your hydrometer should have come in a glass tube. using a turkey baster,
take wine from the carboy and put into the tube after inserting the
hydrometer. make sure to sanitize everything before touching the wine.

the picture is of a hose clamp to shut off the flow of wine when you are
transfering it.
hope this helps
"eagle61" > wrote in message
.. .
> question number 1 - prolly stupid - after primary fermentation (in the
pail)
> is complete and i syphon the wine into the carboy - how do i take the
> readings with the hydrometer? - if i drop it in the wine how would i get
it
> back? or alternatively of i get enough wine out of carboy i can sure thing
> measure the gravity - but it's a pain and disturbs the wine
>
> 2: what is on the picture - i got this thingie when i bought the wine
making
> kit (among other things) i pretty much know what other things are for -
but
> this small white thing is a puzzle .it's about 1 1/2" x 3/4" x 3/4"
>
> i know, i know that i shouldn't attach binaries in a non-binaries
newsgroups
> but the image is so small that i think it is not a big deal
>
>
>