Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1870-11-04
5fliscfllany.
Keeping Cider.

AS tntTt ID % sci A@i SO "ai""s -
cider now being made, it is of some con-
sequence to keep it in good condition, so
that to whatever use it is applied it
should be pure. Thers has been so lit
tie made for several years past that
there is but small amount of real ci-
der vinegar to be found. Fifty to sew
enty-fve cents per gallon is asked for
good vinegar, and the probability is that
most sold at those prices is made up OF
articles that ought never to be used as
food, in any form.
Vinegar at eating houses, and some
hotels, is not only not good, but is alb
solutely disgusting. In some cases it is
thick and ropy, and in others sickening
10 taste and smell, and must be extreme
ly uuwholesome.
In late number of the Knoxville
Wing, are some suggestions which may
prove valuable to those who think that
cider is a healthful drink. 1t is as fol-
lows:
"Much of the excellence of cider de-
ponds upon the temperature at which
the formation is conducted; point too
frequently overlooked by the manufac-
turers of this liquor. As soon as ex-
pressed from the fruit, it should be strain
ed into sulphured casks and placed in
cool situation where the temperature
does not exceed 500 Fah't-if left in
the heating sun, much of the sugar is
converted into vinegar by the absorb
ton of atmospheric oxygen, and thus
the liquor becomes acid and rough. On
the contrary, if the fermentation be con-
Quoted at low temperature, nearly the
whole of the sugar is converted into al
cohol and remains in the liquor, instead
of undergoing the process OF acetltica-
ton.
The acetous fermentation or the con.
version of alcohol into vinegar proceeds
most rapidly at temperature of 80 :
Fahrenheit, and at lower Temperature
the action becomes slower, until at 46
Farenheit, no such change takes place.
Independently of differences in the quail
ity of the fruit, this is the principal
cause of the superiority of the cider
made by one person over another, living
in the same neighborhood. The one has
cooler cellar or barn than the other to
store his cider in. In practice it has
been found that sour and rough apples
produce the best cider. This arises be-
cause they contain less sugar and more
malic acid, and the presence Of the lat
ter impedes the conversion Of alcohol in
to vinegar but cider made with such
apples can never equal in quality that
prepared at low temperature from fruit
Astounding in sugar, which, if properly
strained or racked at every indication of
fermentation, will keep good twenty
years"
One very common cause of bad cider
is, that it is put into unclean barrels;
barrels that have become musty, or faint
edin someother form, by standing through
the summer with one or two gallons of
dredgs left in them after drawing off the
cider. These partially putrefy and be-
come as disgusting as anything else that
has passed into the putrefactive state
When the cask is once thoroughly faint
ed, it is very difficult to sweeten itagain.
There is process Of checking the fer
mentation in cider so as to keep it sweet.
which may be done as follows: Take
strip of canvass or other thick cloth
about twelve inches long and two broad;
dip it into melted birthstone when dry,
light it, and suspend it from from the
bung- hole of cask, in which there are
a few gallons of cider until the match is
burnt out The cask must be stopped
for an hour or more then rolled to and
fro to incorporatethef fumes of the match
with the cider after which it may be
filled. Sometimes this process is resort
ed to for the purpose of giving an addi-
tional favor to the cider. To effect this
some powdered ginger, cloves, &c, may
be strewed on the match when it is made.
The burning Of these ingredients with
the sulphur will convey somewhat of
their fragrance to the whole cask of CT
der. But this should be done as soon as
the vinous fermentation is fully perfect
ed. Should fermentation return, repeat
the process. If candle goes out on be-
ing held in the bung-hole, fermentation,
has commenced again, and carbonic ac-
i'd is present.
The Ex-EMPREss.-Who she was
Eugenie Marie de Guzman, Countess of