1452 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
General Farm Topics 
White Wine Vinegar 
Can you give me a recipe for making 
vinegar from grapes, what is sometimes 
called “white wine vinegar?” c. c. T. 
Newport, It. I. 
In the making of wine vinegar it had 
been conclusively proven that the better 
the grapes the better the vinegar. The 
quality of fruit that will make good wine 
will if properly handled make good vine¬ 
gar. The grapes should be full ripe, as 
they will thus contain the maximum of 
sugar. They should be gathered when 
they are cool, or if this be not possible 
they should have their temperature low¬ 
ered before crushing. As soon as the 
lowering of the temperature is accom¬ 
plished they should be crushed. This is 
done with the power or hand machines 
that employ rollers for the purpose. This 
operation should be thorough, yet the 
seeds should not be broken. From the 
crusher the grapes are passed into an 
open vat where fermentation is allowed 
to begin. The employment of a pure wine 
yeast for fermentation produces a prompt 
and very desirable fermentation. After 
this process has been allowed to progress 
until gas bubbles are seen escaping from 
the surface, the juice should be separated 
by pressing. The pomace from the first 
pressing may have water added to it, and 
pressed again if the fruit be high in sugar, 
and the juice thus obtained be added to 
the first pressing. A small homemade 
lever press may be used in the handling 
of small quantities of fruit. If grapes 
containing a large amount of coloring 
matter be used, as with some red and 
black varieties, it may be necessary to 
press out the juice immediately after the 
crushing, as the fermentation brings out 
the coloring matter. The object of fer¬ 
mentation is of course to change the 
sugar of the fresh fruit into alcohol. This 
can be done either in open vats or in 
casks. Whichever is used, it is very 
necessary that they be thoroughly 
cleansed, especially if the containers have 
contained wine or grape vinegar previous¬ 
ly. The temperature of the fermenting 
juice should not reach above 90 degrees 
Falir., and if it can be kept to S5 or 
somewhat below the better. If the tem¬ 
perature should fall below this point it 
becomes necessary to heat the room arti¬ 
ficially in which the fermentation is tak¬ 
ing place. In from a week to 10 days 
of fermentation under the above con¬ 
ditions, it will be found upon testing 
that the sugar perceptible to the taste 
has disappeared. 
The wine is now transferred to other 
casks, which are completely filled, and 
after gas ceases to be given off these are 
tielitly bunged. At the end of three or 
four weeks most of the solid matter will 
have settled to the bottom of the con- 
t’iner. The clear wine should then be 
drawn off the sediment. It may be drawn 
d'rectl.v into vinegar casks and the acetic 
fermentation started immediately. If,this 
is not convenient it can be drawn into 
the casks and stored indefinitely. In this 
latter instance the wine should be racked 
from the sediment at intervals of three 
or four months. It is best that the wine 
be free from sediment before the acetic 
fermentation takes place. If the wine be 
much colored it should be decolorized be¬ 
fore the acetic fermentation. It is claimed 
that the results obtained from pasteuriz¬ 
ing the wine before placing in the vinegar 
casks gives better quality vinegar. It is 
recommended that two or three gallons 
of good strong vinegar be placed in the 
cask before the wine that is to undergo 
the acetic fermentation is added, and that 
the wine be added at intervals of a few 
days and not filled at one time. This 
amount of vinegar is for a 50-gallon con¬ 
tainer. The added vinegar, if not pas¬ 
teurized, supplies the needed bacteria for 
the acetic fermentation. The temperature 
during this fermentation should be kept 
fairly uniform, and if possible between 
65 degrees and 75 degrees Falir. In order 
that this process take place it is necessary 
that there be free access of air to the 
liquid, but vinegar flies and dust must 
be excluded. The former is accomplished 
by placing coarse cheesecloth over the 
openings of the container. 
The period required for the completion 
of the acetic fermentation varies greatly, 
depending on tjie temperature # of the 
room, but in two to four months it should 
be complete under the conditions as here¬ 
in outlined. The end of the fermentation 
is determined by tasting, and more ac¬ 
curately by the use of an acidometer. 
