PRESERVING THE FRUIT.
For this purpose, the fruit must be thoroughly ripe. When fully ripe, the stem will turn brown, and shrivel somewhat. The fruit is then carefully gathered, and laid upon a dry floor, or shelves, for a day or two, so that some of the moisture will evaporate. They can then be packed in boxes, in about the same manner as described before, but paper will be better than leaves for this purpose. They are then put away on shelves, in an airy room, which must, however, be free from frost, in an even temperature of from 30° to 40°. They should be examined from time to time, and the decayed berries taken out. They may thus be kept for several months.
GATHERING THE FRUIT TO MAKE WINE.
For this purpose, the grapes should hang as long as it is safe to allow them; for it will make a very material difference in the quality of the wine, as the water will evaporate, and only the sugar remain; and the flavor or the bouquet will only be fully developed in fully ripened fruit. For gathering, use clean tin or wooden pails; cut the stems as short as possible, and clip or pinch out all unripe or rotten berries, leaving none but fully ripe berries on the bunch. The further process will be described under "wine making."
VARIETIES OF GRAPES.
I would here, again remark, that I consider the question of "what to plant" as chiefly a local one, for which I do not presume to lay down fixed rules; but which every one must, to a certain extent, determine for himself, by visiting vineyards as nearly similar in soil and location to the one he intends to plant, and then closely observing the habits of the varieties after planting. Only thus can we obtain certain results; not by following blindly in the footsteps of so-called authorities, who may live a hundred, or a thousand miles from us, and whose success with certain varieties, on soil entirely different from ours, under different atmospheric influences, can by no means be taken by us as evidence of our success under other circumstances.
Class 1.—Varieties most generally used.