Cider Factories in Germany. 



489 



but usually on the floor of the operating room or in bins 

 adjacent. The small makers seem to make little or no pro- 

 vision for storage, and the grinding and pressing, so far as 

 observed, were conducted on the ground floor. In the small 

 plants this requires only a moderate amount of floor space, the 

 power plant and grinder being near each other and the presses 

 adjacent. The pulp was almost invariably allowed to stand for 

 some hours before pressing. The Germans usually have large 

 tubs, holding, say, 10 hectolitres (220 gallons) of fruit pulp, and 

 into these the crushed fruit is at once placed as soon as it falls 

 from the mill. Even the largest factory visited, having an 

 annual output of over 500,000 gallons of cider, pursues this 

 rather cumbersome method. In large factories this requires a 

 great amount of floor space and seems to necessitate an 

 enormous waste of labour, but it is thought satisfactory by the 

 proprietors. Small plants usually grind only enough fruit to 

 make one or two cheeses at a time, and hence proceed at a 

 rate which, in the United States, would be considered wasteful 

 of time. 



The manner of laying up the cheese is in the main the same 

 as in the best appointed American mills, in which cribs are still 

 used to hold the pulp during pressing. The cheese cloth has 

 not made headway in Germany. The cribs, usually circular, are 

 very well made. 



After maceration for a period varying from twelve to twenty- 

 four hours, the pulp is brought to the press and submitted to as 

 heavy pressure as possible by hand power, drop screw presses 

 being largely used, but also those with the screw on a central 

 stem. The pressure is applied for a considerable period until 

 the cheese is carefully drained ; then the pomace is thrown up 

 and finely broken, and either macerated with water, as in France, 

 or allowed to rest for a period, when it is pressed a second time 

 in a stronger press. The Germans do not use much water ,in 

 macerating pomace for re-pressing ; in fact, a very small amount 

 was used where the operations were observed. The best 

 German factories inspected did not use water at all, but these 

 were equipped with hydraulic as well as hand presses, and the 

 pressing was completed at a pressure of 250 atmospheres on the 

 hydraulic presses. The differences in sugar content of French 