When the latter is used frequent tests 
should be made in order to determine the 
exact status of the process. As the sugar 
content of the grape directly influences 
the amount of alcohol, so the amount of 
the later affects the amount of acetic acid 
in the finished product. The higher the 
sugar in the grape the more will be the 
acetic acid in the vinegar. Where differ¬ 
ent varieties of grapes are used in vinegar 
making, the maximum amount of acetic 
acid attainable will vary in the vinegar. 
Likewise the same variety, if gathered at 
different times, will produce a vinegar 
varying in its acetic acid content. 
If a latter testing with the acidometer 
shows a lower reading than a previous 
testing has shown, it indicates that the 
process has gone too far. When the] 
proper maximum degree of acidity has 
been reached or the above over-fermenta¬ 
tion has been reached the product is 
drawn out of the fermenting casks into 
clean ones and all bacterial action 
stopped. This is accomplished by com¬ 
pletely filling the casks, which are tightly 
bunged and placed in a cool cellar. If 
the vinegar is to be kept some time be¬ 
fore use or sale it should be. racked off 
a few times at intervals, and the casks 
completely filled. The racking should be 
done with as little exposure to the air 
as possible. When the vinegar is to be 
sold it should be clear and free from bac¬ 
teria. When bottled it should be pas¬ 
teurized at 140 degrees after bottling. 
F. G. 
“Kanred”, a New Kansas Wheat 
On page 1369 we told about the scien¬ 
tific search for a peach in New Jersey. 
This promises to prove very profitable to 
the State and shows the kind of work our 
scientists are doing. 
Now we learn of a similar successful 
search for a new variety of wheat in Kan¬ 
sas. A circular from the Kansas Experi¬ 
ment Station tells of a new variety of 
wheat known as Kanred. This is a hard 
red Winter wheat, very much like Turkey 
and Kharkof in appearance, but superior 
to them in Winter hardiness, earliness of 
maturity, resistance to disease, and yield. 
This new wheat is the product of a single 
head which was selected in 1900 from a 
hard Winter variety introduced from Rus¬ 
sia. A large number of heads were taken 
from this field. The seed of each was 
planted in a single row and harvested 
separately. The work required in doing 
this may he understood when it is known 
that the first year 554 selections were 
made. Each one was weighed and stud¬ 
ied fully in order to make sure of it. This 
patient selection was continued for sev¬ 
eral years, studying each variety yearly. 
Finally this Kanred proved its superior¬ 
ity. and was tested out in various parts of 
the State. It is an early wheat, maturing 
so as to escape much of the hot winds and 
drought. That is a great advantage, espe¬ 
cially in Western Kansas. The Kanred 
is a resistant variety, and is not winter- 
killed, as many other varieties are. Just 
why a wheat should be able to endure the 
Winter is a curious problem, but this 
Kanred seems without question to be par¬ 
ticularly hardy. In one case during the 
hard Winter of 1910 the yield side by side 
was 27 bu. of Kanred and a trifle over 17 
bu. for Turkey. The winter-killing in 
that season was attributed to an ice sheet 
which covered the ground in late Winter, 
with alternate freezing and thawing. In 
some way the Kanred was better able to 
keep its feet in the soil under these trying 
conditions. It seems to be demonstrated, 
too, that the Kanred is well able to resist 
rust, and without question it is outyielding 
most other varieties of wheat. The Kan¬ 
red greatly resembles the other two vari¬ 
eties named here, and mixtures of the two 
kinds are difficult to detect. Of course, if 
the new seed becomes mixed with these 
other varieties much of the advantage 
would be lost, and this circular gives con¬ 
siderable advice about how to keep the 
seed pure. The new variety should not 
be planted on ground which grew another 
variety of wheat or rye the previous sea¬ 
son. The best plan is to grow the de¬ 
sired seed of Kanred on some smaller field 
by itself, away from other fields of wheat, 
where there is a reasonable chance of 
keeping it pure. This development of a 
new wheat promises to be of great impor¬ 
tance to a State like Kansas, where grain 
is the chief crop, and a difference of sev¬ 
eral bushels to the acre means a vast sum. 
