418 
AMERICAN AGKRICC LTURIST. 
[November. 
This small beginning may lead to a large organi¬ 
sation ; requiring by-laws and regular officers, and 
meeting in a hall. But the first will teach how to 
manage the more cumbersome affair. The social 
element is not to be forgotten in any ease ; for the 
sons, and wives, and daughters will enjoy, and add 
to the enjoyment of the meetings. It is this feature 
which makes the Grange the success it is, in some 
localities, and the same is true of many success¬ 
ful farmers’ clubs that we are acquainted with. 
Where means and numbers permit, it is a very 
wise plan to have a library, which, if no hall is held 
by the society, can be in charge of the village post¬ 
master. Fifty dollars, or even less, will purchase a 
nucleus for a good library, which would add in¬ 
terest and give more permanency to the club. It is 
well to exhibit at the meetings specimens of farm 
products, for comparison and criticism. Oftentimes 
one can learn more by the intelligent comparison of 
specimens produced by different methods of prac¬ 
tice, accompanied by statements of yield and cul¬ 
ture, than by hours of discussion. No occasion is 
more favorable for this than these small meetings 
where there is not much else to distract attention. 
The large numberof farmers’ clubs which we hear 
of as being organized, as well as the Grange move¬ 
ment, is evidence that farmers are growing in the 
idea of association as a means of advancement and 
profit—a fact which commerce and the trades have 
long held as a cardinal principle of success. The 
isolation of farmers renders it of even more im¬ 
portance that they should associate for mutual 
strength and instruction, than for the people of 
towns. Farmers should club together if for no 
higher motive than mutual protection against the 
various imposters and swindlers that too often find 
them an easy prey. A farmer who feels that his 
neighbors will make common cause with him in 
such cases can more effectively resist the demands 
of sharpers than when alone and unaided. But, be- 
jyond and above this, such organization and co¬ 
operation gives impetus to thought, diffuses intel¬ 
ligence, creates ambition to excel in farm practice, 
adds more of interest to the calling, makes it really 
higher and nobler, and finally results in greater suc¬ 
cess,larger crops aud subsequent profits,greaterhap 
piness, and develops and strengthens in the young 
their natural love for the farm and the country. 
Cider Vinegar. 
The vinegar that we daily use is, or should be, a 
weak acetic acid. It is a well established fact that 
much diluted strong acids, such as the sulphuric 
(oil of vitriol), have been sold as a substitute for 
vinegar, on account of greater cheapness. Though 
we have never seen any of this false vinegar, the 
examinations by ’’Boards of Health” leave no 
■doubt that it occurs, and consumers should be on 
their guard against it. Vinegar being acetic acid, 
the only practicable method of preparing this out¬ 
side of chemical laboratories, is from alcohol in 
some form. By the action of the oxygen of the 
air upon alcohol, that, compound is broken up, and 
a new one—acetic acid, results. All our vinegar 
making has for its object the free exposure of 
some weak alcoholic liquid to the air. The source 
©f alcohol is sugar, and whether we use the juice 
©f apples, grapes, or watermelons, or maple sap, 
whether molasses and water, or other sugary liquid, 
the changes are: first,, the formation of alcohol 
from the sugar in these liquids, and next, the con¬ 
version of the alcohol into vinegar. In one method 
©f making vinegar, alcohol, in the cheap form of 
whiskey, and largely diluted, is the material used. 
Whatever sugary or alcoholic liquid is employed in¬ 
vinegarmaking, the product, so far as the sourness 
—the acetic acid—goes, is exactly the same in all. If 
.alcohol (in the form of whiskey) and water are used, 
the vinegar will be nearly colorless, and of a pure 
sour taste; if the sugar in apples (cider) is used, 
the vinegar, besides being sour, has an aromatic 
quality, or fragrance, belonging to the apples, and 
will also be colored, while that from wine and from 
molasses each has a different but peculiar flavor. 
The domestic use of vinegar is for two purposes: 
to preserve vegetable substances—pickles—and as a 
condiment to eat upon various kinds of food at the 
table. For pickles the chief requisite is a proper 
strength, and though a high-flavored vinegar will 
make better pickles, its color is an objection, and 
many persons, for the sake of the looks, purchase 
for their pickles colorless whiskey vinegar, under 
the name of “White Wine Vinegar,” sacrificing 
quality to appearance. Whiskey vinegar is just as 
wholesome as any other, but is quite without the 
peculiar aroma of cider vinegar, which all who are 
good judges of such matters prefer for table use. 
To convert any sugary or alcoholic liquid into vine¬ 
gar, this liquid must contain sufficient alcohol, or 
sufficient sugar to make the required alcohol which 
is to be converted into vinegar. No process of man¬ 
ufacture will make vinegar out of a liquid that 
does not at the outset contain the materials to make 
it from, either in the form of alcohol or sugar. Our 
present purpose is with Cider Vinegar, and though 
apples vary greatly in the richness of their juice, 
even common fruit contains enough sugar—though 
disguised by the acids in the apples—to make vine¬ 
gar sufficiently strong for family use, while the 
best apples are so rich that the resulting vinegar 
will be unpleasantly strong, and may be properly 
diluted before using. The ordinary method of 
making vinegar is to put the cider into casks, open 
at, the bung, and leave it until the change takes 
place spontaneously, which may be one or two years, 
or even a longer time, according to its strength 
and the conditions under which it is exposed. 
