Ouen-de-Thouberville, a short distance from Rouen. This establishment, built and operated upon a cooperative plan, is a model in its mechanical appointments, and the technique of its operations seemed to leave little to be desired. The general manager is Monsieur Gustave Power, the noted authority on pomology, whose books have been officially adopted by the minister of agriculture for use in the schools of France. The writer was most courteously received by this cultured gentleman, and given every facility to examine and study the details and methods of the establishment, which is, perhaps, representative of the best type in France.

The ground plan of the main factory is shown in figure 12. In total dimensions, the building is approximately 300 feet long by 100 feet wide. A study of the vertical longitudinal section (fig. 11) will help to give a clear idea of the plan and workings of this factory. It will be seen that to the rear of the main operating room of the ground floor one can step up a few feet into the main fermenting room, or down a few feet into a half-cellar used for the finishing processes of fermentation and for storage. The surface of the ground slopes from the front to the rear of the building, so that this lower room ends at ground level. This gives an important advantage in the ease with which the finished product can be loaded on trucks for transport.

The operation of this factory will be better understood by following the usual course of the fruit and must as they pass through the several processes to the finished product. The carts laden with apples in sacks enter the shed in front of the factory, and by a hoist, operated from the main shaft within, the fruit is lifted to the second floor, where it is weighed and put in bins according to varieties and quality. These bins cover nearly all of the second floor, and are only 18 inches deep, strict rules as to methods of storage being observed. With the fruit thus distributed, it is possible to observe critically its condition and to grind as it comes to proper maturity; also the careful distribution in accordance with the quality makes it easy to blend the fruit so as to produce desired grades of must.

When ready to grind, the fruit is measured to the machine in proper proportions. The grinder stands at the floor level of this storeroom. Formerly the fruit was washed, but now this is only resorted to in case of necessity. The fruit is, however, run over a slatted "way" or chute in its progress to the cylinders and much trash is screened out, an attendant watching that foreign substances likely to damage the grinders do not pass. From the grinders the pulp drops into a chute, which delivers it at the pleasure of the operator into one or another of the several pomace vats. The custom is to fill one after another of the vats, the pulp being allowed to remain for some hours before pressing. This maceration of the pulp in its own juice is thought to aid in extracting the sugar content and to give better color to the must through certain chemical changes caused by the action of

The pulp vats at this factory were made of porcelain tiles carefully set in cement. A drain pipe was arranged to carry the must, which always

the air on the crushed tissues. The pulp is not, however, and never should be, allowed to ferment before pressing.

flows from freshly crushed fruit, into a cistern at the left of these vats. From here it was pumped into the large casks in the fermentation room. The large vat (fig. 12, b) is provided for the maceration of pomace after it has been through the press.

When the pulp is thought to be in condition for the press a small car is run alongside and the pulp is laid up in cheeses on a form, using coarsely woven press cloths just as is done in the best American factories. When this car is loaded it is run onto the press (D', figs. 11 and 12), and the hydraulic pump is put in motion, the car and its load of pulp being lifted by the upward thrust of a hydraulic piston after the manner so common in this country. In this factory the hydraulic presses were rated at 200,000 pounds direct pressure.

While this load of pulp is under pressure another car is loaded ready to take its place. On being released from the press the car is run alongside the large vat and the pressed pomace is discharged into it, carefully cut up with a shovel and wet with weak must or water, the amount of liquor added being about equal to the pure juice expressed. This round of operations is repeated until the day's grinding is exhausted, and the pomace from the first pressing then rests in the large vat macerating in water or weak must until thought ready for pressing a second time. The must from the fresh pulp in the vats and cistern is united in the great casks of the fermentation room as pure juice. This is destined for the highest grade cider.

After eight to ten or twelve hours maceration the pomace is again subjected to pressure on a different press (D, fig. 11) from that used for pure juice, and the must is received in another cistern near by and pumped into another set of casks. This must is used to make a second grade of cider, the "boisson" of the laborers. But this does not complete the operation. Again the pomace undergoes maceration with water or weak must, being then pressed a third time. The must from this pressing is very weak, its specific gravity being 1.010 to 1.016. This must is used to macerate the pomace after the first pressing, thus adding very materially to the quality of the must derived from the second pressing.

It may,

The pomace is no longer of any value for cider purposes. therefore, be discharged by running the car outside the factory, or it may be ground anew and washed to separate the seeds, which return no small income, as they are in great demand by nurserymen for growing stocks. These seeds are known in commerce in this country as French "crab seed," but they are really seeds of the cultivated apple and not of crabs.

A second method of extracting the juice from the apple pulp is also employed in this factory, viz, diffusion. The diffusion battery (G, fig. 12) is located at the extreme left of the main operating room. It consists of 6 tanks, about 3 to 4 feet high, mounted on a turntable. 2266-No. 71-03-5

Immediately at one side and just above the level of the tanks is a reservoir for water. This may be supplied warm or cold.

To put this apparatus in operation, 5 of the tanks are filled with cut or pulped fruit. These are so connected that the fluid will circulate from one tank to another by means of a tube connected at the bottom of the first and delivering the flow near the top of the second, and so on around the circle. By the time the fluid flows out from the bottom of the fifth tub it is well charged with the soluble matters contained in the fruit, i. e., sugars, acid, tannin, mucilage, etc. But it can never be made to equal in richness the product of the first pressing from the same fruit.

As soon as the fruit in the first tank is exhausted by this washing with water, the stream is turned into the second, and the sixth tank, now freshly filled with pulp, is put in service as the final member of the battery. Then the first tank is emptied and refilled with fresh fruit to take the last place in the series, when the third tank becomes the first cell in the battery. Thus the operation proceeds indefinitely. It should be said that the richness of the must delivered at the exit from the fifth cell always determines when a fresh tub or cell must be "cut in," as the flow through the last tub of fresh fruit strengthens the must very much. The strength or richness is taken by specific gravity very readily.

The manufacture of cider by the diffusion method is carried on in France to a considerable extent, but its present importance does not appear to warrant extended discussion here. It may be worthy of study, but all the indications seem to point to its failure to produce a genuine high-grade cider.

In the factory at St. Ouen-de-Thouberville two hand presses were provided as a reserve to be used in case of accident to the hydraulic presses.

The main operations prior to fermentation have now been outlined. The must of the several grades has been delivered by pumps to the large casks in the fermentation room (figs. 11 and 12). Through each section of this part of the building runs a main brass pipe connecting with the pumps. The flow is readily turned into the desired section by valve cut-offs, and in each section the must is delivered to the receptacles by rubber tubes which can be attached to the "main" at convenient points. Each cask as filled is marked with the date and such other data as are necessary to guide the operator in the details of the fermentation. At the same time proper entries are made in the factory journal for future reference.

The technique of fermentation is not discussed here, as it will be treated further on in this report. It should be added, however, that Mr. Power was using casks usually of 600 liters capacity or larger, open vats made of slate, and great tanks by way of experiment during the first fermentation; but his preference was for the casks.