TABLE FRUIT — THE CIDER HOUSE. 8 1 



It will be observed that the sugar increases more in relative 

 amount, the higher the density becomes ; which is explained by 

 the fact, that the Mucilage, to which the density in the lower 

 ranges of the scale is partly due, does not increase as the sugar 

 does, in the higher ranges of density. The alcohol in this scale is 

 a little more than i per cent, for every lo degrees of density, in- 

 stead of I per cent, for every 5 degrees, which is the scale of 

 the English Excise Offices. 



Table Fruit. — The varieties of fruit suitable for cooking or 

 dessert purposes — ■" Pot Fruit " or " Table Fruit," should be grown 

 much more frequently than is usually the case, where the Orchards 

 are near home and can thus be protected. Size and colour are 

 essential for market purposes, and the longer the fruit will keep, 

 the more valuable it will become. As much as ^10 an acre is not 

 unfrequently given for fruit of this character, in the homestead 

 Orchard, but the market value must of course depend very much 

 on the season ; as a general rule "Table Fruit" is not well adapted 

 for making Cider. The French have the proverb '■'■ Petites poinmes 

 gros Cidre" "small apples, rich cider," and so too the finest Wines 

 are produced from the smallest grapes. Large apples have too 

 much Mucilage by themselves, though when the markets are over- 

 stocked, they are not unfrequently added with advantage to the 

 smaller ones for making Cider. 



The Cider House. — The want of suitable buildings is a 

 very serious drawback to the proper storage of fruit, and to the 

 manufacture of Cider and Perry in perfection. Marshall and other 

 writers have pointed out the saving in time and labour that would 

 be effected, if every Orchard Farm had a well-arranged Fruit and 

 Cider House, furnished with simple machinery, and with suitable 

 mechanical fittings. Such buildings should be so constructed as to 

 command a low, or, still better, different degrees of temperature at 

 will. They need not necessarily be expensive. Thick walls of 

 stone, or hollow bricks, and a good thick straw thatch, v/ith 

 due arrangement for free ventilation, is all that is essentially 

 required. With these advantages, it would be quite possible to 



