St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-05
A GLASS OF MODERN CIDER.
Suggestive Pointers Concerning
Saccharine Apple Juice.


Pittsburg Dispatch.
The sight of keg of sweet cider on
the counter is more frequent in city
restaurants nowadays than it was
dozen years ago. A piece of pumpkin
pie and a glass of saccharine apple
juice doubtless appeal to the country
bred tastes CT manya grizzled merchant
and busy clerk and call up recOllectiOnS
of rude old country cider mills and the
great watts of amber liquor into which
they once inserted the potent rye straw.
Or possibly the pretty girl washing
glasses at the counter reminds them of
some country Pomona such as John
Keats drew III his poem of Autumn"
who loved to sit beside cider press
land watch its last slow oozings hour
by hour"
The cider business has got to be an
extensive one. and grows larger every
year, providing there is good crop of
apples. This year. however, there is
only about One-third of yield from the
cider mills. owing to the light apple
crop. The price of cider does not seem
to tluctuate with the supply. 1t is al
ways served ont by the retailers at 5
cents glass. and may be bought by the
hVS, Qt ilOLl ~ W ~ CCHto q S0ltOns
AS rule, the flush year of the apple
orchards furnishes vinegar supply for
two years. Good cider is worth more
than vinegar this year, so that the crop
will mostly be used in its fresh state.
Not few cider manufacturers own
more than one mill; some half dozen,
and they make handsome profit. Sup
posing that they pay farmer so cents a
barrel for apples. A barrel of apples
will make nine gallons of cider, which
will bring them 20 cents a gallon, or
SLIGO for the yield of so cents worth of
apples. There is, of course, some out
lay for machinery, labor, barrels, etc.
Secondhand whisky-barrels are gener-
ally. used, and they cost about Sl.25
a piece. Old red-nosed cider connois-
seurs say that quart or two Of whisky
left in the barrel does not hurt the
cider.
The cost of making cider is from two
to three cents gallon, and the farm
ers often prefer to pay this and market
their own ciderr But here they are at
a disadvantage from not being known
to the trade. A Connecticut cider firm
made bid the other day to supply 800
barrels of cider at Is cents gallon.
Such large orders would daZe the aver
age farmer, OF course.
The romantic old-time cider mill is
being rapidly suppplanted by the more
thorough and trustworthy modern sort.
In the old one the apples were often
ground by horse power. But most fire.
quently the cider mil was pitched be-
sides a small stream, the power of
which, half wasted on a great over
shot" wheel, was made to do the grind
ing. Often the supply of water would
fail, OF the dam or other contrivanceS
give way, and then their was great
temptation to water the cider to make
UP for lost time while waiting for the
dam to fill up. The pressing was done
generally by an upright screw into
which iron bars were thrust and pushed
around by brawny arms. The writer
has seen broad-backed Dutch woman
helping her husband at this arduous
work.
The modern cider mill, however,
not depend on dams. 10 be sure. there
may be a dam foot high in the neigh
boring rayine, a fall of water enough to
work a hydraulic ram and feed the
boiler. The grinder revolves at rate
which makes the building hum. The
ground apple, or pulp. falls down
through the floor into canvas sacks,
which are hastily closed and laid in a
tier Of a GoZen OH the platform of the
hydraulic press. Then down comes the
cover with irresistible power and the
essence of the apple gurgles into the
vat. From here pump, also propelled
by steam, forces the liquid up into a
large vat, from which it can be drawn
into barrels by turning spigot. In old
times the loading of barrel of cider,
weighing over 400 pounds. occupied the
close attention of several brawny men
as they rolled it up pair of ''SkidS"
with a concert OF ''heave- Obs" But
now pair of barrel tongs, rope
thrown over windlasS having large
wheel for the hand rope, and the mus
Gle of one man lifts the barrel and
swings it into the wagon.
1t is strong argument for the sweet
cider drinker that the pomace left after
pressing is absolutely worthless as a
food for anything or as fertilizer. The
virtue of the apple must therefore go
with the jalce.
The best cider is that made late in the
season from the best matured fruit.
Cold weather also conduces to its keep
Ing well. Russell apples make about
the finest cider in market, and it will
bring an extra price. Some other varie-
ties, Newtown pippins or crabapples,
make very fine thick cider. If properly
worked, cleared of pomace, and kept
air-tight in clean new barrels, it will
keep all winter as rich and pleasant as
sherry wine, while, of course, less al
coholic and SO less harmless.
The pleasure of sucking cider
through straw" is not always attain
able, as straws are not everywhere con-
venient at hand. An excellent subSti-
tuta for the straw is a stick of macarOni