The conversion into vinegar may be greatly has¬ 
tened by increasing the exposure of the cider or 
other liquid as thoroughly as possible to the air. 
One method of effecting this, and which was pat¬ 
ented a few years ago, was to pass continuous 
streams of fine bubbles of air through the liquid 
by means of a force-pump. Another method is to 
allow the cider or other liquid to slowly trickle over 
a series of inclined shelves inclosed in a box or 
closet; an apparatus on this principle has been 
patented. Another method is to allow the liquid 
to pass slowly over shavings packed in a vat or 
cask, in which are holes near the bottom to allow 
an upward current of air; beech-wood shavings are 
preferred, as they impart no flavor; maple is next 
best. What is sold for “White-wine Vinegar ” is 
made with whiskey, water, and some old vinegar 
as a ferment, passed through such a “ graduator ” 
as it is called. This process, which is only profita¬ 
ble on a large scale, is too full of details to give 
here, but the same principle may be used to great¬ 
ly aid in converting cider into vinegar. A cask has 
a row of inch holes bored near the bottom, these 
should be made with a downward slant, there should 
also be several holes in the bottom. The cask is 
set upon a board channeled with grooves to con¬ 
vey the liquid to a pail or other vessel, as shown in 
the engraving. Shavings of beech or maple arc 
made with a double-ironed plane, so set that they 
will be rather thick, and have a strong curl ; in the 
absence of these woods, corn-cobs may be used; 
either shavings or cobs should be well washed, 
dried, and soaked in strong vinegar. The cask 
(the head being removed) is filled with shavings, 
placed in closely, but not crushed; or cobs laid in 
regularly,each layer crossing the last, filling the cask 
to within a few inches of the top. A tub of suitable 
size for the top of the cask has a number of holes 
bored in the bottom, through which the cider will 
trickle slowly; if too small, these holes will clog 
up from the swelling of the wood, or from impuri¬ 
ties in the cider, and it is better to make them with 
a large gimlet, and partially stop them with sticks 
whittled to fit irregularly, to allow the cider to pass, 
orpieces of lamp-wick, with a knot in the end, may 
be drawn through them ; any contrivance that will 
allow of a slow trickling will answer. The tub 
should not fit the top of the cask closely, as there 
must be a space for a current of air. Cider being 
placed in the tub, will fall slowly upon the shavings 
or cobs, spread over them, and expose a great sur¬ 
face to the air ; the chemical action of the oxygen 
of the air upon the cider causes heat, and the air 
will rise, thus starting a current, fresh air passing 
in through the holes below, to replace that which 
passes out between the tub and the edge of the 
cask. By passing cider successively through the 
cask, or through a series of three or four of them, 
it will soon be converted into good vinegar. The 
chief use of this “graduator ” is to aid in vinegar 
making, rather than for making it solely by its use. 
The vinegar house should be heated by a furnace 
or stove to 75° ; the casks or barrels must not be 
filled within several inches, in order to allow a wide 
surface to be exposed to the air ; in regular estab¬ 
lishments, where there is old vinegar, a few gallons 
are added to each cask of cider. Heat being kept 
up and regular, and proper ventilation provided, 
the vinegar will “ make itself,” but from some un¬ 
explained cause, some casks of cider will be slow 
to undergo the change, or as vinegar makers say, 
are “lazy.” The “graduator” is used for these 
lazy casks, the cider being passed through it, will 
get a start, and afterwards go on without trouble. 
Composts. 
A mass of green manure and refuse of the barn¬ 
yard arc piled in a heap, and shoveled over several 
times in order to mix the various substances; to 
pulverize the coarse lumps, and especially to check 
and prevent overheating. Green stable-manure 
contains little or no plant-food, that is to say, the 
elements of plant-food contained in it arc not in a 
form at once available to plants, either chemically 
or mechanically. When put into a compost heap, 
however, the oxygen of the air permeates the mass, 
and, by aid of moisture, causes decomposition, 
which destroys the structure of the bits of straw 
and undigested fodder, and changes the coarse ma¬ 
terial into a fine mechanical condition, and also 
changes it chemically, so that its plant-food is 
readily available to crops. The same changes oc¬ 
cur when green manure is applied to a light porous 
soil, in which air has free circulation; while in 
a heavy, compact soil, it decomposes but slowly. 
There is considerable discussion at this time as to 
the economy of composting manures. Either side 
would see that the other was right, if both could 
look over the boundary fences of their farms, and 
note the different effect of manures in varying 
soils. The sandy-land farmer finds that green ma¬ 
nure acts so quickly, that composting is too expen¬ 
sive for the scarcely perceptible increase in the ac¬ 
tivity of the manure ; while with the clay-land 
farmer, green manure is so much slower of action 
than a well-rotted compost, that the labor expend¬ 
ed on the latter, gives a handsome return in the 
luxuriance of the growing crops and more abun¬ 
dant harvest. The discussion is but the old story 
of the shield with two sides. There is, however, 
Too Much Labor 
expended on composts. The repeated turnings of 
the heap with fork and shovel, are for the purpose 
of mixing and pulverizing to prevent overheating. 
Now “heating” is only rapid oxidation, and to 
check it, we have but to control the admission of 
the oxygen of the air to the interior of the mass ; 
this may be done by compacting the surface of the 
heap with the shovel or feet, and covering it with 
a thin layer of earth, also patted down firmly with 
the shovel. Then, there will be a slow decompo- 
