New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 169 
tive fermentation of the acid may be encouraged by leaving the 
bung-hole open and the barrel only partially full. 
DIRECTIONS FOR HOME-MANUFACTURE OF CIDER 
VINEGAR. 
KIND OF APPLES TO USE. 
_ Only ripe apples should be used, possessing a sugar content of 
not less than 8.5 per cent. Most varieties of apples commonly 
available possess the requisite amount of sugar when ripe, but 
not when green. The apples should not be decayed or over-ripe, 
because the amount of sugar is lessened in such apples. The 
apples should be clean when gathered and if not, they should be 
made so by washing. The objection to dirt in the apple juice 
is the danger of introducing forms of fermentation that will inter- 
fere with the normal alcoholic and acetic fermentations which 
are desired. One objection raised to washing apples is the lia- 
bility to remove the germs that cause the desired forms of fer- 
mentation. While in our own practice we have not met with 
such difficulty, it is preferable that the apples shall, if possible, 
be clean when gathered. 
PREPARATION OF APPLE JUICE. 
In the grinding and pressing of the apples care should be 
taken to observe ordinary precautions of cleanliness. In many 
cases, it is the practice to add water to the apple pomace after 
pressing, let it stand awhile and press again. This treatment 
yields an additional amount of juice, which, however, does not 
contain the requisite amount of sugar to make good vinegar, pro- 
viding the first pressing has been efficient. Avoid the use of 
juice made from second pressing. 
PUTTING APPLE JUICE IN BARRELS. 
When practicable, it is a good plan to store the freshly pressed 
apple juice in some large receptacle and allow it to stand a few 
days, before putting it into barrels. In this way considerable 
solid matter held in suspension will settle before the liquid is 
placed in casks. The casks used should be well cleaned, 
thoroughly treated with live steam or boiling water, and should 
not be over two-thirds or three-fourths filled with apple juice. 
