7St> 
ent kinds of fruits and in different varieties of 
the same fruit, and to insure the finest product 
the best quality of juice is required. As gene¬ 
rally made, culer is but the product of a 
scraping together of the refuse of the orchard, 
some apples giving j uice of one kind of strength 
and some of another, while some of the apples 
may be windfalls and partially ripened, or 
over-ripe and decayed. This iB an unfavor* 
able condition for making fine cider, but if the 
object be simply to save as much as possible 
of the orchard refuse, then this irregular plan 
may be the only practicable one. 
But in so far as 1 ipe, perfect fruit is selected, 
and that of a quality of juice corresponding in 
richness, and care and skill are used in the 
process of manufacture will the result be fa¬ 
vorable. Tne apples should be fully ripe, 
sound and free from stems and leaves or other 
foreign substances. Apples having a Blightlv 
astringeut llavor make cider which keeps best, 
and, when practicable, apples should be left to 
become ripe and sweeteued and dry by expos¬ 
ure to the Aulumu sun before being worked 
up. They gain iu sugar and lose in water by 
such exposure. 
Cider made early in the season has less body 
and does not keep as well as that made in 
cooler weather, uor cau fermentation be as 
easily controlled. Cider made after the first 
of November is likely to have better keeping 
qualities, a better body and a higher liavor. 
When made from apples of the same kind it is 
easier to regulate fermentation and easier to 
preserve the cider, and apples should be select¬ 
ed with this object iu view bo far as practi¬ 
cable. 
There are various opinions In regard to 
presses and crushers, some preferring to have 
apples crushed tiue, but the juice then is more 
muddy and cannot bo clarified as easily. It 
pressed as soon as crashed, the juice will be of 
alight color, but wuen the apples are coarsely 
ground and the pomace allowed to remain in 
the vats for some time before pressing, the 
juice will have a deeper color and an appear* 
auce of greater richness. A heavy pressure 
brings out more of the sugar and fruit flavor 
and the cider has better keepiug qualities. 
Ou the care and haudiing of the juice the 
quality of the product largely depends. For 
wine making, cool, underground cellars are 
provided and the fermentation carefully regu¬ 
lated, and with cider making the process of 
fermentation should go ou at as low a tempera 
ture as possible, and the barrels should be kept 
full at all times tnat. the impurities may over¬ 
flow. W hen suffijieutly fermented, the cider 
should be drawn oil into clean casks or vessels 
or bottled direct. O.d cider makers usually 
have some special process which they use iu 
their eider making, the advantage of which has 
been learned by experience, but the business 
of fine cider making is yet in its infancy, and 
there is room for a great deal of improvement. 
Some add sugar before the juice begins to 
ferment, and others put in alcohol and otneis 
mustard seed, but the simplest process for tt e 
fanner who makes but a few barrels is to en¬ 
deavor to conduct the fermentation at a low, 
even temperature aud then to draw off the 
clear cider, being careful not to disturb the 
settlings, aud either bung tightly or bottle and 
wire. 
Old liquor casks are best for keeping cider, 
but if new ones are used they should be fumi¬ 
gated with sulphur, by dipping strips of cloth 
iu sulphur and thou lighting and suspending 
them inside the barrel, which is then bunged 
up to keep iu the sulphur till the barrel is 
wanted for use. 
Various substances are added to cider to 
stop fermentation—sulphite of lime, salycilic 
aiid, etc., etc., but none of these improves the 
character of the cider, but rather injures it, 
aud retards the ripening by which a true eider 
is obtained- Professional cider aud wiue aud 
vinegar makers use elaborate processes com 
biued with skill gained from experience aud by 
the construction ol cool cellars, aud are reward¬ 
ed accordingly. There is yet room for much 
effort iu this direction. Cider may be bottled 
securely at the close, or near the close, of the 
first fermentation aud will become sparkling 
iu a short time. Cider which has become stale 
may be bottled and a lump of sugar added 
and it will become sparkling. 
■ ■ 
HANDLING FLAX. 
Although in frequent cases, after the flax 
has been thrashed, the stalks are sold to the 
manufacturer to prepare the fiber for use or 
sale, yet as this is ofteu done either wholly or, 
more commonly, iu part, by the farmer him¬ 
self, a short account of the processes will be 
either of use or interest. The flax stalk con¬ 
sists of three parts:—first, a woody, central 
hollow stem, called the "shove,” “shoove,” 
"shives," "boon” or "hurl;’’ second, a fib¬ 
rous sheath surrouuding the " shove,” aud, 
third, u delicate outside covering of skin or 
bark. The fibrous sheath or fiber—the only 
valuable part of the stalk—is held last to the 
"shove” by means of a mucilaginous sui> 
■tauee, and the object of the subsequent pro¬ 
cesses is to separate it completely from its 
worthless surroundings. 
