58 CIDER MAKING IN HEREFORDSHIRE. 



force it easily through the tube and water ; whilst the outer air 

 would be prevented by the water from passing into the barrel. 

 Where the water is put in the lower bend of the glass tube, the 

 amount of pressure within can be estimated by its pressure on the 

 water in forcing it down. 



If at the end of a week the liquor remains quiet, and becomes 

 more clear, an ounce of dissolved isinglass should be added to 

 each hogshead, and the bung permanently closed. The isinglass 

 should be first dissolved slowly in a little of the liquor without heat. 

 This will require two or three days. The barrel should remain 

 untouched, until it is required in the spring months for the bottle, 

 or for customers' casks. 



The process of Fermentation thus far should have been con- 

 ducted at a temperature as uniform as possible. It should never 

 exceed 70°, and it should get below 50°. After the final racking 

 it is very advantageous to keep it below 40°, indeed the barrels 

 should be kept at as low a temperature as convenience admits. 



Active Fermentation may be said to cease when the hissing 

 noise is no longer perceptible, but it still continues to go on quietly, 

 and the quantity of alcohol slowly increases, and the sugar de- 

 creases in proportion, whilst the liquor becomes more clear and 

 bright, acquires a higher aroma, and additional strength. 



CIDER MAKING. 



Notes from Practical Experience. — The following Cider 

 makers in Herefordshire, whose names usually appear as successful 

 competitors for the Cider prizes offered by the Herefordshire 

 and other Agricultural Societies, have sent to the Woolhope Club 

 an account of the methods they adopt, from which the following 

 abstracts have been made. 



Mr. John Bosky, Lower Lyde, Hereford. — " I select my fruit, 

 let it ripen well, and reject all unripe fruit. I crush the Apples to 

 a fine pulp in the old-fashioned stone mill, breaking kernels and all. 

 The pulp is placed in large open vats for 48 hours or more, until it 

 works up well. The juice is then pressed from the pulp and put in 

 a 100 gallon vat, where it remains until it clears itself. It is then 

 racked into another vat and one quart of fine charcoal added and 



