64? VINES. 
purposes of supporting them, of preventing them from 
growing entangled with each other, admitting a free 
circulation of air amongst them, and affording greater 
convenience for gathering the fruit. 
The vintage, which is a season of mirth and delight 
to the whole country, commences in the early part of 
autumn. The villagers assemble in the respective vine- 
yards under the direction of overseers. The reaping 
of the grapes is, in general, performed in three distinct 
fatherings. The first of these comprehends all the 
nest and ripest bunches, carefully clearing away from 
them every grape that appears green or decayed : the 
second is confined to the large and thick clusters which 
are not so ripe as the others ; and those which are nearly 
green, withered, or decayed, are gathered last. 
To obtain the juice from the grapes, they are sub- 
jected to the operation of large presses of somewhat 
similar construction to the cyder presses of our own 
country (the separate gatherings being still kept apart), 
and the juice is received into vessels fixed for that pur- 
pose. Afterwards it undergoes the necessary fermen- 
tation to convert it into wine. By the ancients the 
juice was obtained by treading the grapes. This prac- 
tice is alluded to in various parts of Scripture, but 
perhaps in none are the characteristics of the ancient 
vintage expressed more strongly than in the predictions 
of Isaiah concerning Moab: "And gladness is taken 
away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the 
vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there 
be any shouting: the treaders shall tread out no 
wine in their presses ; I have made their vintage- 
shouting to cease/' The treading of grapes is still 
practised in several parts of the world. The ancients 
frequently kept their wine in skins, or leathern bags, 
well secured at the seams ; hence the passage in the 
gospels ; "neither do men put new wine into old bottles; 
" else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and 
" the bottles perish : but they put new wine into new 
"bottles, and both are preserved," 
