99 



passes, and at once cut off the flow if undesirable particles are passing. 

 In siphoning, a perfectly clean hose should be carried almost to the 

 bottom of the receptacle, so the cider shall not fall or be agitated in 

 any manner. It is an excellent plan to fill the clean vessel with car- 

 bon dioxid gas before racking into it, and then the cider will not 

 have an opportunit}^ to absorb oxygen in the least. 



Racking off by the method here described, viz, drawing the cider 

 from between the two lees, requires the most careful observation and 

 control. (It should be said here that we do not yet know whether a 

 head will always form on must from our ordinary American apples. 

 The experiments made by the writer thus far are not conclusive, 

 and a chemical and biological study of the subject is yet to be made.) 

 Working by this method it is possible that one will find more refuse 

 or residuum remaining from each cask than he cares to lose, but this 

 possible loss does not compare with the loss occasioned by the labor 

 and difficulties encountered in the use of filters, though these may 

 appear to use the stock a little more closely. 



If the fermentation casks are properly fitted, the cider is drawn 

 down until the top lees and bottom lees practically meet. This is 

 determined by observing when the particles begin to pass from the 

 spigot or siphon. One can draw quite closely by putting the last few 

 gallons into a vessel for subsidence to take place before adding to the 

 clear liquor. The lees should be removed at once from the casks, and 

 instead of being thrown away they may all be put together in a vat to 

 undergo further fermentation with a view to the production of vin- 

 egar. This material should not, however, remain in or adjacent to 

 the rooms where the cider is processed. The large fermentation casks 

 should all be provided with manholes so situated that the lees can be 

 quickly removed, and the vessel cleansed when it is at once ready to 

 receive fresh must again. 



If one does not follow the plan of separating the liquor from the 

 lees as above given, there are only two alternatives, viz, the German 

 method of inclusive fermentation or the use of the filter, largely 

 resorted to by English makers, and to some extent by French. The 

 latter is a very troublesome and laborious process. 



SECOND FERMENTATION. 



Having delivered the liquor in a fairly bright limpid condition into 

 the casks in the room designed for second fermentation, which is 

 usually also the storeroom for the finished product, a few precautions 

 should be observed: 



1. The vessels should be filled full and carefully bunged to exclude 

 air and all manner of germs, so that the second or after fermentation 

 may still be wholly controlled by the yeast colonies carried over in the 

 liquor racked off. There will always be sufficient of these floating in 



