The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-10-19
CIDER TIME HERE.
A Little DEPRESSION on the
Juicy Apple Fruit and the
Picturesque Rural Industry
Which it has Created.

A writer in the Philadelphia
Record, no doubt inspired by the
conditions thus presented by the
luscious apple and its hand
maiden, cider, has the following
in that paper:
The cider making industry is
now in full swing. Wagon loads
of "windfalls" and on the top
few barrels will he familiar
sight on rural roads. The farmer
going home with the barrels filled
will be quite common.
As n picturesque rural indus
try, cider making will hold its
own with the activities of the
maple sugar camp. In fact it is
really more picturesque for, in
stead of the lesfless trees of the
March sugar bush aud the marshy
roads, cider making progresses
amidst the falling of the leaves,
] the exhilaration of crisp air, and
when the highways are neither
dusty nor muddy. The cider
making season begins in a small
way the latter part of August
and lasts until after the ground
/ freezes.
Many years ago every farmer
made his own cider. Relics of
the cider mills which were turned
by hand crank and which had
a hopper for the reception of ap.
Piles resembling that of large
coffee mill, are still in existence.
BY and by the horse power cider
press began to make its appear
ance at the rural centerS sheltered
in building equipped to handle
all the cider apples within a ra-
dius of several miles. Then for
some time these mills were used
exclusively for producing cider,
and 1t still remained for the house
wife to make apple jelly. Today
jelly making upon an extensive
scale in connection with cider
making is becoming common.
The two industries are closely
allied. In fact, jelly is, to no
small degree, taking the place Of
boiled cider in mince meat and
apple butter. And, by the way,
apple butter is another present
day product OF the cider mill,
and the evaporation of apples is
still another allied industry in
many sections. Apple butter is
now made by the hogshead, evap-
GRATED apples by the ton.
AT some factories the apples
are unlOaded directly into wood.
en- car which hauls them to the
grinding machine. at other
mills they are unloaded into q
hopper, at the bottom of long
chute which leads to the second
story. As the apples drop into
this hopper they are picked up
by bucket elevator and carried
to the top of the chute and de-
llvered into the crater which
stands above the cider press.
The crater grinds the apples into
a pulp. At the cider factory this
pulp is known as "pomace."
From the CRATER the pomace is
delivered to the rear of the cider
press, where it is made into what
ia known as "cheese." A full
"cheese" comprises ten layers
of pomace or thereabouts. About
five bushels of apples in their
ground form constitute a layer
and each layer is perhaps three
or four feet square. Each LAYER
rests upon a lattice work or
wooden screen covered with
piece of burlap.
After the layers have been
placed one upon other, the
"chcese" is put into the press
and fifteen tons pressure is ap.
piled. Soon the amber colored
liquid begins to flow from the
faucets into large tub or tank.
From here it is dipped into bar
rels, at the same time being
! strained through burlap. 1t re
quires about fifteen bushels of
apples to make one As gallon
barrel of cider.
A wagon load of apples in
about half an hour after its ar.
rival at the mill is transformed
into cider ready to be taken away
again, one load often producing
from seventy five to one hundred
gallons. The owner of the mill
charges a cent or a cent and a
halt gallon for converting the
apples into cider, just as miller
charges for the grinding of grain.
Some times where a farmer has a
vast quantity of apples which he
wishes made into cider he ar.
ranges with the mill to give one
day to his crop alone.
After the pressing process has
proceeded until the juice of the
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