33 



As this article is not intended to discuss varieties, or 

 when or how to plant, it would be a work of supererogation to 

 select a list of apples, and for information on this subject we 

 refer the reader to the reports of the State Horticultural So- 

 ciety; or better still, to a personal examination of localities 

 where inquiry will at once disclose which are prolific and which 

 failures. We do not advise any one to engage in the business 

 of planting orchards of untried varieties, even though they 

 promise well; the beaten track is always safest, though the 

 scenery may not be so attractive as another which promises a 

 shorter cut across lots. 



Our attention so far has been devoted to the edible and 

 market value of the apple in its natural state. There are, 

 however, other conditions in which it finds a ready and in- 

 creasing market in a manufactured state. 



CIDER MAKING, 



as formerly practiced, was a wasteful and unsatisfactory pro- 

 cess. A large share of the juice went to waste in the pomace, 

 which the average press was unable to extract. A large share 

 of the stuff sold as pure cider is guiltless of apple juice, but is 

 manufactured of ingredients known only to the chemist. If 

 pure when it leaves the manufacturer, it soon becomes so di- 

 luted that it has more kinship to the pump than to the cider 

 press, and the market for pure, sweet cider is in consequence 

 less than it should be. Of late years many processes have been 

 employed to keep it sweet from one season to another, so that 

 those who desire may secure it sweet at all times, and the 

 market has very much increased. 



Its greatest value, however, is not as a drink, but as the 

 foundation and stock for 



VINEGAR MAKING. 



Our Illinois legislators have not as yet succeeded in enact- 

 ing a law to prevent the imposition of unhealthy acids upon an 

 unsuspecting public as "pure cider vinegar," although fre- 

 quently asked to do so. Ultimately we think they will be con- 

 vinced that the use of chemicals as vinegar is deleterious to 



