19& On the Cultivation of the Vine , 8£c» 
for the white grapes at Sainte- Croix, five or six ; at Lan- 
goiran from two to three ; and two in all the Graves, 
In some countries a vintage composed of grapes per- 
fectly ripe is dreaded. The cultivators apprehend that 
the wine will be too sweet, and they remedy this incon- 
venience by a mixture of large grapes less ripe. In ge- 
neral, the wine is not brisk and pungent, but when 
grapes are employed which have not acquired perfect 
maturity. This is what is practised in Champagne and 
other places. 
In some countries where the grapes never come to ab- 
solute maturity, and consequently cannot develops that 
portion of saccharine principle necessary for the forma- 
tion of alcohol, the cultivators proceed to the vintage be- 
fore the appearance of the hoar-frosts ; because the 
grapes still possess a sharp principle, which gives a pe- 
culiar quality to the wine. It is observed in all those 
places, that a degree more towards maturity produces 
wines of very inferior quality. 
7. When the grapes are cut they ought to be put into 
baskets ; taking care not to employ any of too large a 
size, lest the juice should be lost by the superincumbent 
weight. As it is very difficult, however, to transport the 
grapes from the vineyard to the vat without altering them 
by pressure, and consequently without expressing more 
or less of the juice, baskets ought not to be employed 
but to receive the grapes as they are cut ; and when full 
they ought to be emptied into boxes or scuttles, that they 
may be more conveniently conveyed to the vat. They 
ought to be carried in carts, or on the backs of men, or 
of mules : which of these three means are to be employ- 
ed must be determined by local circumstances. Carts are, 
no doubt, less expensive, though attended with this in- 
convenience, that the grapes may be injured by the re- 
