220 ORCHARDS. 



to three cents a pound more than the price of those dried in 

 the ordinary Avav. 



CIDER VINEGAR. 



VrXEGAR is an agreeable pungent acid, which is obtained 

 from cider, wine, beer, or other fermented liquors. 



The principal requisites to form good vinegar, according to 

 Parme^^tier, are: 1st, Contact with the air; 2d, A temper- 

 atur.' not exceeding 77° of Fahrenheit; 3d, Tlie addition of 

 some extraneous vegetable matter to promote acetous ferment- 

 ation; and 4th, The presence of aZ(?o/zo?. This last requisite 

 has not been generally known in the United States; its im- 

 portance, however, was discovered by Col. Anderson, of New 

 York, many years ago, and before Parme.ntier wrote; and 

 he has since been in the practice of adding some cider spirit 

 (apple brandy) to make cider vinegar, during the progress of 

 the acetous fermentation. 



"The inhabitants of the cider-perry cantons," says Par- 

 MENTIER, "make vinegar of these two liquors thus: in a cask 

 of 800 pints they mix six poumls of sour (aigre) yeast (made 

 with leaven and rye flour) with hot water, and pour it in the 

 cask; after agitating it with a stick, they let it remain, and 

 in six or eight days, vinegar of good strength is produced. It 

 is very necessary to draAv off this vinegar as soon as done, 

 because it is more subject to become vapid than wine-vinegar. 

 The bung, when vinegar is made in this way, should be kept 

 close. 



Mr. Joseph Cooper makes his vinegar of good-bodied sweet 

 cider; fills the barrels one-third full, and permits it to stand 

 with the bung-holes slightly covered for at least nine months. 

 If fermentation does not proceed with sufficient rapidity he 

 draws off a few quarts of the liquor, and, after boiling and 

 skimming it, returns it again to the cask. Mr. Cooper con- 

 firms the utility of the practice of adding cider or rye spirit 

 to weak vinegar to increase its strength. 



Mr. Wm. Sheaff, of Philadelphia, adds one quart of ripe 

 and bruised sumach-berries, after being boiled with half an 



