1020 CYDER 



membrane constitutes not more than two per cent, of the whole. After the apples 

 are gathered, they are left in the barn-loft for fifteen days or upwards to mellow ; 

 some of them in this case, however, become soft and brown. This degree -of matu- 

 ration diminishes their mucilage, and developes alcohol and carbonic acid ; in conse- 

 quence of which the cyder suffers no injury. There is always, however, a little loss ; 

 and if this ripening goes a little further it is very apt to do harm, notwithstanding 

 tlif vulgar prejudice of the country people to the contrary. Too much care, indeed, 

 cannot bo taken to separate the sound from the spoiled apples ; for the latter merely 

 furnish an acid leaven, giving a disagreeable taste to the juice, and hinder the cyder 

 from fining, by leaving in it a certain portion of the parenchyma, which the gelatinous 

 matter or the fermentation has diffused through it. Unripo apples should be sepa- 

 rated from the ripe also, for they possess too little saccharum to be properly suscep- 

 tible of the vinous fermentation. 



Where cyder-making is scientifically practised, it is prepared by crushing the 

 apples in a mill with revolving edge-stones, turned in a circular stone cistern by one 

 or two horses. When the fruit is half mashed, about one fifth of its weight of river 

 water is added. 



In some places a mill composed of two cast-iron fluted cylinders placed parallel to 

 each other under the bottom of a hopper, is employed for crushing the apples. One 

 of the cylinders is turned by a winch, and communicates its motion in the opposite 

 direction by means of the flutings working into each other. Each portion of the 

 fruit must be passed thrice through this rude mill in order to bo sufficiently mashed ; 

 and the same quantity of water must be added as in the edge-stone mill. 



After the apples are crushed they are usually put into a large tub or tun for 12 or 

 24 hours. This steeping aids the separation of the j nice, because the fermentative 

 motion which takes place in the mass breaks down the cellular membranes ; but there 

 is always a loss of alcohol carried off by the carbonic acid disengaged, while the skins 

 and seeds deyelope a disagreeable taste in the liquid. The vatting might be sup- 

 pressed if the apples were so comminuted as to give out their juice more readily. 



After the vatting, the mashed fruit is carried to the press and put upon a square 

 wicker frame or into a hair bag, sometimes between layers of straw, and exposed 

 stratum above stratum to strong pressure till what is called a cheese or cake is formed. . 

 The mass is to be allowed to drain for some time before applying pressure, which 

 ought to be very gradually increased. The juice which exudes with the least 

 pressure affords the best cycler; that which flows towards the end acquires a dis- 

 agreeable taste from the seeds and the skins. The must is put into casks with largo 

 bungholes, where it soon begins to exhibit a tumultuous fermentation. The cask 

 must be completely filled, in order that all the light bodies suspended in the liquid 

 when floated to the top by the carbonic acid may flow over with the froth ; this 

 means of clearing cyder is particularly necessary with the weak kinds, because it 

 cannot be expected that these matters in suspension will fall to the bottom of the 

 casks after the motion has ceased. In almost every circumstance besides, when no 

 saccharine matter has been added to the must, that kind of yeast which rises to the 

 top must be separated, lest by precipitation it may excite an acid fermentation in the 

 cyder. The casks are raised upon gauntrees or stillions, in order to place flat tubs 

 below them to receive the liquor which flows over with the froth. At the end of 2 

 or 3 days for weak cyders, which are to be drunk somewhat sweet, of 6 or 10 days 

 or more for stronger cyders, with variations for the state of the weather, the fermen- 

 tation will be sufficiently advanced, and the cyder may be racked off into other casks. 

 Spirit puncheons preserve cyder better than any other, but in all cases the casks 

 should be well seasoned and washed. Sometimes a sulphur match is burned in them 

 before introducing the cyder, a precaution to be generally recommended, as it suspends 

 the activity of the fermentation, and prevents the formation of vinegar. 



The cyder procured by the first expression is called cyder without water. The 

 cake remaining in the press is taken out, divided into small pieces, and mashed anew, 

 adding about half the weight of water, when the whole is carried back to the press, 

 and treated as above described. The liquor thus obtained furnishes a weaker cyder 

 which will not keep, and therefore must be drunk soon. 



The cake is once more mashed up with water, and squeezed, when it yields a 

 liquor which may be used instead of water for moistening fresh ground apples. 



The processes above described, although they have been long practised, and have 

 therefore the stamp of ancestral wisdom, are extremely defective. Were the apples 

 ground with a proper rotatory rasp which would tear all their cells asunder, and the 

 mash put through the hydraulic press in bags between hurdles of wicker-work, the 

 juice would be obtained in a state of perfection fit to make a cyder superior to many 

 wines. An experimental process of this kind has been actually executed in France 

 upon a considerable scale, with the best results. The juice had the fine flavour of the 



