The prices paid for the grapes differ a little for different parts of the vineyard, but the variation is more due to the number of _bodegas_ in the district and their capacity than to the quality of the grapes. Transport of the grapes to a great distance is very expensive. In exceptional times grapes have been brought from San Rafael to the Mendoza cellars, but each _bodega_ gets its supply as far as possible from its own district. At San Juan the capacity of the cellars is proportionately less than at Mendoza, and the _bodegueros_ have imposed very hard conditions on the growers. The price fixed in the purchase-contract does not of itself give a complete idea of the benefits which the _bodeguero_ enjoys. The grapes are purchased by weight, but the _bodeguero_ reserves the right to say at what date they are to be delivered. He begins to harvest his own vines when the fruit is scarcely ripe, but he puts back the harvesting of the grapes he buys as far as possible, even to April or May. These grapes exposed on the plant to the heat of the sun, become overripe; they gain in sugar and lose in weight. They make wines with a higher percentage of alcohol, and with these he can correct the lighter wines made during the preceding weeks. Finally, the _bodeguero_ does not advance money to the _vinatero_, as the manufacturer does to the _canero_ in the sugar industry. The only safeguard of the vine-growers is the lack of understanding between the _bodegueros_ and the competition between them. Although there are conventions amongst the _bodegueros_ which lay down officially, before the vintage, the basis of all transactions, they are not respected except in so far as they serve a man's interest. If it is expected that the wine will easily be sold, and that grapes will be short, buyers are abundant, and contracts are signed before the fruit appears. It is a sort of gamble, as in the case of wheat and cotton. Bulls and bears struggle for the market. If the bulls win, the _vinateros_ grow rich.[41] [41] Besides the causes of a geographical nature which I have indicated, the separation of cultivation from wine-making has other economic grounds, but they do not fall within the range of this book. The large _bodega_ is better situated than the small cultivator for organizing the sale of his wines on the distant market of Buenos Aires. Also, the _bodegueros_ alone are able to meet the competition of Buenos Aires merchants who import European wines and make adulterated wines.