439 
The following method of handling the crushed grapes ready 
for fermentation into wine I have seen attended with the best 
results and commend to the attention of wine-growers:— 
The grape pulp is 
conveyed in the ordi- 
nary way provided in 
each individual cellar, 
from the grape mill 
to the fermenting vat, 
which can well be an 
open one and should 
not be too deep, but 
rather shallow, and in 
this hot climate, not 
too  capacious,  viz., 
Ul cl preferably from 500 to 
-CmTTTTTTTTT|— 7° gallons. 
Grape Vat. During this opera- 
tion of filling up, a 
straight tap about one inch diameter, driven in the plug-hole at the 
base of the vat, is left open so that as fast as the liquid must and 
pulp fall from the grape crusher the liquid portion drains into tubs 
provided under the tap. Reference to the above illustration will 
show a simple and an effective method of allowing the liquid to 
drain through the solid pulp. It consists of an inverted gutter with 
a V-shape section, made of two lengths of six-inch boards, a little 
shorter than the diameter of the base of the vat. This gutter, with 
the edge uppermost, is made fast by driving a wedge between the 
end further from the tap and the side of the vat; it is notched 
at the bottom so as to let the liquid run freely. 
When the vat is about half filled with freshly-crushed grapes, a 
light and movable false head or grating is made secure above them. 
The liquid must collected in the tubs is then restored to the vat, 
and allowed to rise some six to nine inches above the perforated 
false head. 
Being left to itself, the fresh must undergoes in a short time a 
remarkable change. Originally clear, it soon shows signs of cloud- 
ing up; small gas bubbles begin to form and ascend, ard finally 
cause a decided foaming. The grape must ferments. 
This stage can with advantage be quickened by adding a 
“starter” to the crushed grape, prior to covering it up with the 
false head. This consists in a few buckets of foaming and ferment- 
ing must from an adjoining vat. Under. the combined influence of 
the congenial temperature of the fermenting house and of this 
freshly-crushed, well-aerated mass, the newly added ferments soon 
take hold of the contents of the vat, and within a few hours fer- 
mentation is in full swing. 
