302 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
MANUFACTURE OF CIDER. 
If any cider is wholesome, that which is made right, 
is most so; and both as a matter of health and pecuniary 
profit, that which is of good quality, is most to be desi¬ 
red. There is no difficulty in making cider of such a 
quality that it will command from three to four dollars 
per barrel, by the quantity. The expense is but little 
more than is incurred in the dirty and slovenly mode of 
making the miserable stuff which generally passes by the 
name of cider. 
Cool weather is necessary for making good cider, and 
the quality of the liquor is improved by letting the po¬ 
mace lie as long before it is pressed, as can be done with¬ 
out fermentation. 
There is a great difference in the quality of apples. 
Those should be chosen for cider, which yield the rich¬ 
est juice, though the quantity is usually less in those of 
this character, than in others. The apples should be ripe 
when ground, but not rotten, and care should be taken to 
put those which ripen about the same time, into the same 
pressing. 
In the management of the liquor, the first and grand 
object should be to free it from all sediment. When this 
is properly done in the beginning, it will be easy to reg¬ 
ulate the fermentation afterwards. The best mode which 
we have ever known practiced, is to pass the cider, as 
soon as it comes from the press, through sand and char- 
choal. Clean river sand, rather coarse, is best. For on¬ 
ly a moderate quantity, a large tub or vat, may be used. 
Put in the sand and coal in alternate layers—having the 
coal in pieces of half an inch to an inch square. Lay a 
piece of flannel over the top, and turn on the cider as it 
comes from the press, as fast as it will run through. The 
flannel will catch much of the pomace, &c., which will 
after a while so fill the pores as to render it necessary to 
remove the cloth, and wash it, or substitute another in 
its place. 
If the filtration is well done, the cider will appear per¬ 
fectly pure as it runs from the sand, and should be at 
once put into casks and deposited in the cellar. After the 
casks are placed, the bungs should be taken out, till the 
fermentation has subsided. The fermentation will be 
somewhat retarded, and its activity much lessened, in 
consequence oi the filtration. The casks should be kept 
entirely filled during fermentation, that the froth or scum 
may work out. As the fermentation abates, the bungs 
may be put lightly into the casks, and when no foam con¬ 
tinues to rise to the top, the bungs may be driven tight¬ 
ly. The cider will sometimes keep well without further 
attention, for years; but in general, it is better to rack it 
off into other casks in the latter part of the winter. There 
will be found only a small portion of dregs in each cask, 
but in racking, care should be taken that none of the se¬ 
diment runs ofl with the pure cider. If the casks are 
sound and good, and are kept in a good cellar, the cider 
will keep a long time without changing. If it is wanted 
for bottling, it will answer well for this purpose, when 
managed in the way described, the following May or 
June from the time it is made. 
The casks for keeping cider should be made of the best 
of oak, well bound, and must be perfectly sweet. The 
cellar for storing, should be cool and dark. The tempe¬ 
rature should be at all times as nearly as possible the 
same, in order that the cider may remain in the same 
slate. The exclusion of light is necessary for the same 
reason, as the tendency of light is to produce decompo¬ 
sition. 
Different substances have been recommended to be put 
into casks with cider. Salt, clay, alum, mustard-seed, 
fresh meat, eggs, and a hundred other things, have been 
tried. We have at different times seen cider in which 
many of these things were used, but never yet saw that 
which was as good as that made in a proper manner 
without any thing being added. Most of the articles 
tend to deaden the cider, and lessen its most essential 
qualities. Made as we have recommended, it is free from 
the syrupy taste of new or sweet cider, is spirited and 
lively, with a fine, rich vinous flavor. 
To cleanse musty or foul casks .—If due care was always 
taken, casks would never get musty. As soon as the ci¬ 
der is out of a cask, it should be rinsed out thoroughly, 
dried, and then bunged tightly. But if from negligence, 
a cask becomes musty, the best way, as far as we know, 
to cleanse it, is to put in a quantity of unslaked lime, and 
pour boiling water on it till it is thoroughly slaked. Put 
in the bung, and shake the cask about so that the water 
and lime may come in contact with every part. Let it 
stand six or eight hours—empty it out—smell of the cask 
—if it is still musty, repeat the process, and after having 
again emptied out the lime, burn a strip of cloth dipped 
in melted brimstone, in the cask, fastening it by the 
bung. It must be a very bad smelling cask, that will not 
be rendered sweet by this mode. 
DEFECT IN POTATOES. 
For several years past, complaints have been made, in 
different parts of Europe, of a defect in potatoes. The 
injury to this important crop in some sections of Great 
Britain, has been very serious. 
A similar defect, so far as we can judge from descrip¬ 
tions, has been more or less prevalent in this country 
the last and present season. The disease (if so it may 
be called,) has been before so well described in our co¬ 
lumns, that we deem it unnecessary to say any thing par¬ 
ticularly on this point. We hear considerable complaint 
of the present crop being affected in this State—especial¬ 
ly, to the south and west. In a late trip to Orange and 
Dutchess counties, &c., we saw scarcely a field of pota¬ 
toes, that did not exhibit signs of a premature ripeness, 
or blast, which is, we think, the first indication of the 
defect and tendency to rot. In a trip of some forty miles 
to the north, made since returning from the southern 
counties, we did not find the indications of this defect so 
prevalent, and heard little or no complaint in regard to 
it. 
The cause of the defect, seems to be involved in as 
much obscurity as ever. We have heard many conjec¬ 
tures, all more or less differing from each other. Some 
have supposed the trouble was produced by an insect. 
We have made some examinations, but found no evi¬ 
dence of any. So far as we are at present enabled to form 
an opinion, we are inclined to believe that the occur¬ 
rence of unfavorable weather for the potatoe, at a parti¬ 
cular stage of its growth, has been the exciting cause of ’ 
the defect—that the least hardy varieties, and those plant- 
ted in ungenial soils, or too late in the season, have been 
most predisposed to suffer. We saw the other day some 
striking contrasts of the condition, product and quality 
of different kinds, at Professor Hall's place, near this city. 
Among several kinds, planted on the same description of 
soil, we found a variety called Mercers, (called in Penn¬ 
sylvania, Ohio, &c. Meshanicks, Neshannocks, or Chenan- 
goes,) had suffered most. Some other kinds, planted in 
adjoining rows, and at the same time, were but little af¬ 
fected. Of the latter, we were much pleased with a kind 
called Early June, a good sized, round, white potatoe, of 
a quality (as we have proved) unsurpassed for the table, 
and giving a good yield. They were ripe sufficiently 
early to sow the ground with turneps for a fall crop. So 
far as we have seen or heard, the kinds called Flesh co¬ 
lors, the round blue sorts, and the Merinos or Long reds , 
have not been much affected, unless on wet, heavy soil. 
Mr. M. Y. Tilden, of New Lebanon, writes us under 
date of Sept. 6, as follows:— c< I have this day been 
through a field of three acres of potatoes that would have 
given us at least 1,000 bushels, and find it badly affected 
with the new potatoe disease. What portion of them 
will be left, is beyond conjecture. We opened many 
hills, and the result of our examination satisfied us that 
the early planted, or those which were nearest ripe, 
were the least affected. Where the tops were green, we 
found scarcely a sound one. We also found that the flesh 
colored were less affected than the Mercers, Carters, or 
Pink eyes. In another field, I examined some of the old 
fashioned Merinos, and did not find any injured; the tops 
of these were quite green. I will examine them again 
by and by, and give you the result.” 
The Camellia, or rose of Japan, in its native 
clime, attains the height of 12 to 15 feet 
