768 The Trials of Cider-making Plant at Glastonbury. 
shire practice, and is probably of very ancient origin. A layer of 
pulp, some tliree inches thick, was first spread evenly over the 
floor of the press. This was then lightly covered with reed- 
straw, and a second layer of crushed apples added, the process 
being repeated, again and again, until some eight or nine 
" cakes " of pulp had accumulated, when the platen was 
lowered and pressing began. The operation of building Ihe 
" cheese " is a skilled one. Each cake is made of slightly 
smaller dimensions than tli6 preceding one, so that the structure 
takes the shape of a low truncated pyramid, the object being to- 
avoid deformation of the cheese edges on the application of 
pressure. 
Actual pressing began at 11.10 A.M., and was completed at 
1 o'clock, a period of 1 hr. 50 min., during which time, 
however, the platen was raised three times, and the edges of 
the cheese thrice "pared" true and square. Each time, the 
sheared fragments were thrown on the top of the cheese, and 
the pressure reapplied until all the juice had been expressed, 
and the remaining " pomace " took the form of a solid, cohereut 
cake, easily reducible by the knife into blocks of a size and 
weight handy for transport to the cattle yard. The quantity of 
juice produced from 1,800 lb. of apples by Dening's press was 
10G gallons, equal to 5-9 gallons expressed in 6-1 minutes from 
each 100 pounds of fruit. 
Dening's press consists of a strong wooden frame with a 
channelled bed, and a platen which is depressed by the action 
of two screws, turned somewhat rapidly, at first, by means of 
a winch and gear, more slowly, later, by the application of a long 
lever directly to each of the screws, and, slowest of all, by the 
use of the same lever operating with the advantage of gearing 
having a ratio of some five to one. 
The question of the amount of power absorbed by a cider- 
press is not of any practical moment, and did not come under 
review, except in the most general way, in this competition. In 
Somersetshire, it is thought best that the process of pressing 
should be intermittent, and occupy some cousiderable time. 
Whether this belief has or has not arisen from its fitting in well 
with the somewhat crude character of the presses commonly 
used in the " Island of Apples," it is certainly the practice to 
put up a " cheese " one day and let it stand all night before 
giving it the final squeeze. Since, however, no very definite 
logical grounds were forthcoming in support of this local custom, 
the Judges were compelled to allot more points to machines, 
equally efficient with, but more expeditious than the Dening 
m'©as. "Whether fast or slow pressing be adopted, there are 
