THE EVOLUTION OF THE CIDER INDUSTRY 285 



not least, the farmer is cultivating fewer acres of land and producing 

 more crops than ever before. 



Neither has the apple grower been lax in adopting this conserva- 

 tion spirit. Apples which formerly rotted under the trees are now made 

 into cider and from cider into vinegar, jelly and boiled cider. The 

 latter is used extensively in making apple butter and for culinary 

 purposes. 



To the orchardist who is enthusiastic with tKis conservation spirit, 

 the cider press especially should appeal. As a people, we Americans 

 are still woefully wasteful, but we are learning. Some of us have 

 bumped into the fact that it is not only our products that count, but 

 our by-products as well. 



There are no statistics to tell us how many millions of dollars have 

 gone to waste in rotten apples. They have been allowed to drop from 

 the trees and rot on the ground by the billion bushels. Occasionally 

 some farmer has had the foresight to open the orchard gate and let the 

 hogs in. With the further exception of a few mills with which a few 

 farmers ground and pressed the apples into cider the loss was total. 



By the old process of cider making the apple juice was permitted 

 to remain in contact with the air so long that it was very difficult to 

 keep it sweet; with the improved methods we can have sweet cider, 

 vinegar, jelly and apple butter for our New Year's dinner all made 

 from the same load of apples. 



The old log beam having a fulcrum at one end and raised by 

 hand power was our primitive cider press. The pressure was obtained 

 from the weight of the log together with the weight of a man who was 

 stationed at the other end of the log. 



•Next in line came the screw and knuckle joint presses; which 

 served the apple grower long and faithfully. But these too came to 

 the turn of the road and were supplanted by modern hydraulic presses. 



The old style screw press of the small type is still used to some 

 extent where it is desired to make a small amount of cider at odd 

 times for private use. These presses will turn out from 40 to 100 

 gallons daily and are sold at prices ranging form $10.00 to $20.00. 



The modern hydraulic press is equipped with a piston working in 

 a cylinder. Water is easily pumped through a small pipe into the 

 cylinder and the pressure being applied against the end of the piston 

 or ram. The ram is thus forced out, pressing the apple pomace which 

 has previously been prepared by a hand or belt driven apple grater. 

 An average of 4 1/^ gallons of cider can be produced by these presses 

 from a bushel of apples; and from 300 to 6,000 gallons made per day. 



The hydraulic press has put the cider industry on a paying basis. 

 The price for making cider ranges from 1 to 3 cents per gallon; one 

 day's run of 4,000 gallons, say at 2i/^ cents per gallon would make 

 the operator $100.00. Treated cider sells as a soft drink at 50 cents 

 to 70 cents per gallon. One hundred bushels of apples unfit for 



