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 high inside, 10 inches wide at the bottom, 20 inches wide at the top, being flat on one side, where it is carried on the back, and bound with thin iron hoops. It is carried by two leather-straps running over the shoulders, as shown in Fig. 29, and should contain about eight to ten pails, or a little over two bushels of grapes. The carrier can pass easily through the rows with it to any part of the vineyard, and lean it against a post until full. If the vineyard is close to the cellar or press-house, the grapes can be carried to it directly; if too far, we must provide a long tub or vat, to place on the wagon, into which the grapes are emptied. I will here again repeat that the utmost cleanliness should be observed in _all_ the apparatus; and no tub or vat should be used that is in the least degree mouldy. Everything should be perfectly sweet and clean, and a strict supervision kept up, that the laborers do not drop any crumbs of bread, &c., among the grapes, as this will immediately cause acetous fermentation. The weather should be dry and fair, and the grapes dry when gathered. THE WINE-CELLAR.