2 HISTORY OF CIDER AND PERRY ORCHARDS. 



however in every soil and situation that the juice of the Apple and 

 Pear are sufficiently rich to produce fermented liquor of high flavour 

 and quality ; and it is curious to observe how limited are the districts 

 to which the experience of centuries has restricted the growth of 

 Cider and Perry Orchards. In England it is only the Western 

 Counties which are noted for their Orchards. The West Midland 

 district, comprising Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucester- 

 shire, with some parts of Monmouthshire ; and the South Western 

 district, comprising the Counties of Devonshire, Somersetshire, 

 and part of Dorsetshire. Cornwall also possesses many Orchards ; 

 and the fame of Kent is widely spread for its extensive production 

 of dessert and table fruit. In Ireland some fair Cider is made in 

 the Counties of Waterford and Cork, but not to any great extent. 



In Normandy, Cider Orchards may be traced back to the nth 

 Century. They were much more extensively planted between the 

 13th and T6th Centuries, and now again the destructive disease of 

 the vines is causing the Orchards to be widely extended, so 

 that a considerable quantity of Cider is produced there. Pear 

 Orchards have never been much planted in Normandy, and Perry 

 is but lightly esteemed there. In Germany, on the contrary. Perry 

 is more highly valued than Cider, and is made largely for distillation. 

 Cider has been known in Spain from a very early period. A 

 graphic description of the Cider of Biscay is given by Nasagerus 

 in the Journal of his Embassy from the Republic of Venice to 

 the Emperor Charles V., in the early part the i6th Century ; and it 

 now forms the ordinary drink of the inhabitants of the Northern 

 provinces of Spain and Portugal. In Jersey much Cider is made 

 which has a high repute for its strength. In many parts of the 

 United States of America the common drink of the country is 

 Cider ; but the manufacture of Perry is chiefly confined to the 

 Eastern States, where it is produced in considerable abundance. 



It was not until the end of the 17th Century that the English 

 Orchards began to be much planted. The Civil AVar with its 

 troubles had passed by : Continental wars prevailed for the most 

 part ; and as foreign wines ceased to be introduced, it became an 

 object of national importance — a patriotic duty — to encourage the 



