278 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
otherwise; much of the sugar in the wine will 
he converted into alcohol and the flavor injured. 
In racking off into barrels or bottles the wine 
must be perfectly clear, and to secure a freedom 
from specks or foreign substances, it is well 
sometimes to filter it through a flannel, through 
which it will run very freely. Wine is better if 
in a good cellar, left to “ripen” in the wood, and 
not bottled before it is two years old. 
It seems hardly necessary to reiterate the ab¬ 
solute necessity for perfect cleanliness in all parts 
of the operations we have described. The ves¬ 
sels, implements, press, mill, etc., must all be 
clean. The barrels must have been thoroughly 
washed and fumigated with sulphur every time 
before they are used. Thus alone can sweet, 
pure wine be produced. 
The philosophy of fermentation' we can not 
discuss at the present time, save only to say: 
The juice of the grape contains water, sugar, 
mucilage, some fermentative matters, tartaric 
acid in the form of tartar, and other free acid, 
besides those peculiar etherial principles which 
give the flavor both before .and after the fermen¬ 
tation. The principal change which takes place 
when the juice is exposed to the air is, the com¬ 
mencement of the conversion of the sugar into 
alcohol and carbonic acid. A portion of the su¬ 
gar is thus destroyed, spirit is left in the fluid, 
the carbonic acid escapes in bubbles which make 
the effervescence (the working,) and certain other 
changes take place also affecting the flavor. 
After vinous fermentation commences, it goes 
on without access of air, and but a very slight 
contact with the air is sufficient to start it. It 
depends upon a change which takes place in the 
nitrogenous or albuminous principles of the 
fruit, and these, originally in solution, become 
insoluble, at first floating in the fluid, rendering it 
turbid, and finally settling as lees to the bottom. 
How to Make the Best Cider. 
Apple juice, tolerably pure, put into barrels 
with the bungs out, and a bottle neck, or a wisp 
of straw tucked into the bung-hole, and set in 
the shade somewhere, makes first, sweet cider, 
then cider, next hard cider, and finally, vinegar, 
without much care. When, however, the juice 
of ripe, rich apples, free from decay, leaves, dirt, 
and water, is strained into clean barrels, set in a 
cool cellar, and racked off when the fermenta¬ 
tion has nearly ceased, and the cider is nearly 
clear, a very different article is produced, hav¬ 
ing a fragrance and purity entirely wanting in 
the common article. The slight vinegary taste 
of hard cider is also wanting, and the “ hard¬ 
ness” is of the same quality as the dryness of 
the acid, or dry wines. Cider thus made is very 
properly called by our German friends Apfel Wein. 
It is a mistake to suppose that early Autumn 
apples will not make good cider, for that of some 
varieties is remarkably high-toned. It is seldom 
perhaps that there is enough of these early ap¬ 
ples to make a large quantity of cider, and this 
is probably the reason why they are neglected; 
and on account of the neglect, the stigma at¬ 
taches to them that they are good for nothing. 
A hand-press is an exceedingly convenient thing 
upon a farm, particularly such an one as may 
be used equally well for apples,, pears, cur¬ 
rants, blackberries, and grapes; and by it a great 
deal of fruit may be made valuable, which 
would otherwise be lost. One. mill will answer 
for grinding apples for several presses. 
Though the cider made from a mixture of 
several kinds of apples is very good, if well 
made, it is much better, if practicable, to keep 
the juice of different apples separate. In this 
case the delicate and distinctive flavors of the 
fruits are retained very agreeably in the cider. 
The most scrupulous cleanliness must obtain 
from first to last. First, the barrels into which 
the cider is to be placed must be thoroughly 
washed out and fumigated with sulphur, which 
is done, after preparing strips of cotton-cloth by 
dipping them in melted sulphur, by setting 
them on fire, putting them into the still moist 
barrel, and bunging it up so that the sul¬ 
phured rag shall be held by the bung. The mill 
and press, tubs, funnel, and dippers being also 
well cleansed, the apples are looked over, de¬ 
cayed ones thrown out, the dirt rubbed off, 
and they are then ground to a fine pulp. 
The common way of laying up a cheese with 
wet straw has several disadvantages, particular¬ 
ly the necessary use of water to wet the straw, 
which is equivalent to an addition of water to 
the juice; then, too, the straw always retains 
much of the juice. The small presses alluded 
to, which work without straw, yield a better ar¬ 
ticle of cider. To judge of the quality of cider 
an apple will make, it is best to try an experi¬ 
ment, grinding a small quantity, letting the 
pomace stand half a day, stirring it occasional¬ 
ly, and then pressing it. The difference in the 
color and richness of flavor, and of sweetness, 
is quite remarkable. Sweet apples, though con¬ 
taining more sugar, are often watery and defi¬ 
cient in flavor, while many sub-acid, or even sour 
apples, contain as much sugar, and make a much 
richer cider. The juice, when first pressed, 
should be syrupy, clear, and the darker colored 
the better. Apples vary also greatly in the 
quantity of cider they will make; of many 
kinds no more than eight bushels will make a 
barrel of cider, while of some of the richer, 
finer kinds it will take twelve bushels or more. 