Rotting or Retting has for its object to 
dissolve this glutinous substance, and when 
the process has been properly attended to, the 
shives readily separate from the fiber. There 
are two ways of rotting flax—aeriel or dew 
rotting, aud water rotting or steeping. The 
former is the slower, hut being the more con¬ 
venient and the less unpleasant, it is the mode 
commonly practiced in this country. As soon 
after the harvest as convenient the stalks are 
curried to a smooth grass plot and spread out 
in long swaths, care being taken to spread them 
of a uniform thickness of a quarter to a half 
inch, with the butts even and the straw straight. 
To prevent tangling and to facilitate turning a 
space of a few inches should be left between 
the adj acent swaths. In a week or ten days the 
swath should be turned upside down by run¬ 
ning a long, slim pole under it and lurniug 
the "poleful ” over. This can be doue better 
by two men, or a man and a boy, with a long 
pole than by one man with a short pole, be¬ 
cause when a portion of the swath is raised the 
part connecting it with the rest of the swath is 
likely to become more or less tangled unless 
somebody stauds on the part where the sepa¬ 
ration is to be made. Some only turn the flux 
once—when the cop side is thoroughly weath¬ 
ered; it is better, however, to turn it twice, 
lest the underside should become moldy, es¬ 
pecially on wet ground. Dew rotting takes a 
longer time in cold and dry than in wet and 
warm weather, alternate rain aud sunshine 
being the most favorable condition for speedy 
rotting. The period varies from three weeks 
to double that length. The flax is sufficient¬ 
ly rotted when the stalks assume a silver- 
gray color, aud the stem, if it is bent be¬ 
tween the fingers when dry, snaps like glass, 
and the fiber separates freely from the shives. 
The straw should then be collected by rake, or, 
preferably, by haud, aud bound in moderate- 
sized rheaves, which should be set on end until 
thoroughly dry. 
Iu water rotting the flux is either placed in a 
sluggish stream, or a pit is prepared for it, 
through which there is a flow of water from a 
stream or spring. " Soft” water, however, 
dissolves the mucilaginous suostance sooner 
thau " hard” water, aud water impregnated 
wiih irou or other mineral matter is unsuitable, 
as it is apt to discolor tbo liber, A like effect 
is produced iu a stagnant pool, so that a chauge 
of water Is necessary to a satisfactory result. 
The tiax iu the water should not touch the 
ground, so that it is always convenient to make 
a rough platform, four or live inches from the 
bottom, of rails or boards held down with 
stones or stakes for it to rest on. On this the 
bundles are placed iu au iueliued position and 
the water is let into the pit until it is four 
or five inches over the top of the flax, which is 
held down by stones or other weights or by 
poles laid across aud prevented from rising by 
being fastened to stakeB. If the flax is over- 
rotted the fiber is injure.! or ruined, so that 
great care must be taken to prevent this mis¬ 
hap. The cooler the water, the louger the flax 
will be in rotting; but if of the right tempera¬ 
ture the process should be completed in six or 
seven days. After steeping live days the flax 
should be frequently examined to determine 
whether it is rotted enough. To decide this 
point, take from the center of a bundle an 
average-sized straw; break a piece about six 
inches long from the middle of it, aud draw 
the boon downwards; it sufficiently watered 
it will slip from the fiber without breaking the 
latter. The bundles should then be lifted out 
carefully, uubouud, and the flax spread out to 
dry ou lire grass iu swaths, much the same as 
iu dew rotting. 
If it has been taken a trifle too soou out of 
the water the rotting cau be completed ou the 
grass. When the flax has been rotted enough, 
it is gathered iu bundles aud housed, stacked 
or sold. Iu some places rotting is followed by 
flriug. especially when the rotting has not 
been sufficient. This is done by spreading the 
flax thinly, either ou a rack about lour feet 
high, under which a low fire bums; or over 
an uud 'grouud iIjo, through which the heat 
from a fire passes. Manufacturers generally 
prefer to buy the liber either belore or alter 
rotting, as they ustully have couveulenees for 
performing the other operations better than 
they cau be performed ou the farm. 
Breaking, when done on the farm, Is per¬ 
formed either wi h a haud or power *• break,” 
the object beiag to break the straw across at 
short intervals so as to facilitate the separa¬ 
tion of the shives from the liber. By shaking 
the broken stalks well moat of these are got 
lid of, aud those that still remain are worked 
out by 
Scutching —For this a scutching or swingle 
board is needed—an upright, hard-wood board 
of a convenient bight, fubtened at the bottom to 
a horizomul support or suuk in the ground. Ou 
the top of this, or, better in a notch cut at a 
convenient flight in the side of it, a handful 
oftliebiokeu ll ix is placed, and struck sharply, 
close to the board, with a scutcher or swiugliug 
knife—a hard-wood, doubled-edged kuife about 
two feet long. Each handful of flax is turned 
and shifted on the board until the shives are 
thus beaten off. A revolving power scutcher 
with a number of knives arranged like the 
spokes of a wheel, is also used for the same pur¬ 
pose. 
