THE APPLE. 25 



may be kept for 20 or 30 years, and a single glass of it 

 will almost suffice to intoxicate. This quality is mainly 

 derived from the source from which it might least have 

 been expected, for an experiment having been made in 

 order to ascertain which part of the fruit contributed 

 most to the goodness of cyder, one hogshead being manu- 

 factured entirely from the cores and parings of apples, 

 and another entirely from the pulp, " the first was found 

 of extraordinary strength and flavour, while the latter 

 was sweet and insipid." This being the case, small apples 

 are of course preferable to large ones for pressing. In. 

 Ireland, where much cyder is drunk, the popular taste 

 approves of an unusual degree of acidity, and Crabs are 

 therefore largely intermixed with the fruits of which it 

 is made. 



In Normandy the principal art in making good cyder 

 is considered to lie in the choosing and mixing of sorts, 

 one kind of apple alone, whether good or bad in itself, 

 making only inferior cyder, which will not keep, and is 

 too sweet or too sour, or turns black ; but there are no 

 fixed rules for the combination, the Normans only know- 

 ing that one sort gives sweetness, another acidity, and so 

 on, while of the influence of some kinds they are quite 

 uncertain. In parts where good varieties are not grown, 

 or little knowledge of their qualities has been attained, 

 of course the beverage proves very inferior. Though in 

 general the apples which are best fitted for making cyder 

 are little fitted for any other use, the rule is by no means 

 invariable, and the Grolden Pippin and other dessert va- 

 rieties are equally valued for pressing. The strength of 

 this liquor is a quality easily experimented upon, since it 

 can be very correctly estimated beforehand by testing the 

 specific gravity of the recently expressed apple-juice. 

 The Newtown Pippin also adds to its other virtues the 

 property of being an excellent cyder apple, and in New 

 Jersey many thousands of barrels of cyder are annually 

 manufactured, in sparkling delicacy so similar to cham- 

 pagne that many find it difficult to distinguish it from 

 that wine. Chemically considered, the chief characteristic 

 in which cyder differs from the juice of the grape is in 



