'46 APPLE HEAPS. 



APPLE HEAPS. 



" The farmer, with foreseeing view, 



Prepares himself for the forthcoming spring ; 



Nudg'd by the ripen'd fruit that silent falls 



On the long grass beneath ; at early morn 



He clears the Orchard boughs, and piles the fruit, 



And the press gushes in the pleasant juice." 



Partridge's English Monthly. 



As the fruit is collected from the trees it is placed in 

 heaj^s, until it becomes ripe and mellow for the mill. There 

 has been much discussion as to the position and formation 

 of the Apple heaps. The common practice is to place them on 

 the plain ground in the Orchard itself, or in some convenient place 

 by the homesteads. They are usually made from about eighteen 

 inches to two feet six inches in thickness, and left without any 

 protection either from the sun, from the rain, or from frost, not to 

 mention the fowls and wild birds. Thus they remain for some two 

 or three weeks, to as many months, with the later varieties, to suit 

 the convenience of the cider maker. Marshall recommends that 

 the fruit after being collected perfectly dry should be laid up under 

 cover in an open shed, or where a thorough current of air can be 

 had, in heaps not more than ten inches deep. The best writers of 

 the I yth century gave the same advice. Marshall admits that this 

 practice was not followed in his day any more than it is at present. 

 It is scarcely likely ever to be followed in large Orchards, although 

 the advice is both good and sound. 



The different varieties of Apples should always be placed in 

 separate heaps, so as to insure their being sent to the mill when 

 uniformly ripe and mellow. With the exception of a few varieties 

 of noted excellence. Cider is made from different sorts of Apples 

 mixed together, and here the good judgment of the Cyderist comes 

 into play, to mix the varieties which will best improve each other. 



" There are, that a compounded Fluid drain, 



From different Mixture, Woodstock^ Pippm, Moyle, 



Rough Elliot, sweet Pcarinain, the blendid streams 



(Each mutually correcting each) create 



A pleasurable Medly, of what Taste 



Hardly distinguish'd." Phillips, Cydtr. 



