Fig. 7 shows a very practical and inexpensive corking machine. The illustration shows the cork in place, ready to be driven through the tapering hole in the machine into the neck of the bottle underneath. The corks should be put in hot water and allowed to stand for a few minutes before using in order to soften and make them pliable. This enables one to use a cork large enough to seal securely.

Care should be taken to set the bottles on a flat piece of rubber or on a piece of cloth folded several times, as shown in the figure, so as to take the jar of the blow when the cork is driven. It is even a wise precaution to have a pan underneath, as it frequently occurs that bottles thought to be entirely good have blemishes and break.

An ordinary cider press is not expensive; nevertheless the majority of farms do not have one, and it frequently occurs that a farm is located so far away from any establishment dealing in such implements that the fruit might spoil or not be sufficiently valuable to justify the purchase price and time lost and expense incurred in getting it. Fig. 8 gives an illustration of a lever press, very efficient for this and similar uses, which any farmer handy with tools can make, the material for which can be found on almost any farm at any time. The press consists of the following parts:

Two upright posts (F) set deep and firmly in the ground side by side and about 12 inches apart. (It is a good idea to attach some deadmen to them in the ground to prevent them pulling out too easily.) Between these posts the lever (E) is hung by means of a bolt (T), or the lever may be hung to the side of a building, or a hole notched into a tree large enough to admit the end of the lever and a bolt run through that. At the other end of the lever are two posts, so set that the lever can be raised up between them by means of block and tackle. The press itself consists of two timbers (D), on which the press bottom (B) rests, and on this bottom is the press basket, consisting of the two sides and two ends, and so constructed that it can be easily taken apart and set up again, being held together at the ends by means of rods (L). The sides and ends should be bored full of small holes from three-eighths to one-half inch in diameter to allow exit for the juice.

After the press is filled, the top (which is made to fit in the inside of the basket) and cross blocks (1) are put on and the lever is then allowed to press down on it. A press like this has the advantage that it can be filled in the evening and left to press until morning while the farmer sleeps. The precaution, of course, must be taken to set a tub (C) large enough to hold the juice under the press.

It is perhaps well to state that the longer and heavier the lever the greater the pressure it exerts. Where it is not convenient to make the lever very long, weights are placed or hung on the outer extremity of the lever to increase the pressure. It will thus be seen that with a little ingenuity a person can adapt the press to suit his individual requirements.

For ordinary purposes a press basket 3 feet square and 2 feet high will be found a very convenient size. This will accommodate a ton of crushed grapes.