Hatcheling is the final process of dressing, 
aud consists in drawing the scutched fiber 
through a comb or hatchel consisting of iron 
teeth about six inches long, one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter at the lower end and tapering 
to a point. About ten of these are set a quar¬ 
ter of an inch apart in a hard wood board, and 
the fiber is drawn through them until it is freed 
from all shives and coarse tow, when each 
handful is slightly twisted, and the product is 
ready for market. 
Breaking and scutching are largely don ) at 
present at one operation by a machine which 
does not take up much more room than an 
ordinary fauniog milt. The bunch of flax is 
spread upon a table in front of the machine, a 
set of grooved rollers 9eiz iupon the stalks and 
break them thoroughly by a peculiar motion. 
Then they pass straightway to the scutchers 
above the rollers, where they are freed from 
the shives. The whole operation takes but a 
little time, aud leaves the flax beautiful, clean 
and shining, without a single taugled fiber. A 
machine of this kiwi iu each flax-raising dis¬ 
trict would make a great difference in the 
profits of the farmers, who would then he able 
to realize a fair income from the fiber as well 
as from the seed. 
$ann Copies. 
WESTERN FARMING.—XV, 
W. I. CHAMBERLAIN. 
Bonanza Farming.—!▼. 
In the preceding articles of this series It 
seemed clear that the mere coldness of the 
climate need not prevent successful mixed hus¬ 
bandry by "small farmers” in Northern Dako¬ 
ta. The questions of water and fuel, how¬ 
ever, still remain to be considered. 
Most of the surface and well water is not 
good. It is too alkaline aud brackish to 
be palatable or beaithfal for man or beast, 
'l’ue waters of the Red, James and Missouri 
Rivers, when settled or filtered, are palatable, 
but that of most of the ponds aud creek- is 
not good, and if wells are dug the surface 
water usually makes the well brackish. There 
are good wells, but they are rare aud expen¬ 
sive. It seems to me that filtered cistern wa¬ 
ter will have to come largely into use. Even 
in Ohio, where brooks and springs abonud 
and wells are easily dug, the filtered rain 
water ie’comiDg more and more iuto general 
use. It is, on the whole, it' properly man¬ 
aged, the purest aud the best. If now all 
farm buildings have their eaves thoroughly 
spouted, aud very large cisterns are built with 
good filters. It seems to me enough water can 
be obtained. All burns and sheds of every 
kind would have to lurnish their share of the 
water for the stock and, with abuudant stor¬ 
age tor all the water that falls ou all roof 
surfaces, the supply might answer for ait drink¬ 
ing purposes for both man and beast. 
The question of fael is a serious one. There 
is no wood in large portiuns of the Territory, 
except in very limited supply along the few 
water-courses, aud coal has not yet been 
found, except of a half-formed and inferior 
character; aud the settler may well ask whence 
the fuel is to come for the long and severe 
Winters. This problem will be solved in time. 
Goal in paying quantity and quality will, no 
doubt, be found withiu accessible distance, 
and the timber culture laws, most liberal In 
their character, will in a few years produce 
fuel from the fast-growing varieties of trees. 
But at present coal seems not to be used. I 
did not at least notice it on sale in the towns, 
nor being transported on the railways. Wood 
is found iu large quantities back in the tim¬ 
ber regions of Minnesota, but the freight of 
a hundred miles or more is expensive. 
The future of eveu Northern Dakota is, I 
think, assured. The Territory has enough of 
the best wheat laud in the world to make two 
States like Ohio, and it is all cleared aud ready 
for the plow, and nearly all of it free from 
stones. Settlers will surely come in, and will 
find meaus of overcoming the difficulties and 
drawback* I have meutioued. Men accus¬ 
tomed to cold climates will find nothing alarm¬ 
ing in the long Winters. But the facts iu the 
case should be fairly stated, as I have tried to 
do, aud the drawbacks clearly understood, or 
else disappointment and failure will ensue. 
For an Ohio and New York farmer who is out 
of debt or iu&fair way of getting oat, and 
who owns an average farm, I should consider 
it most uuwise to think of going West. Ohio 
has been specially blessed of heaven in soil, ell 
mate, prodnets and resources. All the animals, 
grains, fruits and vegetables of the tempeiate 
zone thrive in every county of our fertile 
State. Our mineral resources are vust. The 
fiuest timber covers our hills and plains, and 
coal underlies a large portion of our area 
Stone, for buildings, bridges, foundations, 
railway ballasting and roads, and gravel for 
roads are found in almost every school district 
of the State. We can travel all Winter on 
hard turnpike gravel roads. Instead of being 
stuck in the mud for four or five months as in 
some of our fertile Western prairie States. In 
wheat even Dakota cannot surpass our yield. 
