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Show HORTICULTURE ' - SAVING THE WASTE OF THE ORCHARD. Prof. E. H. Favor, State Agricultural College. Written for the Dcserct Farmer. At this season of the year the fruit growers arc confronted by the problem! prob-lem! of disposing of their fruit crops to the greatest advantage. No matter how carefully fruits are picked and packed there is some waste; and in many instances this waste assumes enormous proportions. But by careful care-ful management much of this waste can be turned into money. There arc three ways in which this can be done, viz., making the fruit into vinegar; canning and drying. Each of these methods makes greater or less returns, and in many instances brings in greater profit than if the fruit had been marketed fresh; and each has its advantages and disadvantages. disad-vantages. The manufacture of pure fruit vinegar vine-gar is an industry which is assuming large proportions in some parts of the country. This has been largely due to the influence? of the Pure Food Law, which in some of hc states is compelling the manufacturers of vinegar vine-gar to put on the market only pure fruit vinegar, particularly cider vinegar, vine-gar, instead of the malted, colored, artificial stuff which so often parades under the name of vinegar. If the Pure Food law has done no other good, it has made it possible for the fruit producers of some parts of the country to market at a nice profit many thousand bushels of apples which would have otherwise gone to waste. No farmer, particularly in this grand State of Utah, should ever have to buy vinegar, especially this colored acid which is generally found in the stores. Vinegar is too easily made in the homes, and with the abundance of fruits in Utah, every home ought to have its own little vinegar jar. Vinegar can be made from the juice of nearly any of our fruits. The juice is pressed out and allowed to .our or to ferment. There are two stages of the fermentation fer-mentation process. The first jne begins be-gins as soon as the juice is press? I out of the fruit and continues for some weeks. In this stage the juice bubbles more or less and aft a few cflays of fermentation it takes on a peculiar pe-culiar smell and taste, but is not ncccssarilly sour. This first fermentation fermen-tation is caused by a yeast, an organism or-ganism similar to the one which the house-wife takes advantage of in making mak-ing bread. When apple cider is undergoing un-dergoing this process it becomes "hard," while grape juice is changed into wine. In this first fermentation the sugars which were in the juices of the fruit have been changed by the action of the yeast into alcohol. As soon as this alcoholic fermentation fermen-tation lias lessened the second period of fermentation begins. This is induced in-duced through the. agency of certain bacteria which has the power of changing the alcohol formed by the yeast into the acid of vinegar. This acetic fermentation takes place less rapidly than the alcoholic, and is not accompanied by the evolution of gas. It proceeds most rapidly when the juice is exposed to the air, as it would be in a barrcll, jug or bottle; and the fermenting juice should be in a warm place. In a- cold cellar the acetic fermentation fer-mentation goes on very slowly so that it may take months to make tho same quantity of vinegar that would be made in a few days under better conditions. It will pay communities of apple growers to promote the use of pure cider vinegar, induce the manufacturers to -make pure cider vinegar and to'-cdticate the consumers to the superior quality of pure cider or fruit vinegar over the impure, colored col-ored acid that they arc now buying in the stores. By working up into vinegar the ijruits which tare misshapen mis-shapen or too ripe to ship fruit growers grow-ers can save a very large quantity of fruits which would otherwise go to waste. o . |