FRUIT CULTURE. 



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coal is sometimes added, or an ounce of isinglass, a half ounce of whole grains of white 

 mustard, or a half pound of raisins to each barrel, to clarify and refine the cider; but this is 

 unnecessary when well made of apples suited to the purpose. 



Bottling Cider. The old-time rule for bottling cider was early in the spring, or 

 just before the apple trees blossomed. The time of bottling, however, will depend upon the 

 condition of the cider, or rather the degree of fermentation to which it has attained, which 

 latter, of courge, will depend upon the temperature at which it has been kept. The usual 

 time, if kept in a cool cellar, will be from three to four months after leaving the press. Good, 

 strong bottles should be chosen, for if weak, they will be liable to be broken from the pres 

 sure caused by the fermentation. Fill the bottles within an inch of the bottom of the cork. 

 Fasten the cork in firmly, and place the bottles with their necks downward, in a cool cellar, 

 in clean, dry sand, or lay them on their sides in bins or boxes with layers of sand between 

 each layer of bottles. A piece of rock candy about the size of a hickory nut, pulverized and 

 put in each bottle, is thought by many to improve the quality of the cider. Three or four 

 good sized raisins added to each bottle, will also serve the same purpose. 



Cider Wine. The following method of making cider wine is simple, and furnishes 

 an excellent quality of this article. Take sweet and sour 

 apples of equal quantity, using the best of sound fruit for the 

 purpose. The addition of a few ripe quinces greatly improves 

 the flavor. Grind in a mill, and allow the pomace to stand 

 twenty -four hours, stirring occasionally, so as to expose it to 

 the air. After expressing and straining the juice, add a pound 

 and a half or two pounds of refined sugar to each gallon of 

 cider, and put it in a clean barrel for fermentation, leaving the 

 bung hole open, and filling up the cask each day with the 

 juice to permit the froth aad pomace to work off. As soon 

 as fermentation ceases, draw off and put in a clean cask, and 

 carefully exclude the air; in about four months draw off and 

 bottle. 



Cider wine made in this manner is nearly equal to the 

 best champagne wine, which it closely resembles. A small 

 family mill for grinding the apples will be found of great 

 convenience in making cider or wine from grapes, currants, 

 or other fruit. The Hutchinson Mill, of which we give an 

 illustration, will grind from eight to ten bushels of apples, 

 and from ten to twelve bushels of grapes or currants per hour. 

 The press will contain one and a half bushels of apple pomace, 

 while as small a quantity of cider as desired may be made in a few moments. 



Diseases and Enemies of the Apple. The principal diseases and enemies of the 

 apple are the apple-borer, caterpillar, canker worm, bark louse, wooly aphis, apple worm, or 

 codling moth, twig-girders, the blight, and the apple-bark beetle, while in many sections 

 mice, rabbits, sheep, and cattle, do considerable injury to young trees unless properly protected 

 from them. For treatment of these, see special department on DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF FRUIT. 



Pears. The pear may very justly be regarded as one of our best fruits in point of quality, 

 and as a favorite fruit of modern times. In its wild state, the choke pear is anything but 

 a palatable fruit, and its present improved and perfected standard is a wonderful proof of 

 horticultural science and skill. The pear tree is not a native of this country, but was intro 

 duced here from Europe. It grows wild in hedges and wooded wastes in Europe, Western 

 Asia, and China, in connection with the apple, and in the wild state is more hardy and longer 

 lived than the latter; hence, the common impression that pear trees are tender, and that it is 



HUTCHINSON S FAMILY MILL. 



