8 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



ation only to harbor rubbish and vermin, were 

 suddenly made to renew their youth and revive 

 the savory associations of their best days. And 

 in this year of general scarcity the cider apple 

 tree is hardly less conspicuous for its abundant 

 fruit, than for the attention paid to it. The 

 ground beneath is no longer littered, nor the 

 branches overhead bedecked with withered and 

 decaying apples — but every fragment has gone to 

 replenish the vinegar cask. Almost every prejudice 

 seems to have gone with the apples into the hop- 

 per. Men of professed temperance principles, that 

 shun the bar-room and distillery, are not ashamed 

 to be seen patronizing the cider mill. Men, even, 

 that have stood out from raising tobacco, fall in 

 with grinding apples, for something sweeter than 

 "filthy lucre." No matter if the orchard contains 

 no tree especially set apart for this use, there will 

 be refuse fruit enough from the choice varieties 

 for at least one barrel, or ten-gallon cask. What 

 is to be the result of this retrograde movement? 

 Are we old friends of the temperance union turn- 

 ing traitors to this, if still loyal to the other? 

 And if we live to see another Presidential cam- 

 paign, will we carry the election on the strength 

 of hard cider, as was that of the "hero of Tippe- 

 canoe ?" 



So far as the writer's own observation and ex- 

 perience go, one hopeful feature of this returning 

 love for cider is, the general disposition to pre- 

 serve the wholesome, palatable qualities of the 

 beverage, and exclude the injurious. If hard 

 cases will adopt this policy, they will let their hard 

 cider turn to vinegar, sooner than turn it down 

 their throats ; and they would as soon get drunk 

 on lemonade or ginger-pop. The question only 

 is, how we can most satisfactorily exorcise the evil 

 spirit from the cider barrel. Some have recourse 

 to a preparation of lime — but this is very apt to 

 produce a beverage "flat as dishwater." At any 

 rate you are more reminded of acid lime-water, 

 than of the pure juice of the apple. Others still 

 cling to the old custom of adding mustard seed, 

 or charcoal, to a given quantity of cider ; but this 

 oftener fails than succeeds. A surer expedient 

 has been to filter the liquor through sand, and 

 thus a mild, pleasant beverage has been drawn 

 from the barrel late in the spring. Sometimes, 

 without any treatment, cider keeps comparatively 

 sweet till midwinter, as it is kept cool — and there 

 are certain cellars where it never really can be 

 converted into vinegar. But after a thorough 

 trial, the writer would recommend the heating pro- 

 cess, such as is applied in eastern countries to the 

 juice of the grape, to check fermentation and pre- 

 serve its sweetness. 



It is a principle of chemistry that "the proper- 

 ty of organic substances to pass into a state of 

 decay is annihilated in all cases by heating to the 

 boiling point." So it has been my practice, for 

 two or three years past, to draw off several gal- 

 lons of cider just in the midst of its fermentation, 

 heat it to the boiling point, then quickly remove 

 it from the fire so as to avoid the burnt flavor, 

 and, while it is yet lukewarm, bottle and cork, 

 and store it in the cellar. When freshly bottled, 

 it tastes very much like cider fresh from the vat ; 

 but, by January, will have the sparkle and foam 

 of champagne — yet very seldom bursts a bottle or 

 forces out the cork. Cider thus prepared must 

 not be confounded with that kept boiling till it 



ever after savors of the fire, nor associated with 

 what is made entirely of sweet apples, to be boiled 

 down to molasses for the old fashioned "sarae." 

 It cheers but not inebriates ; is a most grateful 

 beverage to a fever patient or consumptive, and 

 lasts well into the warm season, if properly put up. 



The writer makes no pretensions to being a 

 connoisseur in liquors, and cider has usually beea 

 regarded as too vulgar a beverage to elicit such no- 

 tice. It has only been my aim, for one, so to pre- 

 pare the article as to offer it as a beverage, with- 

 out the slightest compunctions, to the strictest 

 temperance man. Nor does it matter particular- 

 ly what apples are ground for the purpose, pro- 

 vided they are ripe and only partially decayed. 

 The crab apple and "flier" may best suit those 

 who still yearn for the old, bottled, alcoholic 

 drink ; and a capital temperance beverage may 

 also be produced from them. But the beauty of 

 the foregoing preparation is that, while improved 

 by a choice selection of fruit, it turns to good ac- 

 count those poor outcast apples that have been 

 branded as only fit for cider. w. E. B. 



Longmeadow, Nov. 2, 1863. 



■WEST'S IMPROVED PUMP. 

 Our own recommendation of this pump, togeth- 

 er with the praise awarded it by Solon Robinson, 

 Esq., in our issue of the 7th inst., has brought us 

 so many inquiries that we have determined to an- 

 swer them all at once, and to anticipate any others 

 that may be made. 



The pump is a combined suction and force 

 pump, drawing water from wells thirty feet deep, 

 and forcing it, through hose, if necessary, to any 

 distance. 



Three kinds are made for farmers' use, the house 

 -pump being somewhat ornamental in design, and 

 intended to be set under cover. The well or cis- 

 tern pump (Fig. 1.) 

 is intended for yards 

 and exposed situa- 

 tions. The plate, 

 through which the 

 piston-rod passes, is 

 fastened firmly to 

 the platform cover- 

 ing the well, the 

 pump being under- 

 neath, so that the 

 only parts of the 

 pump above the plat- 

 form are the rod, 

 and the standard 

 which supports the 

 handle, and attached 

 to which is the dis- 

 F1 B* *• charging pipe. The 



cut represents this with a hose attached. In win- 

 ter a small hole is opened in this pipe below the 

 platform, allowing the water to run out, so that 

 there is no water above ground and no chance for 

 freezing. 



