The Republican., 1900-12-06
AN APPLE WANTED.
Maine Fruit Growers Are Trying to
Produce a New and Hardy
Variety.

Names apple crop varies from s.
000,0 900 or 100000 bushels in a good
year, to 100000 to 100000 bushels
in an off year. Millions of dollars have
been spent in trying to induce the
trees to give uniform yield every
year so that the fluctuations from
so cents barrel in good years to two
and four dollars a barrel in off years
would no longer disturb the prosperity
of the community, but no one has
made any headway toward success,
says the New York Sun.
For the past ten years most of the
orchardists have been trying to de-
velop new varieties of fruit that will
look well and stand shipment to Lon
don and Liverpool markets, where
there is quick demand for American
apples at fancy prices. The call is
loudest for a large, snowy, high-col-
ored apple that is hard grained and
able to stand deal of rough knocking
about without showing signs of bodi-
ly harm. These apples should be good
keepers and beautiful to look at, but
their eating and cooking qualities may
be of the worst without detracting
from their value, the English pur-
chaser seeming to make his selection
with his eyes alone.
Twenty years ago Peter Gideon, of
Minneapolis, sent to Maine for scions
and seeds of hardy apples, writing that
ha haH onA Of
his life trying to grow fruit in Min
nesota. A bundle of scions from Ban
gor orchards and few quarts of seeds,
some of which were from the native
cherry crab, were forwarded to his
address. Nothing was heard from
him for four or five years. Then the
newspapers began to tell of a wonder
full new and hardy seeding which Mr..
Gideon had produced from crab
seed grown in Bangor. According to
the circulars this new apple, which
was named the Wealthy, would live
in climate where a willow would
freeze to death, and would continue
to bear year after year without a va
cation in a century. Later trials have
verified many of these assertions. The
Wealthy has driven the apple-growing
belt so miles further north, all across
the United States, and has converted
thousands of acres of worthless stony
land into productive orchards; but as
the fruit ripens early and decays in a
few weeks, it is worthless for the mar
ket and no additional revenues were
derived from the discovery, though
more cider was made than ever before,
and the Wealthy apple was roundly
denounced in hundreds of meetings
as the greatest curse that ever in
vaded a temperance community. At
present the Maine orchardist is veXed
with too many kinds of apples that
ripen and rot in September, and he is
still looking for thrifty, fine grained
and good-favored kind that will bear
every year and will keep until late
in the spring. The man who will dis
cover such an apple can earn a for
tune and the lasting gratitude of an
expectant public.
Cider making begins with the first
windfalls early in September. The
first pressing from the apple pulp
is drawn off into barrels to be sold as
sweet cider in the city markets as
long as it remains true to name, the
remainder to be left in barrels with
wire gauze over the bungholes, where
the air makes it over into hard cider.
The pomace is put into hogshead tubs
and allowed to stand in water for a
week or ten days until it turns sour.
1t is then put through the press, and
the resultant fluid is made into cider
vinegar, for which there is always
a good, demand at fair prices.
Very little cider of the first press
ing finds its way to the vinegar bar
rel, for while family can buy vim
egar or go without, no one can con-
template the approach of cold wealth
er with cheerfulness unless he has
laid in a large stock of hard cider.
In addition to the natural way of
hardening cider there are several ap-
proved methods of intensifying and
fastening the process. The one most
in vogue is to boil the cider until it
is reduced to one-half of its original
bulk. A larger or smaller quantity
of new rum or alcohol the amount
varying according to the means and
taste of the maker, is then added to
the boiled product so it may keep"
and the mixture is put away in safe
storage. When this kind of hard
cider contains enough alcohol it can
be used at any time, and is warranted
to do good execution if taken in suffi-
cient quantity.
The oldest, and all things consid-
cred the best, way to make hard cider
is to fill barrel from press and
put it in cold outbuilding, where
the frost of winter will work in from
the outside and freeze all the con-
tents except small core of nearly
pure alcohol in the center of the cask.
When distinguished callers come WIS.,
iting or when cider is needed for some
great emergency a bit is bored
through the cask and the shell of ice
until the middle of the barrel is
reached, when the precious fluid is
ra,u,, forth apd ,,,;va5 with bot ,,,,,,