332 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 19, 182(3. 



BOSTON. 



5 In the proposed experiment it will be desira- 

 ble to use new white oak barrels. These should 

 be scalded with boiling water ; and when emptied, 

 to become thoroughly 



ESSEX AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETY. , -^ 



w!have been '^voured, by J W.Paoc.oK,Es.J turne Uu^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^.^^^^ 



Secretary of the Essex Agricultural Society, wi h ™™ jj^^ ^,,^,^ ^„,,i ^^ter, with the ad- 

 several copies o^-nm^\%f^^^';\^;YZ^^^^^^ of a sl'u quantity ot^nslacked lime ; in 

 of Premiums awarded m 1W5, and a list oi rrem especially, the casks to be 



iums offered in 1826 ; accompanied with Remarks both cases, in th|l=^^ ^i « P J- .^^ ^^^ 



and Explanations for the Information of the Farm- 1 well shaken. {C?"Lut caremi _ ^ ^ _^ 



ers of the County of Essex. Published by Order of 

 the Trustees." The Reports of Premiums award- 

 ed in 1825 we have published in the current vol- 

 ume of the New England Farmer.— We will now 

 give some notice of the other interesting matter 

 contained in this publication. 



It appears that the funds of the Society amount 

 to $4450.00 ; $2627.00 of this money was procur- 

 ed by subscription of members, in a manner that 

 entitles the Society to a dividend of 20 per cent, 

 a year upon this amount, from the State, — the re- 

 mainder is the accumulated income of this fund. — 

 The next Annual Meeting and Public Exhibition 

 of the Society will be at the South Parish in Dan- 

 vers, on Thursday the 12th day of October next. 

 The premi.uns offered in 182G are, I. The Man- 

 agement of a Farm, &c. six premiums,— highest 

 thirty-five dollars, lowest ten dollars. Claims to 

 be entered by the 1st day of June next. Viewing 

 Committee, Timothy Pickering, Frederick HoNves, 



way of the bung, which may be violently forced 

 out by the steam, during the agitation. ] 



6. The cider-mill and press should be made per- 

 fectly clean ; and for this end, after being swept 

 and brushed, be washed with boiling water. In a 

 word, to produce the finest flavoured cider, the 

 farmer must be as neat in his operations, as his 

 wife in her dairy. 



But although all the preceding rules should be 

 carefully observed, in gathering, mellowing, sort- 

 ing and grinding the apples, and in pressing out 

 the cider,— success is not to be expected, unless 

 particular attention be given to the first feniitnta- 

 iion.— If the cider-maker were to put thirty gal- 

 lons of cider directly from the press, into a tub, he 

 would see a scum of pomace rising to the surface, 

 in a few days (more or fewer, according as the 

 weather is cool or warm) and forming a close crust. 

 This crust will soon after crack, and show a white 

 froth at the cracks. Immediately the cider must 



Committee, Toothy Pickering, ^^e.^er.^^^^^^^ ^^^_^^ ^^.^ ^^^^^^^ ^.^^^^ .^ ^^^^^ 



Salem, Paul Kent of Newbury, Asa \- ^ewhauo v earefuUv, to avoid precipitating 



Lynnfield, Jacob Osgood of Andover, Aaron Perley 

 of Bosford, James H. Duncan of Haverhill, and J. 

 W. Proctor of Danvers. II. Dairy Stock Soiling, or 

 experiments in feeding Milch Cows on green crops, 

 without turning them to pasture ; three premiums, 

 —1st premium $20, 2d $1.5, 3d $10. III. Dairy, 

 Butter -, 1st premium .$20, 2d $15,-3d §10. Cheese, 

 two premiums ; 1st $20, 2d $10. IV. Turning in 

 Green Crops as a manure ; two premium^, 1st $15 

 sa .■MO. V. Forest Trees ; for the best plantation 

 of White Oak Trees three premiums, 30, 20, and 

 10 dollars. For the best plantation of Locust Trees 

 or of Larch Trees, or of White Ash Trees, or of 

 Chestnut Trees, 20, 15, and 10 dollars, VI. Irri- 

 gation, .$20. VII. Plodghs and Ploughing aad 

 Working Oxen, 20, 1.5, and 10 dollars. VIII. Com- 

 parative Value of Crons as Food for Cattle, 20, 15, 

 and 10 dollars. IX. Cider, 10 and 5 dollars. 

