1870. 



XEW ENGLAisD F^iEMER. 



497 



might impart its influence in process of time, 

 but that would be too uncertain to afford much 

 comfort to those expecting a good loaf of 

 bread the next morning. To be useful, it 

 must permeate the whole mass, being inti- 

 mately mingled with it. So it must be with 

 the soil. If the nutritive substances are held 

 in course, hard particles, roots will not be 

 much more likely to approach them than a 

 child would be to approach a loaf of bread as 

 hard as a rock and as large as a barn. 



When grains of soil are fine they are readily 

 acted upon by whatever agents are required 

 to dissolve their nutritive qualities into a form 

 to be easily taken up by the roots of plants. 



If this reasoning be correct, many fields 

 possess all needed elements of fertility, but 

 are unproductive, because these elements are 

 not broken np and mingled with the soil. 



KEEPING CZDEB. 



As there is a very large amount of cider 

 now being made, it is of some consequence to 

 keep it in good condition, so that to whatever 

 use it is applied, it should be pure. There 

 Las been so little made for several years past 

 that there is but a small amount of real cider 

 vinegar to be found. Fifty to seventy-five 

 cents per gallon is a/ked for good vinegar, 

 and the probability is that most sold at those 

 prices is made up of articles that ought never 

 to be used as food, in any form. 



Vinegar at eating houses, and some hotels, 

 is not only not good, but is absolutely dis- 

 gusting. In some cases it is thick and "ropy," 

 and in others sickening to taste and smell, 

 and must be extremely unwholesome. 



In a late number of the Knoxville Whig, 

 are some suggestions which may prove val- 

 uable to those who think that cider is a health- 

 ful drink. It is as follows : — 



"Much of the excellence of cider depends upon 

 the temperature at whlcb the fermentatioa is con- 

 ductea ; a poiat too frequently overlookeu by the 

 manutaeturers of this liquor. As soon as ex- 

 pressea from the fruit, it should be strained into 

 sulpliured casks and placea in a cool situation 

 wU'. re the temperature does not exceed 60° i^'aii't 

 — it' letc iQ tbe heating .sun, mucti of the sugar is 

 couvcrtid into vinegar ijy tue absorption "of at- 

 mospheric oxygen, and thus the liquor becomes 

 acid aud rough. On the contrary, it the fermenta- 

 tion De conducted at a low temperature, nearly the 

 whole of tbe sugar is converted intoalcoHol and 

 remains in the liquor, instead of undergoing the 

 process of acetihcation. 



The acetous termentation or the conversion of 

 alcoHol into vinegar proceeds most rapidly at a 

 temperature of nmety-iive aegrees Jj'areuhtic, aud 



at a lower tenaperature the action becomes slower, 

 until at forty-six degrees Farenheit.uos'Uch change 

 takes place. Independently ot differences in the 

 quality of the fruit, this is the principal cause of 

 lUe superiority of the cide'' made by one person 

 over another, living in the (>aine neig>jborhood. 

 The one has a cooler ceilar»or barn thau the other 

 to i-tore hU cider in. In practice it has been found 

 that sour and rough apples produce the best ciaer. 

 Ttiis arises because they contam less sugar and 

 more malic aiid, and the presence of tbe latter 

 impedes the conver?ion of alcohol into vinegar; 

 but cider made with such app'es can never equal 

 in quality that prepared at a low temperature 

 from iruit anounding in sugar, which, it properly 

 strained or racKect at every indication of termenta- 

 tion, will keep good twenty years. 



One very common cause of bad cider is, 

 that it is put into unclean barrels ; barrels 

 that have become musty, or tainted in some 

 other form, by standing through the summer 

 with one or two gallons of dregs left in them 

 after drawing off the cider. These partially 

 putrefy and become as disgusting as anything 

 else that has passed into the putrtfactive state. 

 When the casfe is once thoroughly tainted, it 

 is very difficult to sweeten it again. 



There is a process of checking the fermen- 

 tation in cider so as to keep it sweet, which 

 may be done as follows : — Take a strip of 

 canvas or other thick cloth, about twelve^ 

 inches long and two broad ; dip it into melted 

 brimstone ; when dry, light it, and suspend it 

 from tbe bung-hole of a cask, in which there are 

 a few gallons of cider until the match is burnt 

 out. The cask must be stopped for an hour 

 or more then rolled to and fro to incorporate 

 the fumes of the match with the cider ; after 

 which it may be filled. Sometimes this process 

 is resorted to for the purpose of giving an 

 additional flavor to the cider. To effect this, 

 some powdered ginger, cloves, &c. , may be 

 strewed on the match when it is made. The 

 burning of these ingredients with the sulphur 

 will convey somewhat of their fragrance to the 

 whole cask of cider. But this should be done 

 as soon as the vinous fermentation is fully 

 perfected. Should fermentation return, re- 

 peat the process. If a candle goes out on 

 being held in the bung-hole, fermentation has 

 commenced again, and carbonic acid is pres- 

 ent. 



— It is best to handle calves and colts as much 

 as possible, pet them, lead them with a halter, 

 and caress them in various ways. Young stock 

 managed in this way will always be docile and 

 suffer themselves to be approached and handled, 

 both in the pastures and in the barn. 



