Home-Made Cider Vinegar 
5 
Selection of the Apples. 
What has been said above concerning second grade fruit for 
cider and vinegar is not to be construed as meaning rotten, wormy, 
dirty, or unripe fruit. Nothing is gained by such a practice ana 
often all is lost. In the first place, it is impossible to cover up the 
flavor of the spoiled apples in the vinegar, and in the second place, 
when decayed and dirty fruit is employed, it is practically out of the 
question to control the fermentations in the cider upon which the 
quality of the finished product depends almost entirely. 
There is no reason why apples which have merely been bruised 
should not be used, and where they are not too badly rotted, the soft 
portion can be cut out. Children are always glad to have a hand 
in cider making and this is just where their services will fit in 
nicely. Remember that many hands make light work and likewise 
clean, acceptable cider, and you will be surprised to see in how short 
a time the spoiled parts can be removed from the bushels of other¬ 
wise worthless apples. 
The importance of washing the apples thoroughly with clean 
water before they go to the mill to be ground cannot be overesti¬ 
mated. There is bound to be a quantity of soil and dust clinging 
to the outside, particularly where the orchards lie along a public 
road and are clean cultivated so that the apples fall on plowed 
ground. This can be carried out very conveniently in an ordinary 
washtub, after which the apples should be allowed to drain before 
they are ground. One is always astonished at the amount of mud 
in the water after such an operation, even when relatively clean, 
hand-picked fruit is employed. 
Let us see next whether all varieties of apples are equally well 
suited to cider vinegar making; whether a good cider apple is nec¬ 
essarily a good vinegar apple; and what constituent or constituents 
of the apple determine its usefulness for these different purposes. 
In answer to the first question, it may be said that apples dif¬ 
fer very widely in their adaptability to cider and vinegar making; 
some appear to have been created for this very purpose, while others 
would not do at all. 
Concerning the second point, we find it is quite often the case 
that an apple which makes an excellent cider to drink would not 
make good vinegar. This is due to the fact that most tastes de¬ 
mand a cider that is not too sweet and with a slight acidity. Such 
