The evaporator consists of a separate system of six copper tubes, each twelve feet long and three inches in diameter. These are each jacketed or inclosed in an iron pipe of four inches internal diameter, fitted with steam-tight collars so as to leave half an inch steam space surrounding the copper tubes. The latter are open at both ends permitting the admission and egress of the sirup and the escape of the steam caused by evaporation therefrom, and are arranged upon the frame so as to have a very slight inclination downward in the direction of the current, and each nearly underneath its predecessor in regular succession. Each is connected by an iron supply pipe, having a steam gauge or indicator attached, with a large manifold, and that by other pipes with a steam boiler of thirty horse power capacity. Steam being let on at from twenty five to thirty pounds pressure, the stream of sirup is received from the defecator through a strainer, which removes any impurities possibly remaining into the upper evaporator tube; passing in a gentle flow through that, it is delivered into a funnel connected with the next tube below, and so, back and forth, through the whole system. The sirup enters the evaporator at a consistency of from 20° to 23° Baume, and emerges from the last tube some three minutes later at a consistency of from 30° to 32° Baume, which is found on cooling to be the proper point for perfect jelly. This point is found to vary one or two degrees, according to the fermentation consequent upon bruises in handling the fruit, decay of the same, or any little delay in expressing the juice from the cheese. The least fermentation occasions the necessity for a lower reduction. To guard against this, no cheese is allowed to stand over night, no pomace left in the grater or vat, no cider in the tank; and further to provide against fermentation, a large water tank is located upon the roof and filled by a force pump, and by means of hose connected with this, each grater, press, vat, tank, pipe, trough, or other article of machinery used, can be thoroughly washed and cleansed. Hot water, instead of cider, is sometimes sent through the defecator, evaporator, etc., until all are thoroughly scalded and purified. If the saccharometer shows too great or too little reduction, the matter is easily regulated by varying the steam pressure in the evaporator by means of a valve in the supply pipe. If boiled cider instead of jelly is wanted for making pies, sauces, etc., it is drawn off from one of the upper evaporator tubes according to the consistency desired; or can be produced at the end of the process by simply reducing the steam pressure.
As the jelly emerges from the evaporator it is transferred to a tub holding some fifty gallons, and by mixing a little therein, any little variations in reduction or in the sweetness or sourness of the fruit used are equalized. From this it is drawn through faucets, while hot, into the various packages in which it is shipped to market. A favorite form of package for family use is a nicely turned little wooden bucket with cover and bail, two sizes, holding five and ten pounds respectively. The smaller packages are shipped in cases for convenience in handling. The present product of this manufactory is from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of jelly each day of ten hours. It is calculated that improvements now in progress will increase this to something more than a ton per day. Each bushel of fruit will produce from four to five pounds of jelly, fruit ripening late in the season being more productive than earlier varieties. Crab apples produce the finest jelly; sour, crabbed, natural fruit makes the best looking article, and a mixture of all varieties gives most satisfactory results as to flavor and general quality.
As the pomace is shoveled from the finished cheese, it is again ground under a toothed cylinder, and thence drops into large troughs, through a succession of which a considerable stream of water is flowing. Here it is occasionally agitated by raking from the lower to the upper end of the trough as the current carries it downward, and the apple seeds becoming disengaged drop to the bottom into still water, while the pulp floats away upon the stream. A succession of troughs serves to remove nearly all the seeds. The value of the apple seeds thus saved is sufficient to pay the daily wages of all the hands employed in the whole establishment. The apples are measured in the wagon box, one and a half cubic feet being accounted a bushel.
This mill ordinarily employs about six men: One general superintendent, who buys and measures the apples, keeps time books, attends to all the accounts and the working details of the mill, and acts as cashier; one sawyer, who manufactures lumber for the local market and saws the slabs into short lengths suitable for the furnace; one cider maker, who grinds the apples and attends the presses; one jelly maker, who attends the defecator, evaporator, and mixing tub, besides acting as his own fireman and engineer; one who attends the apple seed troughs and acts as general helper, and one man-of-all-work to pack, ship and assist whenever needed. The establishment was erected late in the season of 1880, and manufactured that year about forty-five tons of jelly, besides considerable cider exchanged to the farmers for apples, and some boiled cider.
The price paid for apples in 1880, when the crop was superabundant, was six to eight cents per bushel; in 1881, fifteen cents. The proprietor hopes next year to consume 100,000 bushels. These institutions are important to the farmer in that they use much fruit not otherwise valuable and very perishable. Fruit so crabbed and gnarled as to have no market value, and even frozen apples, if delivered while yet solid, can be used. (Such apples are placed in the water while frozen, the water draws the frost sufficiently to be grated, and passing through the press and evaporator before there is time for chemical change, they are found to make very good jelly. They are valuable to the consumer by converting the perishable, cheap, almost worthless crop of the bearing and abundant years into such enduring form that its consumption may be carried over to years of scarcity and furnish healthful food in cheap and pleasant form to many who would otherwise be deprived; and lastly, they are of great interest to society, in that they give to cider twice the value for purposes of food that it has or can have, even to the manufacturer, for use as a beverage and intoxicant.
IMPROVED GRAPE BAGS.
It stands to reason that were our summers warmer we should be able to grow grapes successfully on open walls; it is therefore probable that a new grape bag, the invention of M. Pelletier, 20 Rue de la Banque, Paris, intended to serve a double purpose, viz., protecting the fruit and hastening its maturity, will, when it becomes known, be welcomed in this country. It consists of a square of curved glass so fixed to the bag that the sun's rays are concentrated upon the fruit, thereby rendering its ripening more certain in addition to improving its quality generally. The glass is affixed to the bag by means of a light iron wire support. It covers that portion of it next the sun, so that it increases the amount of light and warms the grapes without scorching them, a result due to the convexity of the glass and the layer of air between it and the bag. M. Pelletier had the idea of rendering these bags cheaper by employing plain squares instead of curved ones, but the advantage thus obtained was more than counterbalanced by their comparative inefficacy. In practice it was found that the curved squares gave an average of 7° more than the straight ones, while there was a difference of 10° when the bags alone were used, thus plainly demonstrating the practical value of the invention.
Whether these glass-fronted bags would have much value in the case of grapes grown under glass in the ordinary way is a question that can only be determined by actual experiment; but where the vines are on walls, either under glass screens or in the open air, so that the bunches feel the full force of the sun's rays, there can be no doubt as to their utility, and it is probable that by their aid many of the continental varieties which we do not now attempt to grow in the open, and which are scarcely worthy of a place under glass, might be well ripened. At any rate we ought to give anything a fair trial which may serve to neutralize, if only in a slight degree, the uncertainty of our summers. As it is, we have only about two varieties of grapes, and these not the best of the hardy kinds, as regards flavor and appearance, that ripen out of doors, and even these do not always succeed. We know next to nothing of the many really well-flavored kinds which are so much appreciated in many parts of the Continent. The fact is, our outdoor culture of grapes offers a striking contrast to that practiced under glass, and although our comparatively sunless and moist climate affords some excuse for our shortcomings in this respect, there is no valid reason for the utter want of good culture which is to be observed in a general way.