CIDER MAKING. 
247 
provided it contains no other moisture than its own 
juices. 
There is one feature of Judge Van Bergen's ope- 
rations which is peculiar. He has had a consider- 
able part of his farm under constant cropping for 
43 years, principally in grass, but sometimes under- 
going a rotation in grain, &c, during all of which 
time, it has borne good crops, without receiving 
manures of any description excepting -plaster. This 
shows great original strength of soil, and it shows 
also admirable preparation and management. The 
ground is thoroughly prepared before sowing and it 
is well seeded. Cattle are never allowed to be on it 
in spring nor when the sod is soft ; it is kept free 
from weeds and mosses, and one crop only is taken 
off in a season, the aftergrowth remaining upon 
the ground to afford nourishment to succeeding 
crops. 
Deep, thorough tillage, on an originally good soil, 
comes as near a substitute for manure, as it is possible 
to attain, as was clearly shown by Jethro Tull, 150 
years ago, and as again exhibited on the farm we 
have hastily noticed above. Whatever there is in 
the soil fitted for the food of plants, is by this care- 
ful tillage, better prepared for assimilation by 
them, than when it is suffered to remain compact, 
and this condition of it allows the free and benefi- ' 
cial circulation of moisture and the gasses, which 
make up from 94 to 97 per cent, of the aggregate 
weight of the crops. Yet, whoever infers from this 
example, that manures are unnecessary, should look 
at the grass in some adjoining fields kelonging to 
Judge Van B. One of these, containing a small 
patch of one and a third acres, but which had been 
liberally manured when laid down to grass, yielded 
five tons and 1,960 pounds, by actual weight, at one 
cutting. Strong, wire-spring-tooth horserakes are 
used in the spring for loosening or scarifying the 
sod and raking off' the old fog. 
There is a comparatively small amount of stock 
kept on this farm at present, and the greater part 
of the hay is pressed and sent to the New-York 
market. The expense of cutting the meadows, 
producing one and a half tons per acre, is 87£ cts. ; 
and the whole cost of curing, gathering, storing, 
packing, and sending to market, about $5.50 per 
ton. The average product is from one to one and 
a half tons per acre, and the price in market varies 
from 40 to 75 cents per 100 lbs. The profits from 
this farm may therefore readily be estimated. 
Judge Van B. subsequently drove us to the beau- 
tiful farm of his son-in-law, Mr. Reed, three miles 
below Coxsackie, on the summit of that commanding 
range of hills, that, throughout almost its entire 
course, bounds the Hudson. We here found ex- 
tensive fields and meadows, unsurpassed in clean- 
liness of cultivation ; large and productive orchards ; 
fine gardens and groves, and hills and knolls re- 
deemed from barrenness and desolation, and by the 
proper application of muck or peat that exists in 
unlimited deposits at their base, brought at once 
to the highest state of productiveness. Lime is 
also used with success, in connection with the 
above. We have never seen a farm under better 
nor more thorough and systematic cultivation. 
Reader, you have here detailed, a system of 
farming, which has made those wealthy, who have 
had the good sense to adopt it. Go thou, and do 
likewise. 
CIDER MAKING. 
Qualities of Apples. — The best apples for cider 
are those which yield a juice of the greatest weight, 
or specific gravity ; and it is believed to be true, 
that cider made from trees, grown on a strong, 
clayey soil, has more strength, and will keep bet- 
ter, than that made from trees on a sandy soil. 
The red and yellow color of the rind is considered 
as good indications of cider fruit, and apples of the 
various degrees of these colors are decidedly pre- 
ferable to those of which the rinds are green. The 
pulp should be yellow, the taste rich and somewhat 
astringent. 
Apples of a small size, if otherwise equal in 
quality, are always to be preferred for cider to those 
of a larger size, in order that the rind and kernels 
may bear the greatest proportion to the pulp. 
Large, fair apples afford the weakest and the most 
watery juice. Again, the dryer kinds of apples, or 
those grown in a dry season, will yield less juice, 
but the cider made from them will be proportiona- 
bly rich. Unripe apples, should also be avoided, 
as they do not contain sufficient sugar to undergo 
the vinous fermentation, while they contribute to 
render the liquor acidulous and rough. Sour and 
harsh-tasted apples are usually preferred by far- 
mers, as it is generally believed that they make the 
best cider. This arises from the fact, that they 
contain less sugar and more malic acid ; and the 
presence of the latter impedes the conversion of 
alcohol into vinegar. But cider made of such ap- 
ples, can never equal in quality that prepared at a 
low temperature from fruit abounding in sugar. 
The most celebrated cider apples in this country, 
are the " Harrison," the " Cam field," and the 
" Newark Sweeting," grown in the vicinity of 
Newark, New Jersey ; the " Virginia Crab," much 
cultivated in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the 
" Granniwinkle." Besides these, there are nume- 
rous other varieties cultivated throughout the 
country of every shade of merit. Among these 
the cullings of the " Newtown Pippin," the "Bald- 
win," the "Rhode Island Greening," and the 
" Roxbury Russet," are, perhaps, the most valuable. 
Ripening and Storing the Fruit. — The apples 
should be suffered to hang on the tree till ripe 
enough to fall off themselves. When gathered, 
they should be bruised as little as possible, and 
laid in heaps on the ground, in the open air, fully 
exposed to the weather, unless there are frosts at 
night, in which case, they should be carefully 
covered with straw or hemlock boughs ; or, what 
would be still better, to store them in heaps in a 
shed or room, and there carefully be kept from rain 
and dew. Each sort should be kept separate ; or, 
if this cannot be done, those ripening at the same 
time should be ground together. The object of this 
is, that the fruit may be reduced in the mill into a 
homogeneous mass; and this can only be done by 
choosing fruit of the same kind, or, at least, of the 
same degree of mellowness to be put into the mill 
at the same time. After the apples are ground, the 
pumice of the several sorts should be mixed, as cider 
made from several kinds of fruit is always consi- 
dered the best. 
The Cider Mill. — Among modern inventions, we 
would call the attention of farmers, to the portable 
cider mill and press, recently patented by Mr. Na- 
than Chapin, of Syracuse, New York. This ma- 