 The foUowino- directions for making cider we 



off the latter, very carefully, to avoid precipitating 

 any of it down through the cider, — or, (what is | 

 better, by drawing off the the cider without touck- '■ 

 ing tlie scum) by a tap previously fixed near the 

 boltom of the tub ; taking good care, also, that no 

 part of the lees run off: for while the lighter pat^ 

 of the pumace rise to the surface, the heaver si4k 

 to the bottom. — If the cider be fermented in caslts, 

 there should want a gallon or two of beuig full.— | 

 No harm will be done by exposing so much of its , 

 surface to the air ; for, as in the open tub, it will I 

 soon be covered with a scum or crust ; which be- 

 ing inspected at the bung-hole, the precise time 

 for racking may in like manner be seen. Should^ 

 a fresh fermentation occur, a second drawing oti 

 will be requsite. In December, or whenever the 

 cider shall appear to be perfectly quiet, the bung 

 may be introduced. In the fore part of March, the 

 cider should be again drawn off, and with special 



■ ■ ■■ Then it 



sell at a price so high as abundantly to compensate 

 the farmer for all the extra care and labour be- 

 stowed upon it. 



The cider-preraiums offered last year will be 

 awarded, if merited, at the next public exhibition 

 in October." 



* The importsiice of a strict attention to the first 

 iVrmentation of cider was strongly impressed on my 

 mind by the following fact. — When I was a young man, 

 Uny father received two cartloads — each load contain- 

 ing eight barrels— of cider, directly from the press. — 

 According to his usnal practice, these were discharged 

 into hogsheads and tierces, In his cellar; excepting 

 about half a barrel of each load. These two parrels 

 ' I threw into a tub, placed on the cellar floor. 1 in- 

 I spected it dady. A thick scum, forming a bjownish 

 ' crust, very soon covered the cider. About the Sth day 

 (1 believe late in October) the crust began to open in 

 crack", showing at every opening a white froth. No 

 provision having been previously made In- drawing it 

 otT, 1 could separate this crust only by sliia-./niug it off. 

 This I did with great care, to prevent the sinkiiig of 

 any part of it. \S ith like care, 1 tbtn ladi-.l 'he cultT 

 into a new white oak b.tnet — leading the Ites in the 

 tub. — At this time, -the cider m the hogsheads and 

 tierces made a hissing ir:'=t . at the . bung-holes. The 

 next day, I looked ai my b.trrcl — the bung, (as was 

 the case with every hogshead and tierce) being out, — 

 I found it as still as water; while the hiesiig, at all 

 the other casks, was loud as on the preceding day. 

 ; hese, of course, i emained with their bungs out, to 

 "■ive vent to the violei:t ferraentbtion, lest the casks 

 should burst- My barrel continuing perfectly quiet, 

 ! 1 introduced its bung, but iiPt tightly. Some time ia 

 I February or March following, I drew it off; and was 

 ' "ratified with finding tUe cider of a fine vinous colccir, 

 i mrllow, w'll liavourtd, and fit for bottling.— The cider 

 j in the other casks, which fermented without any check, 

 was pale, hard atid harsh: in a werd, like the roagu, 

 ! unpleasant cider generally to be met wilh in farmer's 

 I houses, where the fermentation is disregarded — in Eng- 

 ' laud, according lo Englifh writers, as well as in Nt w- 

 Eu'Iaod. T. PICKERING. 



