CHAP. 74. (31.)—THE VINTAGE, AND THE WORKS OF AUTUMN.
In accordance with the ordinary divisions of the year, we
now come to autumn, a period which extends from the setting
of the Lyre to the autumnal equinox, and from that to the
setting of the Vergiliæ and the beginning of winter. In these
intervals, the more important periods are marked by the rising
of the Horse to the people of Attica, in the evening of the day
before
1 the ides of August; upon which day also the Dolphin
sets in Egypt, and, according to Cæsar, in Italy. On the
eleventh
2 before the calends of September, the star called the
Vintager begins to rise in the morning, according to Cæsar's
reckoning, and to the people of Assyria; it announces the
ripening of the vintage, a sure sign of which is the change of
colour in the grape. On the fifth
3 before the calends of
September, the Arrow sets in Assyria, and the Etesian winds cease
to blow: on the nones
4 of September, the Vintager rises in
Egypt, and in the morning of that day, Arcturus rises to the
people of Attica: on the same morning, too, the Arrow sets.
On the fifth before
5 the ides of September, according to Cæsar,
the She-Goat rises in the evening; and one half of Arcturus
becomes visible on the day before
6 the ides of September, being
portentous
7 of boisterous weather for five days, both by land
and sea.
The theory relative to the effects produced by Arcturus, is
stated in the following terms: if showers prevail, it is said, at
the setting of the Dolphin, they will not cease so long as
Arcturus is visible. The departure of the swallows may be
looked upon as the sign of the rising of Arcturus; for if overtaken
by it, they are sure to perish.
On the sixteenth day before
8 the calends of October, the
Ear of Corn, which Virgo holds, rises to the people of Egypt in
the morning, and by this day the Etesian winds have quite
ceased to blow. According to Cæsar, this constellation rises on
the fourteenth
9 before the calends, and it affords its prognostics
to the Assyrians on the thirteenth. On the eleventh before
10
the calends of October, the point of junction
11 in Pisces
disappears, and upon the eighth
12 is the autumnal equinox. It is
a remarkable fact, and rarely the case, that Philippus, Callip-
pus, Dositheus, Parmeniscus, Conon,
13 Criton, Democritus, and
Eudoxus, all agree that the She-Goat rises in the morning of
the fourth before
14 the calends of October, and on the third
15
the Kids. On the sixth day before
16 the nones of October, the
Crown rises in the morning to the people of Attica, and upon
the morning of the fifth,
17 the Charioteer sets. On the fourth
before
18 the nones of October, the Crown, according to Cæsar's
reckoning, begins to rise, and on the evening of the day after
is the setting of the constellation of the Kids. On the eighth
before
19 the ides of October, according to Cæsar, the bright
star rises that shines in the Crown, and on the evening of the
sixth before
20 the ides the Vergiliæ, rise. Upon the ides
21 of
October, the Crown has wholly risen. On the seventeenth before
22
the calends of November, the Suculæ rise in the evening,
and on the day before the calends, according to Cæsar's reckoning,
Arcturus sets, and the Suculæ
23 rise with the sun. In the
evening of the fourth day before
24 the nones of November,
Arcturus sets. On the fifth before
25 the ides of November,
Orion's Sword begins to set; and on the third
26 before the
ides the Vergiliæ set.
In this interval of time, the rural operations consist in sowing
rape and turnips, upon the days which have been mentioned on
a previous occasion.
27 The people in the country are of opinion,
that it is not a good plan to sow rape after the departure of the
stork; but for my own part, I am of opinion that it should
be sown after the Vulcanalia, and the early kind at the same
time as panic. After the setting of the Lyre, vetches should
be sown, kidney-beans and hay-grass: it is generally recommended that
this should be done while the moon is in conjunction. This, too, is
the proper time for gathering in the
leaves: it is fair work for one woodman, to fill four baskets
28
in the day. If the leaves are gathered while the moon is on
the wane, they will not decay; they ought not to be dry,
however, when gathered.
The ancients were of opinion, that the vintage is never ripe
before the equinox; but at the present day I find that it is
gathered in before that period; it will be as well, therefore,
to give the signs and indications by which the proper moment
may be exactly ascertained. The rules for getting in the vintage are
to the following effect: Never gather the grape in a
heated state,
29 or in other words, when the weather is dry, and
before the rains have fallen; nor ought it to be gathered when
covered with dew,—or in other words, when dews have fallen
during the night,—nor yet before the dews have been dispelled
by the sun. Commence the vintage when the bearing-shoots
begin to recline upon the stem, or when, after a grape is removed
from the bunch, the space left empty is not filled up;
this being a sure proof that the berry has ceased to increase in
size. It is of the greatest consequence to the grape, that it
should be gathered while the moon is on the increase. Each
pressing should fill twenty culei,
30 that being the fair
proportion. To fill twenty culei and vats
31 from twenty jugera of
vineyard, a single press will be enough. In pressing the grape,
some persons use a single press-board, but it is a better plan
to employ two, however large the single ones may be. It is the
length of them that is of the greatest consequence, and not the
thickness: if wide, however, they press the fruit all the better.
The ancients used to screw down the press-boards with ropes
and leather thongs, worked by levers. Within the last hundred
years the Greek press has been invented, with thick spiral
grooves running down the
32 stem. To this stem there are
spokes attached, which project like the rays of a star, and by
means of which the stem is made to lift a box filled with stones
—a method that is very highly approved of. It is only within
the last two-and-twenty years, that a plan has been discovered
of employing smaller press-boards, and a less unwieldy press:
to effect this, the height has been reduced, and the stem of the
screw placed in the middle, the whole pressure being concentrated
upon broad planks
33 placed over the grapes, which are
covered also with heavy weights above.
This is the proper time for gathering fruit; the best moment
for doing so is when it has begun to fall through ripeness,
and not from the effects of the weather. This is the season,
too, for extracting the lees of wine, and for boiling defrutum:
34
this last must be done on a night when there is no moon, or if
it is a full moon, in the day-time. At other times of the year,
it must be done either before the moon has risen, or after it
has set. The grapes employed for this purpose should never
be gathered from a young vine, nor yet from a tree that is
grown in a marshy spot, nor should any grapes be used but
those that are perfectly ripe: the liquor, too, should never be
skimmed with anything but a leaf;
35 for if the vessel should
happen to be touched with wood, the liquor, it is generally
thought, will have a burnt and smoky flavour.
The proper time for the vintage is between the equinox and
the setting of the Vergiliæ, a period of forty-four days. It is
a saying among the growers, that to pitch wine-vessels after
that day, in consequence of the coldness of the weather, is only
so much time lost. Still, however, I have seen, before now,
persons getting in the vintage on the calends of January
36
even, in consequence of the want of wine-vessels, and putting
the must into receivers,
37 or else pouring the old wine out of
its vessels, to make room for new liquor of a very doubtful
quality. This, however, happens not so often in consequence
of an over-abundant crop, as through carelessness, or else the
avarice which leads people to wait for a rise in prices. The
method that is adopted by the most economical managers, is
to use the produce supplied by each year,
38 and this, too, is
found in the end the most lucrative mode of proceeding. As
for the other details relative to wines, they have been discussed
at sufficient length already;
39 and it has been stated on a
previous occasion,
40 that as soon as the vintage is got in,
the olives
should at once be gathered, with other particulars relative
to the olive after the setting of the Vergiliæ.