Real Cider and Pure Vinegar-By F. H. Valentine, st 



EVERY FRUIT GROWER CAN HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF SPICY SWEET CIDER FREE FROM SALICYLIC 

 ACID AND A CONSTANT SUPPLY OF WHOLESOME VINEGAR THAT HAS THE GOOD OLD APPLE TASTE 



POSSIBLY it may be more profitable 

 for you to make most of your apple 

 crop into cider and vinegar. In general, a 

 bushel of apples makes four gallons of cider, 

 though there are some exceptions. The 

 price varies in different seasons and localities, 

 but twelve and a half cents a gallon is a 

 fair estimate; this makes the product from 

 a bushel of apples worth about fifty cents. 

 The charge for making varies also, if the 

 apples are taken to a custom mill, but a fair 

 estimate is one and one-quarter cents a 

 gallon. You can figure the other labor and 

 estimate closely the net cost. 



I have paid twenty cents a single gallon 

 here for sweet cider in the autumn, and have 

 paid as much as thirty-five cents for a gallon 

 jug of " Golden Russet Cider" in the winter. 

 This was perfectly sweet, but I have my 

 suspicions of the process by which it was kept 

 in that condition. For cider by the barrel, 

 the price runs all the way from seven to 

 fifteen cents per gallon. 



Some of the apples from which cider is 

 made in this country, are a disgrace to the 

 makers. Wormy, knotty, and even rotten, 

 (to say nothing of being dirty) good for noth- 

 ing else, they are ground and pressed; but 

 though the juice may be sold for cider, it is 

 about as far from being good, wholesome 

 cider as oleomargarine is from good creamery 

 butter. In the process of fermenting and 

 making into vinegar, the impurities may 

 work off. I knew of a firm of cider makers 

 in Illinois that sorted all the apples that came 

 to their mill. Nothing but clean, sound 

 apples were used, free from leaves or any 

 kind of refuse. They said that it paid in the 

 improved quality of the cider. Everything 

 about the mill was kept scrupulously clean, 

 also. The cloths in which the pomace was 

 laid up were rinsed frequently, and the mill 

 and press were washed at the close of every 

 day's work. 



Good cider requires good apples. An 

 experienced cider maker tells me that, in 

 general, the longest-keeping apples make the 

 best cider. This, of course, means that the 

 best cider is made from the winter apples. 

 This man says that no really good cider is 

 made till about the middle of September, 

 when Fall Pippins begin to come in. The 

 summer apples make very poor cider ; the juice 

 is thin, and lacks flavor, and for keeping it is 

 worthless, except to turn into vinegar. Even 

 for this, it is poor, unless mixed with the 

 juice of later apples. He says, also, that a 

 very fine cider is made from about eight 

 bushels of Harrison apples to five bushels of 

 Canfield; this quantity makes about forty- 

 five gallons of cider which is very sweet and 

 heavy. Baldwins, with a few sweet apples 

 mixed in, make a lighter colored cider, but 

 very spicy, and excellent for table use. 

 Sweet apples make a very heavy cider, 

 usually dark colored, and very sweet because 



of the extra amount of sugar it contains. It 

 is more likely to ferment quickly because of 

 this fact. 



Wild apples make a very spicy cider, and 

 so do crabs but both vary greatly. It is 

 generally considered that a mixture of these 

 apples with grafted fruit improves the 

 quality of the cider. The cider from wild 

 apples is generally of better keeping quality. 



Greenings do not make so good a cider 

 as some of the colored apples. High-class 

 dessert apples such as Northern Spy, and 

 Spitzenberg, make a very high quality 

 cider. Russet cider is the slowest to ferment 

 of any. If made late, and kept in a cool 

 place, it may be kept nearly all winter. One 

 man said that he thought it would keep ten 

 years if kept at just the freezing point. The 



With a small cider press kept handy fresh sweet 

 cider can be had constantly 



quality is very good, too. Fall Pippins are 

 among the poorest for yield of cider. They 

 give only about three gallons per bushel, 

 and are very hard to press. A cider maker 

 informed me that they seem to be all pulp, and 

 it is impossible to press them down to a 

 cheese less than double the thickness of that 

 from other varieties. In general, a mixture 

 of different varieties of apples makes better 

 cider than any one kind. 



A cider-making outfit consists of a grinder, 

 a press and power to operate them. A small 

 hand outfit may be purchased for about $10. 

 This is very convenient if one have only a 

 few apples, or in case it is desired to make 

 cider through the season just as it is wanted. 



The old-time grinder was operated by 

 horse or water power, and the old screw 

 press by hand power, the cider being dipped 

 from tubs into the casks; the whole operation 

 was slow and laborious. 



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I have just seen one of the modern steam- 

 power hydraulic presses in operation. The 

 grinder is located over the press. The apples 

 are shoveled into a hopper outside the build- 

 ing, whence they are elevated to the grinder. 

 A chute conveys the pomace directly to the 

 forms where it is laid up in cloths as fast as 

 ground. When the last apples are in, the 

 cover is put on, the pressure is applied, and 

 in a few minutes, every possible particle of 

 juice is expressed. A rubber hose is run 

 from the vat to the casks, filling them quickly 

 with no hand labor except handling the hose. 

 In a short time after the apples are un- 

 loaded, the farmer loads in his casks, and 

 is homeward bound. 



Besides doing custom work, the owner of 

 this mill buys apples, making them up and 

 selling the cider. He generally pays about 

 ten cents per bushel. 



This style of press is much better than the 

 screw presses. It has an automatic blow- 

 off, so that when the limit of pressure is 

 reached, the surplus power is taken care of 

 without watching. 



The after care of cider is important. 

 Containing so much sugar, it ferments 

 quickly, and becomes "hard." In this con- 

 dition, it contains from five to nine per cent, 

 of alcohol. Aside from any moral question 

 as to the drinking of intoxicants, its use in 

 this condition is very objectionable. The 

 deleterious effects of hard cider upon the 

 human stomach are said to be the worst of 

 any ordinary spirituous liquors. 



To get the most beneficial effects from 

 cider, it must be kept from fermenting to 

 anv extent. This is not so difficult in cool 

 weather, and it is not desirable to make the 

 cider for keeping till the weather is cool. 

 After it has had time to settle thoroughly, 

 it should be racked off carefully, and put into 

 clean casks. If this be done two or three 

 times, all the better. While it is standing, 

 the barrels should be kept filled, so that the 

 scum may work out through the bunghole. 

 Whisky or wine barrels make good casks for 

 cider. In the days when molasses came to 

 the grocer in casks, these were often used 

 when emptied, but I do not know that they 

 are obtainable now. Whatever the recep- 

 tacle, it must be made perfectly clean and 

 sweet by scalding or steaming. 



Cider may be kept sweet indefinitely in 

 cold storage. Some changes may take place, 

 but it will not ferment if kept at a tempera- 

 ture a little below the freezing point. 



Aside from cold storage, I have been told 

 by cider makers that salicylic acid is the 

 only thing that will keep cider sweet, and 

 the man who uses that is liable to get in 

 trouble through the pure food laws. It is 

 very injurious to health. 



Another way of preserving cider is by 

 heating and sealing it in bottles or cans just 

 as grape juice is preserved. Have a large 



