898 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETU.M. PART III. 



the juice is strained through reed or straw mats, instead of hair cloths. 

 Neither the apples, nor the pulp, are exposed to the open air; and, if any rain 

 falls on the fruit while it is being gathered, it is considered unfit for use. The 

 cider of Devonshire is sweet, but weak, and will not keep good many years. 

 Another point of difference is, a clause generally inserted in the leases in Devon- 

 shire, that no crops shall be grown under the trees in the apple orchards. The 

 li(]uor is not racked off so soon as in Herefordshire; and, should the acetous 

 fermentation have been allowed to come on, it is stopped, by adding a bottle 

 of French brandy, half a gallon of cider brandy, or a pailful of sound old cider, 

 and exposing the cask to" a cooler air. (See EncyclopcEdia of Agriculture, 2d 

 edit., p. 4131.) 



In Ireland, a mixture of every sort of apple, wild as well as cultivated, 

 is thought to make the best cider. " Owing to a considerable admixture 

 of crabs, the Irish cider is always more sour than the EngHsh ; and this is a 

 quality, when not too predominant, for which it is valued by the natives. 

 (Lardner's C^clopcedia, Treatise on Domestic Economy.) 



In Scotland, cider has not hitherto been made ; but, as tlie climate, especially 

 in all the low lands of the country, is drier and warmer than that of Ireland, 

 and is consequently better adapted for ripening fruit, if apple trees were intro- 

 duced into the hedgerows, in some places; and, where this could not be done, 

 if large orchards were planted adjoining the farm-houses, cider might be as 

 common a beverage there as in England. 



In Xormandj/, cider was made before it was in England; and the art of 

 making it is said to have been brought into that country from Spain ; where, 

 however, it is no longer practised. The Norman mode of making cider closely 

 resembles that generally practised in Devonshire. The Normans gather their 

 apples in dry weather, and keep them closely shut up in rooms, till ready 

 for the press, in which they are crushed, or broken; and the juice is strained 

 through a reed or bast mat. The Normans prefer sweet apples, or sweet and 

 bitter'apples mixed. The cider is sweet, like that of Devonshire; but, though 

 heady, it has not much body. The strongest rarely keeps more than five or 

 six years, and the inferior sorts are best drunk from the cask when quite new. 

 Normandy is the only part of the Continent v\here cider is a staple article of 

 commerce. 



In America, cider is almost a universal beverage in New England, and in 

 the middle, and some of the western states. The fruit is suffered to remain on 

 the tree till it is thoroughly ripe, and it is then gathered by hand ; or, if the 

 trees are shaken, great care is taken to cover the ground with coarse cloths 

 or Russian mats, to prevent the apples from being bruised. When gathered, 

 the apples are laid in heaps in a room, and kept carefully from the rain or 

 dew. In grinding, care is taken to reduce " the whole fruit, skin and seeds, to 



fine pulp, and to perform the operation in cool weather. The late Joseph 

 Cooper of New Jersey has observed emphatically, that ' the longer a cheese 

 [that is, the mass of apple pulp] lies after being ground, before pressing, the 

 better for the cider, provided it escapes fermentation until the pressing is 

 completed." {Kenrick's American Orchardi.st, p. 121.) In some cases, the 

 pomace, or mass of pulp, is suffered to remain a week or ten days after it is 

 ground, before it is submitted to the press (provided the weather be not too 

 warm), stirring the mass every day. {Ibid.) 



Mode of preparing the Sweetmeat known in France hy the Name of Raisine 

 compose. Tiiis is a very favourite sweetmeat with the Parisians ; and it is 

 made by boiling any given quantity of must, or new wine, till it is diminished 

 one half, skimnung it continually as fresh scum arises, and afterwards strain- 

 in" the liquor : then take apples, pared and cut into quarters, and, putting them 

 into the raisine, let it simmer gently, stirring it continually with a long wooden 

 spoon, till the apples become thoroughly amalgamated with the liquor, and the 

 whole forms a species of marmalade, wliich is extremely agreeable to the taste. 

 When prepared in the northern provinces, the raisine, after the first boiling, 

 skimming, and straining, should be set for 24 hours in a cool place, when a saline 



