ON VINEYARDS, 



brought home to the wine-barn, in small quan- 

 tities, to prevent their heating, or pressing one 

 another ; then they were all picked off the stalks, 

 and all the mouldy, or green ones were dis- 

 carded before they were put upon the press ; 

 where they were all pressed in a few hours after 

 they were gathered : much would run from them, 

 before the press squeezed them, from their own 

 weight one upon another. This running was as 

 clear as water, and sweet as syrup ; and all this 

 of the first pressing, and part of the second con- 

 tinued white ; the other pressings grew reddish, 

 and were not mixed with the best. As fast as 

 the wine ran from the press into a large receiver, 

 it was put into the hogsheads, and closely bunged 

 up. In a few hours one would hear the fer- 

 mentation begin, which would soon burst the 

 casks, if not guarded against, by hooping them 

 strongly with iron, and securing them in strong 

 wooden frames, and the heads with wedges. In 

 the height of fermentation, I have frequently 

 seen the wine oozing through the pores of the 

 staves. 



" * These hogsheads were left all the depth of 

 winter in the cool barn, to reap the benefit of 

 the frosts, when the fermentation was over, 

 which was easily discovered by the cessation of 

 noise and oozing ; but to be more certain, by 

 pegging the cask, when it would be quite clear ; 

 then it was racked off into clean hogsheads, and 

 carried to the vaults, before any warmth of 



