Part 116

The production of chromo pictures requires a little skill. Practice is necessary. The glass plate to be used should be washed off with warm water, and then laid in a 10 per cent solution of nitric acid. After one hour, wash with clean, cold water, dry with a towel, and polish the plate with good alcohol on the inside—hollow side—until no finger marks or streaks are visible. This is best ascertained by breathing on the glass; the breath should show an even blue surface on the glass.

Coat the unmounted photograph to be colored with benzine by means of wadding, but without pressure, so that the retouching of the picture is not disturbed. Place 2 tablets of ordinary kitchen gelatin in 8 3⁠/⁠4 ounces of distilled or pure rain water, soak for an hour, and then heat until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Pour this warm solution over the polished side of the glass, so that the liquid is evenly distributed. The best way is to pour the solution on the upper right-hand corner, allowing it to flow into the left-hand corner, from there to the left below and right below, finally letting the superfluous liquid run off. Take the photograph, which has been previously slightly moistened on the back, lay it with the picture side on the gelatin-covered plate, centering it nicely, and squeeze out the excess gelatin solution gently, preferably by means of a rubber squeegee. Care must be taken, however, not to displace the picture in this manipulation, as it is easily spoiled.

The solution must never be allowed to boil, since this would render the gelatin brittle and would result in the picture, after having been finished, cracking off from the glass in a short time. When the picture has been attached to the glass plate without blisters (which is best observed from the back), the edge of the glass is cleansed of gelatin, preferably by means of a small sponge and lukewarm water, and the plate is allowed to dry over night.

When the picture and the gelatin are perfectly dry, coat the back of the picture a few times with castor oil until it is perfectly transparent; carefully remove the oil without rubbing, and proceed with the painting, which is best accomplished with good, not over-thick oil colors. The coloring must be observed from the glass side, and for this reason the small details, such as eyes, lips, beard, and hair, should first be sketched in. When the first coat is dry the dress and the flesh tints are painted. The whole surface may be painted over, and it is not necessary to paint shadows, as these are already present in the picture, and consequently show the color through in varying strength.

When the coloring has dried, a second glass plate should be laid on for protection, pasting the two edges together with narrow strips of linen.

«Cider»

«To Make Cider.»—Pick the apples off the tree by hand. Every apple before going into the press should be carefully {181} wiped. As soon as a charge of apples is ground, remove the pomace and put in a cask with a false bottom and a strainer beneath it, and a vessel to catch the drainage from pomace. As fast as the juice runs from the press place it in clean, sweet, open tubs or casks with the heads out and provide with a faucet, put in about two inches above bottom. The juice should be closely watched and as soon as the least sign of fermentation appears (bubbles on top, etc.) it should be run off into casks prepared for this purpose and placed in a moderately cool room. The barrels should be entirely filled, or as near to the bunghole as possible. After fermentation is well under way the spume or foam should be scraped off with a spoon several times a day. When fermentation has ceased the cider is racked off into clean casks, filled to the bunghole, and the bung driven in tightly. It is now ready for use or for bottling.

«Champagne Cider.»—I.—To convert ordinary cider into champagne cider, proceed as follows: To 100 gallons of good cider add 3 gallons of strained honey (or 24 pounds of white sugar will answer), stir in well, tightly bung, and let alone for a week. Clarify the cider by adding a half gallon of skimmed milk, or 4 ounces of gelatin dissolved in sufficient hot water and add 4 gallons of proof spirit. Let stand 3 days longer, then syphon off, bottle, cork, and tie or wire down. Bunging the cask tightly is done in order to induce a slow fermentation, and thus retain in the cider as much carbonic acid as possible.

II.—Put 10 gallons of old and clean cider in a strong and iron-bound cask, pitched within (a sound beer cask is the very thing), and add and stir in well 40 ounces of simple syrup. Add 5 ounces of tartaric acid, let dissolve, then add 7 1⁠/⁠2 ounces sodium bicarbonate in powder. Have the bung ready and the moment the soda is added put it in and drive it home. The cider will be ready for use in a few hours.