It is poor policy to grind and press at once. 
A bruised apple gains in sweetness, by some 
chemical change which takes place—and sO the 
pomace should lie several hours to sweeten in 
this way; and besides, it should be stirred up 
occasionally to let the air get to it, so as to im¬ 
part a better color. The dark red color is very 
desirable, and can not be gained in any other 
way, and at the same time there is a positive 
gain in sweetness and richness to the cider. 
BUNG-HOLE CLOSED BT A WATER-VALVE. 
As the juice funs from the press, it is best re¬ 
ceived directly into barrels, flowing through a 
straw strainer. The strainer is easily made by 
putting a wooden tube through the bottom of a 
pail, which makes a funnel, and then stuffling 
the pail full of clean, sweet straw. Almost all 
the particles of apple, flies, etc., will be strained 
out, and a clear liquid alone will pass through. 
The barrels, large or small, are filled full, bunged 
up and moved to a cool cellar, where the bungs 
are removed and the cider left to ferment. 
The fermentation goes on quite rapidly, aud a 
considerable portion of scum overflows and is 
thus removed. When the active fermentation 
and frothing cease, and the bubbles crackle as 
they rise to the surface and break, the bung-hole 
should be closed by a large cork, (see figure) 
through which a glass or leaden tube, bent 
twice at right angles, is thrust, which rises from 
the bung and dips below water in some con¬ 
venient small vessel, through which tube this 
gas will escape, but air can not enter. When 
the fermentation is over, and no more bubbling 
at the end of this tube occurs, and the cider is 
clear, draw it off into clean, fumigated barrels, 
bung up tight, and keep in the coolest place. 
Fall Butter. 
The time of the year when that temperature pre¬ 
vails at which milk neither freezes nor quickly 
sours, at which cream rises perfectly, and when it 
requires least care to have the cream at the best 
temperature for churning, is the best for butter- 
making. We have these conditions both in Spring 
and Fall. In the Spring the cows are in full milk, 
the cares of the dairy and household are multifa¬ 
rious, and the butter, if made in quantity, must be 
marketed at once or kept through the Summer, and 
unfortunately not one in a thousand can make 
Spring butter that will keep well. Autumn is there¬ 
fore the time of all others when most and the best 
butter is made. 
The important things in butter making are to se¬ 
cure all the cream, to keep it clean, to churn it be¬ 
fore it has stood too long, to separate the butter¬ 
milk thoroughly from the butter, to work the salt 
in uniformly, aud to do all this without touching it 
with the hands. 
If the milk is carried half a mile and stands half 
an hour before it is strained into pans, you will 
certainly lose butter, for the cream will not rise so 
well. Let the distance that the milk is brought, 
and the delay before straining it into pans where it 
will not be moved, be as short as possible. There 
are no better pans than the common tin pans in use 
in this country, unless it be some of those forms 
which allow of the milk being drawn off from the 
bottom, leaving the cream undisturbed, and, as 
far as possible, free from milk. 
After standing 36 hours the cream will have risen, 
and if the weather is not too cold it wifi form quite 
a firm film upon the surface, which may be re¬ 
moved without taking up an appreciable quantity 
of milk. This is very desirable, for the cheesy por¬ 
tions of the milk should all be left behind, so far as 
possible. The cream is best put into stone-ware 
jars, and kept cool and clean. It is a mistaken no¬ 
tion that cream should be sweet to make the best 
butter. It must, however, be observed that cream 
attracts odors and flavors with astonishing facility, 
so much that the butter will often taste distinctly of 
articles which were cooking near the dairy at the 
time the milk was put to stand for cream. This fa¬ 
cility to acquire unpleasant odors and flavors will 
account for a vast deal of ill-flavored butter, which 
occurs to the disappointment of those who take a 
great deal of pains, but overlook or are ignorant of 
this important fact. 
The cream should be stirred whenever it is nec¬ 
essary to keep it long in the pot or jar, so that it 
shall have a uniform consistency and be uniformly 
exposed to the influences of the atmosphere. After 
the cream has acquired a slight degree of acidity 
the sooner it is churned the better. 
The thermometer churn is the best we know 
of; indeed the only really philosophical churn is 
one which enables us to regulate accurately the 
temperature of the cream. Modes of agitation, etc., 
however important, are of a secondary considera¬ 
tion. Cream should be of a temperature not below 
55° Fahrenheit, when the churning begins, nor 
should it be much above that, for the heat increases 
as the churning proceeds, and when the butter has 
come it will be near 60°, and ought not to be above 
65° on any account. When the butter has come, 
the churn should be opened and the sides, top 
and all parts where cream or butter may collect 
scraped down. After “gathering,” the buttermilk 
should be drawn off aud, according to one pro¬ 
cess, the butter washed—as much spring water at 
60° being put in as there was milk. When this 
is churned in contact with the butter for a minute 
or two, it is drawn off and more added. Two or 
three washings like this will free the butter from 
buttermilk so effectually that after it is thoroughly 
