4 
The Colorado Experiment Station 
‘‘Surely you must be mistaken about not being able to get cider 
vinegar from your grocer in bulk.” No, gentle reader, do not be 
deceived by the stencil mark on the end of the barrel. If, per¬ 
chance, this particular lot came from a nearby ranch, the odds are 
in favor of its not being worth carrying home. Do not understand 
me to speak thus lightly of all home-made vinegar for there is 
some to be found of splendid quality, but it is the exception. As a 
rule the storekeeper will apologize to the customer for his farm 
vinegar, but with that which comes from the wholesale dealer it is 
different. Most certainly a sad condition, when the first and best 
vinegar that was ever made came from the farm home! What is 
more, it cannot be obtained from the farmer or apple grower today 
for most of them are buying all of the vinegar they use. 
What has become of our apple vinegar industry, and why have 
the merchants turned their attention to the distilled article? The 
answer to this can be had without pursuing an extensive investiga¬ 
tion into the economics of the question. It is simply this—the aver¬ 
age run of farm vinegar is so inferior to the distilled product that 
the merchants cannot afford to handle it. The quality is so variable 
and the strength is so unreliable that the good housewife has 
learned through the repeated experience of having her pickles spoil 
not to ask for cider vinegar. 
There is no good reason why this condition of affairs should 
exist which has resulted in placing a boycott on the farm product, 
but in the light of the facts as they actually exist, is not the con¬ 
sumer justified in taking this stand? There is no' doubt that the 
synthetic article has come to stay, but this does not mean that 
genuine apple vinegar is a thing of the past. However, until we 
are able to produce as good or better vinegar on the farm and in 
the orchard and can guarantee its quality and strength to be reason¬ 
ably constant, we have no right to ask or to expect the public to 
buy an inferior product or to help build up the industry by its 
patronage. 
It is just as easy to make high-grade apple vinegar at home 
when one understands the different operations and principles in¬ 
volved as it is to make good butter or good bread. If the house¬ 
wife knew as little about making butter and baking bread as the 
average farmer or orchardist knows about making vinegar, we 
should all forsake the staff of life and take refuge in the nearest 
sanitarium. 
