320 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



apples. A bushel of Wealthy culls should yield at least two and 

 one-half gallons of cider. If two gallons of vinegar are secured 

 from this, and we have done this at University Farm, selling at 

 thirty-five cents a gallon, it would give a gross return of seventy 

 cents and a net return of sixty cents or better for the bushel of 

 culls, which is a pretty good profit on a bushel of cull apples. 

 With a good vinegar, the price secured ought to be higher, as 

 the supply of good apple cider vinegar is not great, and profits 

 would be increased in proportion. 



The figures secured by chemical analyses at the various 

 stages of maturity show clearly that the best time to grind for 

 cider and vinegar is when the apples are "hard ripe," or fully 

 matured, without being at all mellow or soft. At various oth'er 

 stages of maturity, as green ripe, or soft ripe from storage, there 

 is a lessening of the sugar content of the ciders. With less sugar 

 in the cider, it is not as good for sweet cider and there is less 

 chance to secure a vinegar of state standard. This fact should 

 be kept in mind when anyone wishes to make cider or vinegar. 



A comparison of the determined total sugar content of 

 Wealthy, Hibernal, Patten and Duchess, for the past three years, 

 bears out fully the statement made a year ago that the sugars are 

 not high in our Minnesota apples. They taste good enough, but 

 the analyses show that for vinegar making there is not enough 

 sugar to permit the securing of a good vinegar with careless 

 work. The low sugar content is due perhaps in part to our 

 shorter season, and in part also to the fact that most of our vari- 

 eties are summer or fall apples rather than winter apples. The 

 three-year average of our analyses shows that the Wealthy leads 

 in sugar content with 8. 30%, Hibernal is a close second with 

 8.27%, Patten is third with 7.86% and Duchess last of the four 

 with only 7.33%. Occasionally, varieties test higher in sugars, 

 as Charlamoff last year with 9.25% and Whitney last year with 

 9.08%. This year our highest sugar content has been found in 

 Talman Sweet with 10.43%, Hibernal and Wolf River with 9.06%, 

 Swaar with 8.91% and Anisim with 8.90%. These figures are 

 of interest in view of the usually accepted belief that at least eight 

 per cent of sugars are necessary to permit the development of a 

 vinegar of four per cent acetic acid content, which is the per- 

 centage required in this state. 



In actual fermentation trials this ratio of eight per cent 

 sugars producing four per cent of acid has not been borne out. 

 Our best vinegars of last year were made from Wealthy, testing 



