312 THE APPLE CULTUEIST. 



cider, the apples must be reduced to a fine pulp destitute 

 of lumps. After grinding or crushing, the pomace should 

 be allowed to stand a few hours, according to the tempera- 

 ture of the weather, for the purpose of developing a rich 

 color and a fine aromatic taste. In warm weather, ten 

 hours is a sufficient length of time for the pomace to stand. 

 As soon as little bubbles begin to appear on the surface, 

 which indicate the first stages of fermentation, the juice 

 should be expressed. When treated in this manner, the ci- 

 der will possess a flavor which it never has when expressed 

 as soon as the fruit is ground. Apple-seeds should never 

 be crushed, as they will render the cider bitter. The ap- 

 ples should be well-ripened, but not in the least decayed. 

 Every apple with the least speck of rot in it should be re- 

 moved, if you wish a first-rate beverage. The decayed and 

 inferior apples may be reserved for making vinegar. Per- 

 fect cleanliness should be observed in the grinding proc- 

 ess* Clean dry straw should be used in forming the cheese. 

 If the straw be musty, the flavor will be communicated to 

 the juice. If water be added, it will make it hard and un- 

 pleasant to the taste. The casks, also, in which it is put 

 for fermentation should be thoroughly cleansed, and finish- 

 ed off with a fumigation of brimstone. This is done by 

 burning inside the barrel a few strips of canvas dipped in 

 melted brimstone. The fumes will penetrate all the pores, 

 and destroy the must and correct the sourness. After the 

 fermentation is over, draw off into clean barrels, and clarify 

 it. This can be done by mixing a quart of clean white sand 

 with the whites of half a dozen eggs and a pint of mustard- 

 seed, and pouring it into the barrel. It may stand in the 

 barrel, or, if a nice article is wanted, it should be put into 

 quart bottles and corked. When superb cider is made in 

 the foregoing manner and secured in bottles, it is as palata- 

 ble, and much more wholesome, than most of the wines of 



