82 DISTRICT FACTORIES. 



regulate and prevent those sudden changes of temperature which so 

 frequently prevail in Autumn, and which are often so injurious to the 

 liquor; at one time suddenly checking fermentation, and at another 

 exciting it again, when it should be cool and quiet. 



In America, great advantage is derived from the refrigerating 

 houses, used by the fruit growers ; by means of simple and ingenious 

 mechanical contrivances, they preserve their Apples and Pears, at a 

 temperature a little above freezing point, in the finest condition, so 

 that they are ready for the market at any time. In the manufacture 

 of Cider and Perry, these houses also afford the utmost advantage. 

 The details of their construction and management, are given in full 

 in Downing's '■'■ American Oir/iafdist" ; and when it is considered, 

 that these appliances are only required during the late Autumn 

 and early Winter months, it should be a matter of serious 

 consideration for the landlord and tenant, whether the advantage of 

 such buildings should not be provided for a Fruit Farm. 



Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight, at the commencement of the 

 present century, felt so much the necessity of commanding a low 

 temperature for his Cider, that he built a cellar, on the hill side at 

 Wormesley Grange, in the bed of a small stream, so that he could 

 at pleasure keep it filled with running water, and thus check any 

 tendency to second fermentation. The theory was good, but the 

 practical inconveniences connected with this means of carrying it 

 out, proved to be greater than the advantages derived from it. 



District Factories. — The establishment of large Cider and 

 Perry Factories, in the immediate vicinity of the Orchards, has 

 been often advised. Marshall and other old writers recommended 

 them, and it is very probable that they would have been established 

 much more generally, if the causes which produced such a 

 lamentable neglect of the Orchards had not prevented it. There 

 are private Cider and Perry makers now, who will buy up the 

 superior varieties of Apples or Pears they require, but they will not 

 purchase at any price, the enormous amount of poor fruit, which 

 at present pervades the Orchards. The farmers, therefore, have 

 to make the Cider and Perry themselves, as best they can, and 

 sell it in bulk, at a very low price, to the ordinary " Cider 



