Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1879-09-24
Farm, Garden and Household.
HOW TO PRESERVE cider

A pure sweet cider is only obtaina-
BILE from clean, sound fruit, and the
fruit should, therefore, be carefully
examined and wiped before grinding.
In the press use hair-cloth or gunny
in place Of straw. As the cider runs
from the press, let it pass through a
hair sieve into large open vessel, that
will hold as much juice as can be ex-
pressed in one day. In one day, or
sometimes less, the pomace will rise
to the top, and in short time grow
very thick. When little white bub-
bles break through it, draw off the
liquid through very small spigot,
placed about three inches from the bot
tom, so that the lees may be left be-
bind. The cider must be drawn off
into very clean, sweet casks-prefera-
bly, fresh liquor casks-and closely
watched. The moment the white
bubbles, before mentioned, are per-
ceived rising at the bungaole, rack it
again. 1t is usually necessary to re-
peat this three times. Then fill up
the cask with cider in every respect
like that originally contained in it,
add tumbler of warm sweet oil, and
bung up tight. For very fine cider
it is customary to add at this stage of
the process about half pound OF
glucose (starch sugar. or small por-
ton OF white sugar The cask should
then be allowed to remain in cool
place until the cider has acquired the
desired flavor
In the meantime clean barrels for
its reception should be prepared, as
follows: Some clean strips of rags are
dipped in melted sulphur, lighted, and
burned in the bunghole, and the bung
laid loosely on the end of the rag, so
as to retain the sulphur vapor within
the barrel Then tie up half pound
of mustard seed in coarse muslin bag
and put it in the barrel, fill the barrel
with cider, and add about quarter
of pound of isinglass or fine gelatine
dissolved in hot water. This is the
old-fashiened way, and will keep cider
in the same condition as when it went
into the barrel, if kept in cool place,
for year.
Professional cider-makers are now
using calcium sulphite (sulphite of
lime, instead of mustard and sulphur
vapor. 1t is much more convenient
and effectual. To use it, it is simply
requisite to add one-eighth to one-quar-
ter of an ounce of the sulphite to
each gallon of cider in the cask, first
mixing the powder in about quart Of
the cider and giving the latter a
thorough shaking or rolling. After
standing bunged several days, to allow
the sulphite to exert its full action,
it may be bottled off. The sulphite of
lime (Which should not be mistaken
for the sulphate of lime) is CONNER
cial article, costing about forty cents
pound by the barrel 1t will preserve
the sweetness of the cider perfectly I;
but, unless care is taken not to add
too much of it, it will impart slight
sulphurous taste on the cider. The
bottles and corks used should be per-
fectly clean and the corks wired down.
A little cinnamon, wintergreen, or
sassafras, etc, is often added to sweet
cider in the bottle, together with
dram or so of bicarbonate of soda, at
the moment of driving the stopper.
This helps to neutralize free acids and
renders the liquid effervescent when
unstepped; but, if used to excess, it
may prejudicially affect the taste.
STORING POTATOES.
In storing potatoes several methods
are adopted, yet they are all practi-
cally the same, the object being to
protect them against freezing, whether
buried in pits or stored in cellars The
first consideration is to keep them in
perfect darkness the next is the bins
should not be too deep-not over three
feet-to produce warmth and cause
them to sprout. When stored in the
field, straight trenches are dag, say
twenty feet in length and four or five
wide, which are filed to the depth of
three feet with potatoes, then well
covered with straw, on top of which
put eighteen or twenty inches of earth.
In pit twenty feet long there should
be about three gas escapes or venti-
lated openings, which should be plug
ged with straw and covered with a
board set at an angle to turn the rain.
If in cellars, barn or otherwise, the
bins should be covered with rugs, old
carpeting or straw. Those intended
to be kept for late spring sales should
be frequently examined and all sprouts
removed, for as soon as potato begins
to- ssprout 1t loses its solidity, dryness
a1dquality.
KEEPING WINTER VEGETABLES.
After the farmer has raised q good
supply of vegetables he often fails to
renlige the full benefit of his labor from
q lack of knowledge how to keep them.