1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIMER. 



563 



For the New England Farrrfr, 

 CAST IKON HAND CIDER MILLS. 



A correspondent (S. C. Pattee,) in an 

 article published in the Farmer last fall, 

 makes inquiries regarding cast iron hand cider 

 mills, and gives his experience as far as he 

 has observed, which is so unlike anything 

 known in this vicinity, that I am induced to 

 otier a few remarks. He inquires first, Are 

 they practicable for common use ? Probably 

 if they were to be used upon a farm contain- 

 ing large quantities of apples where a great 

 number of barrels of cider were to be made, 

 they might not be profitable, for the reason 

 that much more time would be required than 

 if made in the. old fashioned mills where the 

 power consists of horses. Their practicability 

 consists in their adaptation to those farms 

 where comparatively few baiTels are to be 

 made, and whereby these can be made at any 

 season of the year, in the winter as well as in 

 the fall ; and apples assorted during the winter 

 can be made into cider for vinegar, which 

 otherwise would go to waste, unless fed to 

 stock, which would be less profitable. Again 

 the better method of using the mills is, after 

 having ground the apples, squeeze what juice 

 will flow without too much of an effort upon 

 the screw, and then return the pomace to a 

 half hogshead tub, and having thrown one or 

 two pailfuls of water thereon, let it remain 

 until considerably fermented, when upon being 

 squeezed the second time, nearly every par- 

 ticle of juice will be extracted, and which by 

 many is considered to be superior for vinegar 

 to the clear juice. 



He asks, secondly, Can good cider be made 

 with them ? The answer would be, emphati- 

 cally, yes, fully equal if not considerably su- 

 perior to that made in the usual way. 



Thirdly, Is the cider unfit for use, being 

 black and nasty, tasting of iron, generally, or 

 is this the exception ? If any such circum- 

 stances have occurred, as are related by your 

 correspondent, they certainly are the ex- 

 ceptions ; no such cases having occurred in 

 this vicinity. The fact of any unnatural dis- 

 coloration of the cider, even, in the least de- 

 gree, is unknown here. The cider bears the 

 same color as though made in an old fashioned 

 wooden mill. The cider, as every one knows, 

 takes its color somewhat from the treatment it 

 receives in the manufacture. If the cider is 

 pressed immediately after being ground, it 

 will be of much fighter color, than if the pom- 

 ace is allowed to stand a little time after being 

 ground, in which case it will possess that rich 

 dark red color that is so much admired. 



One very essential benefit to be derived 

 from the use of hand mills, consists in the 

 opportunity of making cider of different 

 grades ; that is, of assorted apples, or poor 

 ones. Of course, it is known to every person 

 that if one would have good cider, it must be 

 made from good apples ; and if one has a 



hand mill he can make his cider in such 

 quantities, and of the quality desired. 



The method usually employed is, first, to 

 place in the bottom of the tub or hoop, a 

 layer of good clean straw, (when it is to be 

 pressed immediately,) and then grind in the 

 fruit until one-fourth full ; then put in an- 

 other layer of straw, — thus alternate until 

 the hoop is filled. Place upon it the follower 

 and press as hard as desired, then cast out 

 the pomace, and so repeat the operation. In 

 grinding fruit that is rather hard it will be 

 found that not nearly all of the juice can be ex- 

 tracted, hence the necessity of a second press- 

 ing, as above indicated, from which, with the 

 little water thrown in, nearly as much may be 

 obtained for vinegar as from the first pressing. 

 This product, in consequence of the small 

 amount of water, will change to vinegar much 

 sooner. Therefore, more cider can actually 

 be made by the hand mill than otherwise. 



Colli m h ia , Conn . , Aug .,1871. w . h . Y. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CAEE OF FARM IMPLEMENTS. 



A short time since, I called on a friend at 

 his place of business in Boston who had just 

 returned from the West, where he had been 

 to look after customers, collect money, &c. 

 I inquired of him as to business prospects of 

 fanners where he had travelled. His reply 

 was "bad, very bad. Limited trade and but 

 little money." How is this ? I asked. Plave 

 not crops been good and the farmers enjoyed 

 every facility for doing a profitable business 

 and paying their bills? "O yes, yes," was the 

 reply ; " many held their grain and cattle for 

 a higher price, and paid as high as twenty per 

 cent, for money they must have to use."' 



This, he said, however, was not the worst 

 of their management. Everj- farmer has 

 come to the conclusion that he must have all 

 the improved machinery now in use in farming, 

 and which is readily procured through agents 

 at his door, who are so adroit in their calling 

 that all hesitancy to buy, on the farmer's part, 

 is soon swept away, and almost before he is ' 

 aware of it, he has parted with what little cash 

 he had towards paying for his implement and 

 given his note for the balance. He might 

 have got on quite well for a time with the old 

 machine, and probably would if he had not 

 been overpersuaded by the cunning of the 

 dealer. 



This, my friend assured me, was regarded 

 by the storekeepers as the most serious draw- ■ 

 back of any the farmers are subject to. The 

 notes given are sold at a discount in the vicin- 

 ity where the maker of them is known, and as ■ 

 soon as they become due, return to plague him 

 with their unwelcome presence. 



This part of the story is bad enough, but 

 not the worst. The machines and implements 

 for which the money and notes were given are 

 unhoused, and very often remain in the fields 



