ar, and have more character than varieties with larger berries.

[Illustration: FIG. 28.
CLARA.--_Berries 1/2 diameter._]

WINE-MAKING.

GATHERING THE GRAPES.

Although I have described the process already, I will here again
reiterate that the grapes should be thoroughly _ripe_. This does not
simply mean that they are well colored. The Concord generally begins to
color here the 5th of August, and we could gather the majority of our
grapes, of that variety, for market, by the 15th or 20th of that month;
but for wine-making we allow them to hang until the 15th or 20th of
September, and sometimes into October. Thus only do we get the full
amount of sugar and delicacy of aroma which that grape is capable of
developing, as the water evaporates, and the sugar remains; it also
loses nearly all the acidity from its pulp; and the latter, which is so
tough and hard immediately after coloring, nearly all dissolves and
becomes tender. The best evidences of a grape being thoroughly ripe
are: 1st. The stem turns brown, and begins to shrivel; 2nd, the berry
begins to shrivel around the stem; 3d, thin and transparent skin; 4th,
the juice becomes very sweet, and sticks to the finger like honey or
molasses, after handling the grapes for some time.

It is often the case that some bunches ripen much later on the vines.
In such a case, the ripest should be gathered first, and those that are
not fully ripe remain on the vines until mature. They will ripen much
quicker if the ripest bunches have been removed first.

The first implements needed for the gathering are clean wooden and tin
pails and sharp knives, or better still, the small shears spoken of in
a former part of this work. Each gatherer is provided with a pail, or
two may go together, having a pail each, so that one can empty and the
other keep filling during the time. If there are a good many unripe
berries on the bunches, they may be put into a separate pail, and all
that are soft will give an inferior wine. The bunch is cut with as
short a stem as possible, as the stem contains a great deal of acid and
astringency; every unripe or decayed berry is picked out, so that
nothing but perfectly sound, ripe berries remain.

[Illustration: FIG. 29.]

The next implement that we need is a wooden tub or vat, to carry the
grapes to the mill; or the wagon, if the vineyard is any distance from
the cellar. This is made of thin boards, half-inch pine lumber
generally; 3 feet hi