2^S Journal of Agr'/cidtiirc. [lo June, 1909. 



the beginning, and if it be not checked at the proper stage, the next stage 

 will follow immediately. That next stage is the acetous (vinegar) stage, 

 into which nearly all cider, and no small amount of ill-made or weak 

 wine, passes. After that comes the putrid stage, in which the vinegar is 

 •destroyed, and nothing but corruption remains. Sometimes, though rarely, 

 these successive stages manifestly go on simultaneously, or at least over- 

 lap and pass on from one to the other, as to loose all distinctive stages." 



Thus we see that the first to act is the vinous fermentation which 

 reduces the saccharine matter to alcohol, and care should be taken to arrest 

 its progress when it has made sufficient advancement. At this stage there 

 should be sufficient alcohol to preserve the cider, and if the juice has 

 shown not less than 14 per cent, of solids, prior to fermentation, there 

 will be 12 to 13 per cent, of saccharine matter, and about i per cent, of 

 other solids. This will yield about 6 per cent, of alcohol, which is the 

 minimum amount for preserving the liquid, and unless extreme care is 

 taken to prevent acetic fermentation setting in, it will soon destroy the 

 already too limited aQiount of alcohol. 



There is no part of this business which requires more care ; in a 

 climate like ours where the temperature rises to a high degree, the fer- 

 mentation is very rapid, and special skill and care are necessary to avoid 

 loss from this cause. In Devonshire the juice is run into casks, set aside in 

 some cool chamber, and fermentation allowed to proceed slowly. When 

 sufficiently reduced, it is checked by being racked off before the saccharine 

 matter is exhausted, and this frequently has to be done three or four times 

 before it becomes still. In England and other countries, experience alone 

 guides the operator, and at a glance he is enabled to see if anything is 

 wrong, and knows how to apply the remedy. 



It is admitted that the conditions of cider making are vastly different 

 ir. this climate to what thev are in that of England, and manufacturers 

 here should recognise this fact and act accordingly. Making cider under 

 conditions frequentlv seen in this State is nothing short of folly. Open 

 sheds and outhou.ses, without any means of regulating the temperature, 

 are often used ; one day the thermometer is at 100 degrees or over, and 

 possible down to 50 or 60 degrees in a few hours. 



Under such conditions it is utterly impossible to produce a good cider. 

 The limits of temperature in which the cider should be fermented range 

 from 60 to 90 degrees Fahr., but it must not be understood to mean that 

 the range of temperature during fermentation should ^•ary between these 

 points ; it should be kept as even as possible, not varying over 5 degrees. 

 For example, if fermentation is to be carried on at a high temperature, say 

 85 or SO', it should be kept to that as near as possible, and should not vary 

 more than 2 or 3 degrees above or below, and where the register of 

 saccharine matter is low, as it usually is with apple juice, the lower the 

 temperature the better, providing it is within the range given. It should 

 te borne in mind that the change from \inous to acetous fermentation is 

 much more rapid in weak juice than in strong. 



A frequent and careful test with thermometer and saccharometer is 

 necessarv at this stage. A gradual rise in temperature within the vat or 

 cask during the early stage of fermentation will probablv be experienced ; 

 but as the saccharine matter In-comes exhausted, the tem])erature will recede 

 to nearly that of the lOom and when the saccharometer denotes that the 

 specific gravity has l^een reduced to the lowest point, the cider should be 

 immediately racked off, and allowed to cool down to check further fer- 

 ■mentation. 