«Cider Preservative.»—I.—The addition of 154 grains of bismuth subnitrate to 22 gallons of cider prevents, or materially retards, the hardening of the beverage on exposure to air; moreover, the bismuth salt renders alcoholic fermentation more complete.

II.—Calcium sulphite (sulphite of lime) is largely used to prevent fermentation in cider. About 1⁠/⁠8 to 1⁠/⁠4 of an ounce of the sulphite is required for 1 gallon of cider. It should first be dissolved in a small quantity of cider, then added to the bulk, and the whole agitated until thoroughly mixed. The barrel should then be bunged and allowed to stand for several days, until the action of the sulphite is exerted. It will preserve the sweetness of cider perfectly, but care should be taken not to add too much, as that would impart a slight sulphurous taste.

«Artificial Ciders.»—To 25 gallons of soft water add 2 pounds of tartaric acid, 25 or 30 pounds of sugar, and a pint of yeast; put in a warm place, and let ferment for 15 days, then add the flavoring matter to suit taste. The various fruit ethers are for sale at any wholesale drug house.

«Bottling Sweet Cider.»—Champagne quarts are generally used for bottling cider, as they are strong and will stand pressure, besides being a convenient size for consumers. In making cider champagne the liquor should be clarified and bottled in the sweet condition, that is to say, before the greater part of the sugar which it contains has been converted into alcohol by fermentation. The fermentation continues, to a certain extent, in the bottle, transforming more of the sugar into alcohol, and the carbonic acid, being unable to escape, is dissolved in the cider and produces the sparkling.

The greater the quantity of sugar contained in the liquor, when it is bottled, the more complete is its carbonation by the carbonic-acid gas, and consequently the more sparkling it is when poured out. But this is true only within certain limits, for if the production of sugar is too high the fermentation will be arrested.

To make the most sparkling cider the liquor is allowed to stand for three, four, five, or six weeks, during which fermentation proceeds. The time varies according to the nature of the apples, and also to the temperature; when it is very warm the first fermentation is usually completed in 7 days.

Before bottling, the liquid must be fined, and this is best done with catechu dissolved in cold cider, 2 ounces of catechu to the barrel of cider. This is well stirred and left to settle for a few days.

The cider at this stage is still sweet, and it is a point of considerable nicety not to carry the first fermentation too far. The bottle should not be quite filled, so as to allow more freedom for the carbonic-acid gas which forms.

When the bottles have been filled, {182} corked, and wired down, they should be placed in a good cellar, which should be dry, or else the cider will taste of the cork. The bottles should not be laid for four or five weeks, or breakage will ensue. When they are being laid they should be placed on laths of wood or on dry sand; they should never be allowed on cold or damp floors.

Should the cider be relatively poor in sugar, or if it has been fermented too far, about 1 ounce of powdered loaf sugar can be added to each bottle, or else a measure of sugar syrup before pouring in the cider.

«Imitation Cider.»—

I.—A formula for an imitation cider is as follows:

Rain water 100 gallons Honey, unstrained 6 gallons Catechu, powdered 3 ounces Alum, powdered 5 ounces Yeast (brewer’s preferably) 2 pints

Mix and put in a warm place to ferment. Let ferment for about 15 days; then add the following, stirring well in:

Bitter almonds, crushed 8 ounces Cloves 8 ounces

Let stand 24 hours, add two or three gallons of good whiskey, and rack off into clean casks. Bung tightly, let stand 48 hours, then bottle. If a higher color is desired use caramel sufficient to produce the correct tinge. If honey is not obtainable, use sugar-house molasses instead, but honey is preferable.

II.—The following, when properly prepared, makes a passable substitute for cider, and a very pleasant drink:

Catechu, powdered 3 parts Alum, powdered 5 parts Honey 640 parts Water 12,800 parts Yeast 32 parts

Dissolve the catechu, alum, and honey in the water, add the yeast, and put in some warm place to ferment. The container should be filled to the square opening, made by sawing out five or six inches of the center of a stave, and the spume skimmed off daily as it arises. In cooler weather from 2 weeks to 18 days will be required for thorough fermentation. In warmer weather from 12 to 13 days will be sufficient. When fermentation is complete add the following solution: