The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-09-04

Hints on Cider Making That Will Prove
Valuable Alike to Large and Small
Produces, of This Eeverase-Threshing
Corn by Machinery.
October and November are the usual
cider making months and the later it IL
made the better it will keep. Good cider
cannot be made from defective, unripc or
partly rotten apples. and the use of them
for making cider should in all cases be
avoided. Not half enough care is usually
taken in this respect AS a matter OF
fact it will pay. even after all unfit ones
have been rejected in gathering them. 10
wash the fruit clean and spread 1t III the
sun to dry. even to the point OF willing,
for the more water that can be evaporated
from it ut this stage the better the cider
will be. Another fact not very generally
known is that the best table apples are
not the ones that will make the best
cider.
The best machine for grinding apples
for the press is one that will crush them
rather than one that rasps or CRATES them
into pulp. For this purpose nothing Il
better adapted to it for farmers usa
than the typical old fashioned cider mill,
consisting of sweep, Il hopper, re-
ceiving box and two upright wooden cyl
indcrs, where the one with cogs is madn
to turn the other, and the two crush this
apples as they fall between them from tho
hopper. Other machines are in use where
greater capacity and speed are required,
but none that do better work. When
ground the pomace should lie in the
trough over night. or from ten to fifteen
hours, before it is pressed. Straight.
clean straw is the best straining material
for laying up the cheese. and all tubs or
barrels used should bethoroughly cleansed
before q second using.
Freezing and thawing will injure cider
greatly unless it is drawn off ut once
from the ice. which may be left to re-
main, and when melted will be nothing
but water. Cider thus drawn off will be
greatly improved by the abstraction OF
the frozen water. and there is no other
way in which the same amount OF water
can be taken from it without injury.
Evaporatirg the same quantity OF water
bv boiling would ruin the cider for a bev-
erarc. Cider should OH no account be di-
luted with water in any part of the pro-
cess Of making. and i'll storing it away
the cooler the temperature of the place,
so long as it does not freeze. the better 1t
will keep.
Of all the cider apples known, none ara
better than those called the Virginia or
Hewes crab This, is small apple a lit:
tie larger than the common wild crab, and
perfectly destitute of any of the good
qualities of an apple to be eaten. The
Harrison apple is another excellent sort for
cider. The trees are hardy and vigorous,
and except in unfavorable seasons, have
proved abundant bearers. When ripe,
the apple has better flavor than the
crab, but is rarely gathered for any other
purpose than cider, for which the juice so
nearly matches that of the crab that
where they are grown in the same orchard
they are usually ground together. The
red crab ind Waugh's crab are also fine
cider apples. ..
Outside of the special cider apples, it is
the general experience that the fruit OF
Seeding trees, or natural fruit, as 1t Is
called, makes better cider than the more
popular varieties Of table apples.
When properly made, crab cider Is
highly esteemed for it's good body and
sparkling quantities, and large quantities
are no doubt manufactured and sold as
champagne. To treat it properly. it should
be cleansed from all foreign matter, scum
and sediment, without arresting fermen.
tation by scalding it, or by the use OF
chemicals. This should be done by letting
it stand in large open casks holding three
or four barrels until a slight fermentation
has taken place, causing considerable
scum to rise to the surface to be skinned
off, and to give time for the fine pulpy
particles held in solution to fall to the
bottom in the form of sediment.
The cider, after having thus purified it.
self, is drawn off through faucets placed
so high in the casks that the sediment
will not run out with it, and is either
barreled at once or more generally
strained into the barrels through filters
of clean sand, when it is stored in a cool
cellar ready for sale or use. Occasionally
the suppressed fermentation will make it
necessary to give it vent temporarily,
which can be done with small gimlet at
the side of the bung. The necessity for
doing this will be shown by a bulging
outward of the heads from the great
pressure Of the gas from fermentation,
and when this is relieved the hole should
be stopped as soon as it may be without
causing the barrel to leak from the strain.
The treatment above is equally applicable
to cider made from apples of other varie-
ties