404 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



partial clarification is secured. These ob- 

 jections to sedimentation are the result 

 of numerous tests with barrel lots of 

 juice. 



A method of clarification which is free 

 from the above objections, and is also 

 cheap and may be applied on a small or 

 large scale, is clarification by use of a 

 cream separator. Repeated trials have 

 shown that a cream separator can suc- 

 cessfully clarify the juice, leaving only 

 traces of sediment in the product. Abso- 

 lute clearness of the juice is not produced 

 by use of the machine, but practically all 

 sediment can be removed by this process. 

 In the e.xperimental work to be described 

 a hand-power cream separator of the disk 

 type was employed. The first trial of the 

 method indicated that a satisfactory clari- 

 fication of apple juice could readily be 

 obtained by use of the separator, and 

 many further trials have confirmed 

 these early indications. The suspended 

 matter in the juice collects in the bowl 

 of the separator, while the clean juice runs 

 out through the milk and cream screws. 

 After a run of the juice through the ma- 

 chine, the heavier particles originally 

 present — the starch grains and any soil 

 or dirt particles, together with some al- 

 buminous matter— are to be found tightly 

 packed in the lower part of the tubular 

 shaft in the bowl of the machine, while 

 a heavy layer of albuminous material is 

 invariably packed on the inner side of the 

 bowl and a lighter layer on the inner side 

 of the bowl cover. The disks remain quite 

 free from sediment. When the space be- 

 tween the disks and the sides of the bowl 

 is quite filled with sediment, the flow 

 from the milk screw ceases and the flow 

 from the cream screw is much increased. 

 At this time the machine should be 

 stopped and the bowl cleaned. The juice 

 from the milk screw is invariably consid- 

 erably cleaner than that from the cream 

 screw. The reason for this is not ap- 

 parent; the fact, however, was always 

 observed. The juice from the cream 

 screw is, in turn, much clearer than the 

 untreated juice. 



An extended series of tests established 

 the following facts with regard to the 



method of clarifying by passing through 

 a separator, using unfermented juice and 

 a machine of the size indicated. 



First. The amount which may be run 

 through the machine before it is neces- 

 sary to stop and clean the bowl is from 

 25 to 40 gallons, depending on the quan- 

 tity of sediment present in the juice. 



Second. The rate at which the juice 

 passes through the machine is about 45 

 gallons per hour, where a delivery tube 

 of 450 pounds per hour (for milk) is em- 

 ployed. On fitting the separator with a 

 delivery tube of 750 pounds capacity per 

 hour, less perfect clarification was effect- 

 ed than when the smaller delivery tube 

 was used. 



Third. But very little increase in the 

 degree of clarification or capacity for 

 sediment was secured when juice heated 

 to 140° to 158° F. (60° to 70° C.) was run 

 through. 



Fourth. When heated juice was allow- 

 ed to stand over night and to cool and 

 settle before passing through the separa- 

 tor, the supernatant juice contained much 

 less sediment than the original juice and 

 two to three times as much could be 

 passed through the machine before clean- 

 ing became necessary than when unsedi- 

 mented juice was used. 



Fifth. Two separations are necessary 

 when working with a separator of the size 

 employed. The first treatment removes 

 the bulk of the sediment, and the second 

 takes out nearly all of the remainder. 



Sixth. Running the juice more than 

 twice through the separator improves the 

 character of the product but little, as 

 only very small amounts of the suspended 

 matter in the juice are removed. 



Seventh. The best conditions, as work- 

 ed out by experiment, for clarifying apple 

 juice, are as follows, working with a 

 hand machine with a capacity for milk of 

 450 pounds per hour. 



(a) The juice must be freshly ex- 

 pressed and, to be of high quality, should 

 be prepared from sound, well-ripened fall 

 or winter apples. 



(b) It should be received in a clean 

 barrel or cask, which must not contain 

 any fermentation residues. This point is 



