i6o Next to the Ground 



Muscadines which are half wild, half tame, 



growing as well in the garden as the woods, 



look more like plums than grapes, though the 



vine proclaims their real nature. They are 



as big as small marbles, and grow in clusters 



of three or five. They turn black in August, 



and ripen in mid-September. As soon as they 



are ripe they drop, often bursting if they drop 



from a good height. They are full of sweet 



juice and pale-greenish pulp. The skin is 



thick, leathery even, black outside with a 



heavy blue bloom, and deep wine-red inside. 



It is full of burning foxy flavor that quite 



spoils the fruit for the human palate. But 



muscadine wine, properly made, is nearly as 



good as champagne — clear, sparkling, of a 



delicious pale pink, and a rich fruity bouquet. 



Proper making is tedious work — the pulp 



' must be deftly popped out, and the skins 



' thrown away. Pigs and possums do not in 



\ the least object to the skins, though some- 



i times when they are eyelid-deep in musca- 



lines, they raise their heads, open their mouths, 



ind make a little blowing noise, as though 



uying to cool a burning tongue. 



Vs Winter grapes, otherwise coon grapes, are 



Tldible even to Brer Coon until after frost 



\.\ fallen upon them. The vines are ram- 



i, the fruit very plenty, though both the 



ters and the berries are much smaller than 



