The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1872-10-05
'mmhe EARN.
Vinegar and Row to Make 1t.
By ALEXANDER HYDE.

creasing value comes an increasing
temptation to manufacture spurious
article. Probably not one-half of what
is sold as cider-vinegar ever had its
origin in an apple-tree. Cider is gener-
ally so cheap in this country that we
are at a loss to account for the. scarcity
and high price of genuine cider-vinegar
Cider seldom commands over So per
barrel at the mill, while vinegar is sell
dom less than $40 at wholesale, and
retails at $l2 to $l5. With this mar
gin for profit, farmers should give their
attention to the manufacture of vinegar,
especially in such year as the present,
when an apple blessing covers the whole
land. Probably one reason why they
have not converted more cider into vim
egar is their ignorance of the simple
chemical process by which the change
is made. We call the process simple,
because the chemical changes are well
understood, and tie practical manipula-
ton can be performed by those who
make no pretentions to scientific Skill
The changes in themselves, however,
are wonderful. That a sweet liquid
should be changed by mereS contact
with air, into an acid, seems in itself al
most miracle, and must have puzzled
the philosophers of ancient Greece and
Rome, to whom chemistry was AN I'M
known science. Fermentation went on
then as now, and wine and vinegar,
(vIN AIGRE, sour wine,) where the re-
suit in Noah's day, just as surely as in
these modern times, when the laws of
fermentation are so well known.
Vinegar is simply acetic acid great
" diluted with water, and is the.
most extensively diffused and the most
largely produced of all the vegetable
acids 1t exists naturally in the juices
of most plants, and especially in fruits,
but is produced most abundantly by the
fermentation ofliquids containing sugar,
starch, or woody fibre, or any other
substance that can be converted into
sugar. When perfectly free from water,
acetic acid bllsters the skin, and pro-
duces sore when applied to any part
of the body. In this state analysis
shows that it is composed of carbon
AIS per cent; hydrogen, SIS. and oxy-
gen, 567. Sugar, or something which
be can converted into sugar, is found to
be essential to the formation of vinegar
artifciallv. Much cheap vinegar is
made from sour molasses, that which
has fermented and thus become useless
for sweetening purposes. 1t can also
be made from the sap Of the maple-tree,
the juice of beets; indeed, from anything
that contains sugar. Much vinegar is
also made by the distillation Of wood,
for woody fibre contains all the ele-
ments of sugar and vinegar When
dry wood is put into an iron retort and
distilled, the products are vinegar, wa
ter and tar Made in this way, it is
usually called pyroligneous acid, and is
extensively used in the arts.
Before vinegar can be produced by
fermentation, tie sugar must first be
changed into alcohol This change is
called the vinous fermentation, and is a
step downward in the decomposition of
more highly-organized matter. If we
introduce into any liquid containing
sugar, some germinal matter, generally
called Yeast, we hasten the fermenta-
ton and consequent decomposition, if
the temperature is right. This should
never be less than sixty degrees Fab
renheit. Yeast is a plant propa-
gates itself most rapidly wherever it
finds proper seed-bed and the right
degree of heat. 1t heats up more high
" organized substances, sends forth q
gas called carbonic acid, and produces
alcohol. Cider is a liquid which con-
tains much sugar, and its fermentation
is spontaneous, is fastened by the intro
duction of little yeast. This fermen-
tation is the first step toward putrefac-
ton, or decay, and occurs in all animal
and vegetable substances when they
begin to decompose, and alcohol is al
WAYS the result. When dough fer
ments, to rises, as the cooks phrase is,
alcohol is produced, and if the fermen-
tation is allowedd to proceeded too far,
the bread is sour; vinegar has been
formed.
The change of alcohol into vinegar is
called the acetous fermentation. , 1t is,
however, very different process from
that in the conversion Of sugar into
alcohol, and, strictly speaking, is not
fermentation. 1t is rather an oxidizing
process. 1t is by the union of oxygen
with alcohol that the latter is convert
ed into vinegar, and it is all-important
for this change that the air, the great
reservoir of oxygen, should be brought
into immediate contact with the alcohol
In Germany and France, where brandy
is cheap, much vinegar is made by di-
luting brandy with water and yeast,
and then allowing it to trickle slowly
over wood shavings, previously moist
ened with little vinegar, and contain
ing in cask, the side of which are per-
forated with holes so as to allow the
free admission of fresh air. By this
method oxygen is absorbed, and the
alcohol is speedy changed into vinegar
In this country, also, much vinegar is
made from whisky by similar process,
but is very inferior to pure cider vine
pdi, lHOuSu lluuitClN oupeIlOi " lue
fraudulent article made from sulphuric
acid diluted with water and colored
with burnt sugar.
There is no trouble in. causing the
vinous fermentation of cider; BY which
alcohol is produced. This occurs spon-
taneously, and speedily in the right
temperature. The difficulty in the
manufacture of cider vinegar is in oxi-
dizing this alcohol. Many farmers
bung up their barrels of cider after the
vinous fermentation has ceased, and
wonder why vinegar is not formed
Others leave the bung out of the barrel.
but keep it in cool celler, where there
is little circulation of air TO. convert
the cider into vinegar rapidly, the bar
els must be out of doors during warm
weather; little old vinegar must be
mixed with the cider, and as much air
be brought in contact with it as is pos
sible. 1t greatly aids the process to
change the cider from one barrel to