The b owing directions lor manmg cmci «vc ^.^■.. .^ l^" f ^. , „ ,^;.. ,..;th it 



give without abridgement, as they cannot fail ^o , care that no part of the lees imx.ith^^^^ 

 ^ _ , "... ,o tn >ij elnaplv hnnired uu. m tun casKs. 



prove of general utility : 



1. Let the apples hang on the trees until fully 

 ripe. Such as are then mellow should be at once 

 committed to the press. Such as are hard shotdd 

 be laid in heaps not more than a foot in depth, and 

 )f practicable under cover, but where the air will 



is to be closely bunged up, in full cask 



After apples are ground, the pomace should re- 

 main exposed to the air, in open tubs or vats, about 

 twenty-four hours, before it is made into the 

 cheese to be pressed. This is known to give not 

 only a better colour, but to add to the richness of 



if nracticable under cover, Dui wiiere uic an mn ".-j "• "■ . ., ■ , , u„ ,t,„t 



admit the keeping of them so long : for as apple 

 do not attain their highest flavour until mellow, so, 

 if ground earlier, they will not, probably produce 

 the highest flavoured cider. 



2. Separate the rotten and partly rotten, from 

 the sound apples ; for the latter only can yield fine 

 cider. 



3. Not a drop of water should be introduced, not 

 even to wet the straw used in making tip the 



cheese. * >^. -u.- ■•■ o— - -. . 



of the apple will be required to preserve it in 

 casks, through our hot sununers, in the coolest 

 cellars. The straw should be clean and sweet. 



If amid the great variety of apples, in most or- 

 chards, there be no one sort sufficient for a cheese, 

 let those sorts be put together which appear alike 

 mellow. 



practical farmer and eminent naturalist, Thomas 

 A. Knight, Esq. now President of the London Hor- 

 ticultural Society. He says— "1 have often ex- 

 tracted, by means of a small hand-press, the juice 

 of a single apple, witliout having previously bruis- 

 ed it to pieces ; and I have always found the juice 

 lluis obtained, to be pale, and thin, anil extremely 

 defective in richness, though the apple possessed 

 I <rreat merit as a cider-fruit. I have then returned 



wet the straw useu in nian.i"s "f -'— r. . ,i „ „„i„ wl,icl. I 



For the whole stren<.th of the pure juice, the expressed juice to the pulp, which 1 

 ror rue wiioic t,ueu„ I r __„„„,i „ft„, ;, l,nB been exoosed. dur; 



have re- 

 pressed after i"t has been exposed, during a few 

 hours, to the air and light ; and the juice lias then 

 become deeply tinged, less fluid, and very rich."— 

 [KnifrhVs Treatise on the .Ipple and Pear, Cider, 

 and Pern/.] 



If the cider made according to the preceding in- 

 timations, prove of a very superior quality, it will 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 

 By Uichard Treat, the oldest gardener at the Shaker 

 village in New-Lebanon, N. Y. 

 Letluce. — It should be sov.n as early as it can 

 be raked iu'o the ground, for it cannot be injured 

 by early frosts. Dr Hammond sows a bed for ear- 

 ly lettuce late in the preceding fall. It ought to 

 be sowed in rows sixteen inches apart, between 

 vacant rows intended for some other plant. For 

 as the lettuce will soon be pulled out, otlier rows 

 of vegetables may occupy the whole bed. 



Rndiahes ahor.ld be sown in drills, eight inches 

 apart. The beds should be made with horse ma- 

 nure fresh from tlie stables, well mulched with 

 good garden mould. Often loosen the soil about 

 \ them while growing and keep mit the weeds. 



; Onions. They should be sowed in drills 16 



' inches apart, made very shallow, not exceeding 

 ' half an inch in depth, and raked in liglitly length- 

 I wise of the drills. The beds having been well 

 worked with thorough rotted manure at least five 

 ! inches deep; they will be up very uniformly in 

 j about 14 davs. 



I Hoe thctii as soon as they are up sufficiently 

 ;to be hoed carefully witliout injury. Let them ha 

 'hoed six or seven times during the season. The 

 tops will fall about the lOkh of August, but they 

 will continue to grow until about the first week is 

 Sept. They must not be pulled until the tops be- 

 come dry ; being biennal, onions never produce 

 eeed until the second year. 



Onions should be sown on the same beds ; 

 experience has demonstrated that the crops beco; 

 better, after being raised on the same teds 

 many years in succession. 



uce 