As is the case in New Jersey with the de¬ 
October 4, 1919 
velopment of these new peaches, the en¬ 
tire State will benefit through this class 
of work, and without questioH the scien¬ 
tists who do this patient labor are bene¬ 
factors to humanity. 
Various Poultry Questions 
1. Are beef brains and sheep brains that 
are kept in cans in cold storage good for 
chicks and for laying hens? 2. Are the 
ashes from the coal brooder stoves good 
for chicks when dry or wet from rain? 
3. At what age could the chicks be given 
free range? 4. Is warm milk right from 
the cow good for chicks, or is it too rich? 
5. Would you close up your laying and 
breeding houses the first of October and 
plow the yards, then sow with rye and 
not let out the hens until the middle of 
April, when the rye gets a good start? 
G. In the June number of the American 
Poultry Journal there was an article 
written by E. A. Frank, about a bird 
named “Mahogany Russian Orloff.” Was 
the whole thing only an advertisement, 
or is the article true? As this bird comes 
from a cold climate, could it stand warm 
weather? S. R. 
Massachusetts. 
1. While I have never fed them, I can 
see n reason why beef and sheep brains 
should not be suitable food for poultry, 
if kept sufficiently cold to prevent spoil¬ 
ing ; this. I judge, would be somewhat dif¬ 
ficult under ordinary conditions, however. 
2. Coal ashes are not harmful to fowls, 
though they have no food value other 
than the grit which they may supply. 
3. Chicks may well have free range at 
any time after hatching; in fact, the 
sooner the better. 4. Milk, warm, cold, 
fresh, sour, fluid or clabbered is good for 
chickens. 5. Yes, a good idea. 6. I have 
not seen the article that you refer to and 
have no information concerning the re¬ 
liability of the advertiser. M. b. d. 
i8/y 
1919 
IW 
& 
•cUi 
M 
wii 
The FIRST 
Gasoline Motor Propelled 
Road Wagon in All the World 
Was a SELDEN in 1877 
When you choose a motor truck to do the 
hauling on your farm, consider the stability of 
the manufacturer of the vehicle. For the guar¬ 
antee of a reliable manufacturer will be of con¬ 
siderable value to you in the years after your 
purchase that the truck is in operation. 
Consider the value to you of the guarantee 
behind every SELDEN TRUCK that leaves the 
factory—the guarantee of a manufacturing or¬ 
ganization strong financially—the guarantee of 
the oldest and one of the largest manufacturers 
of motor trucks in the world to-day. The first 
gasoline motor propelled road wagon in all the 
world was a SELDEN in 1877, and the present 
types of SELDEN TRUCKS are the product 
of years of continuous experimentation, observa¬ 
tion and experience in manufacture since the 
day of their inception. 
SELDEN TRUCKS are trucks of rugged con¬ 
struction, great hauling power, and almost un¬ 
limited powers of endurance. They are built 
on sound engineering principles which give 
them the power to render economical and there¬ 
fore profitable service for many years after their 
installation. 
Among the long list of users of SELDEN 
TRUCKS are some of the oldest and largest 
business institutions in this and foreign countries. 
SEARS, ROEBUCK 8C CO., the STANDARD 
OIL COMPANY, the GILLETTE SAFETY 
RAZOR CO., and the GOODYEAR TIRE 8C 
RUBBER CO., for instance, operate SELDEN 
TRUCKS. This fact alone is strong evidence 
of Selden superiority. 
Selden Trucks are built in models of l 1 /^, 2, 3Vz 
and 5 Ton capacity, all WORM DRIVE, and 
are equipped with bodies that meet the particu¬ 
lar requirements of hauling on the farm. 
Ask the Selden Dealer in your locality to shcrw you the 
model Selden ‘Truck best adapted to your needs, and the 
Selden Convertible Farm Body (jive dijferent types of 
bodies in one); or write us for whatever information 
you desire. 
SELDEN TRUCK CORPORATION, Rochester, N. Y., U. S. A. 
Motor 