Certified yields of over 40 bushels per acre are 
reported to onr State Board of Agriculture from 
nearly every county in the State, and some 
yields are reported as high as 50 and even 60 
bushels per acre. The average from the whole 
State this year will probably exceed 20 buehels 
per acre, aud our new crop reports will soon 
show a close approximation to the exact yield. 
Onr State is the verybome of the vineyard and 
the orchard, while stock breeding aud feeding, 
dairying and wool growing thrive. In short, 
every branch of agriculture and mechanical 
and manufacturing industry finds its home in 
Ohio, and our Winters are so mild as not to 
suspend work. 
So, while I should certainly think it unwise 
for an Ohio farmer in comfortable circum¬ 
stances to leave this abounding and diversified 
agricultural prosperity for even the bright 
promises of the West, but should advise him 
to stay and develop the resources of his own 
farm and State by a wiser and more skillful 
and faithful husbandry, yet for those who have 
no farms, or for those whose farms are in loss 
favored regions, or for those whose farms are 
covered by a hopeless debt, Dakota and our 
other new Western States and Territories have 
mauy and decided attractions. One thing, 
however, should be fairly understood by those 
who go West to escape debt—viz the cost of 
etartiug a Western farm. For very moderate 
buildings, teams, machinery, implements and 
necessary household lurniture. eveu on large 
farms like the Drlrymple and G andin estates, 
it costs about 612 per acre at the outset, and 
this does not include land or the live stock, ex¬ 
cept teams. And for any wheat farm of lees 
than 300 or 400 acres in Dakota, the proper 
equipment would eoiy, even more per acre, and 
if stock raising was contemplated, the expense 
would be still greater. Now, unless our immi¬ 
grant looks this necessary expense fairly in 
the face and makes provision for it, he will 
soou find himself involved in the same hope¬ 
less debt he expected to escape. It may as 
well be fairly understood that it takes consid¬ 
erable skill and capital or great self-denial, or 
rather all three combined, to make a success 
of farming at the West or anywhere else. 
The greaL West wilt furnish happy homes 
for almost countless millions of our sons and 
daughters, or for those iu iesa favored lauds 
across the lakes, or the Atlantic; but the varied 
misfortunes privations and reverses of a new 
country will be sure to be found there for a 
long time, and no one should go who is not 
prepared to meet them. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
Wheat Notes Continued. 
Mold’s English Wheats (white and red 
Winter) at one time promised to yield heavily. 
The straw was short and heavy, the leaves 
broad aud of a deep green color. The heads 
looked large and fail; but the yield did not 
fulfill this promise. One plot was manured 
at the rate of 000 pounds per aero of unleached 
a«hee. The drills were 12 inches apart, the 
ground hoed once, Get. 2 >. This yielded at 
the rate of Of bushels per acre. Another plot 
was treated in the same wav, except that at 
the rate of 000 pounds of Crocker’s " ammo- 
nlated bone superphosphate" was sown in lien 
of the ashes. This yielded at the rate of 12 16 
bushels per acre. Upon another plot the seed 
was sown broadcast at the rate of 40 pounds 
per acre. This was manured at the rate of 
1 800 pouuds of the same fertilizer per acre. 
The yield was at the rate of Ilf bushels per 
acre. 
Lost Nation (Spring wheat) was sown Sep¬ 
tember 18, in drill-?six inches apart, at the rate 
of one bushel per acre, the pilot fertilized with 
the same (" atnmoniated bone superphos¬ 
phate") coueentrated manure, at the rate of 
500 pouuda per acre. The yield was 10 bushels 
per acre. 
Arnold’s Gold Medal was sown broadcast 
(one bushel per acre) and no fertilizer need. 
The yield was 20 bushels per acre. 
Wysor’s Fui tzo-Clawson was sown the 
same as Gold Medal, except that 500 pounds 
per acre of the same superphosphate were 
used. The yield was 2*2$ bushels per acre. 
Fultz was sown iu four different ways:— 
First, in drills six inches apart, without fertil¬ 
izers. Yield. 23$ bushels. Second, the same, 
with drills 12 inches apart. Yield, 2$ bushels 
per acre. Third, drills 12 inches apart, seed 
two inches apart in drills; fertilizer in drill* 
at the rate of 500 pounds per acre. Yield. 26 
bushels. Fourth, same as the last, except 
fertilizer sown broadcast. Yield, 24$ bushels. 
Defiance ; 600 pounds of the same fertilizer 
