher than the 

 European, though this is fortunately getting less so 

 every year, but very ripe grapes suffer much loss, even 

 here, if handled in baskets. 



I would here warn against that voracious eating of 

 grapes, while gathering them, which is characteristic 

 of raw hands. Our grapes have very large kernels 

 and very tough skins, and there is inside also a rather 

 indigestible pulp. All these things are different in 

 Europe. There the kernels are small, the skin very- 

 light, and the inside is almost without pulp. Persons 

 in this country read of the Grape Cure in Europe, and 

 from this conclude, that grapes are always healthy. 

 So they no doubt are, if eaten in small quantities, and 

 when perfectly ripe ; but I know of five deaths, within 

 my own experience, which from unmistakable signs 

 arose from eating too finely of grapes. One of these 



