64 MANAGEMENT 



The time which will elapse before the vinous fet- 

 mentation commences, is very uncertain in warm 

 weather, and in cider made from weak or immature 

 fruit, it commences in a few hours but if the fruit is 

 ripe, and the weather cold, it will be delayed for a 

 week, and sometimes for a month : the fermentation 

 of the exquisite crab cider, blended with the Harrison 

 and Winesap, of which 1 have in another place mada 

 mention, was never farther apparent, than in the swel- 

 ling of the liquor out of the bung-hole, without any 

 sensible effervescence and even that did not take 

 place till near the Spring, although the cider was in a 

 tight cellar, secured by glazed windows . In general, 

 the fermentation is delayed in proportion to the clear- 

 ness and strength of the cider. 



In the commencement of fermentaton, the dimen- 

 sions of the liquor are enlarged, intestine motion is ob- 

 servable in the cask, and bubbles of fixed air rise and 

 break on the surface : if the casks are placed in the open 

 air, or in cool well ventilated cellars, the fermentation 

 will proceed moderately, and will gradually subside, 

 as the proper degree of it has been attained, accord- 

 ing to the purity and strength of the liquor. Twtf 

 modes of conducting the fermentation are practised; 

 the first is with large vessels open at the top, to per- 

 mit the feculent particles of the pomace to be visible 

 as they rise to the surface, and form a skum when 



