113 



These should be crushed in a mill till they become a uniform mass of 

 pulp. This material is then allowed to stand from twenty-four to forty- 

 eight hours, according to the atmospheric temperature, to engender a 

 slight fermentation. The pulp must then be passed through a press?, 

 and the liquor as it flows should be strained through a hair or 

 other cloth. It should then be run into perfectly sweet and clean casks, 

 which must be placed in a cool cellar or other place to ferment, leaving - 

 the bungs out. When the strong fermentation ceases, which will 

 generally be the case in two or three weeks if the weather is favourable, 

 the bungs should be fixed in the casks loosely. After a while, when 

 fermentation appears to have altogether ceased, they may be tightened, 

 taking care, previously, to make good any deficiencies in the casks. The 

 cider should be allowed to remain in the casks until it becomes clear 

 and bright, when it must be racked off. The clarifying process may be 

 hastened by the use of isinglass at the rate of 1 oz. to a barrel of 

 cider. 



CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR CULTIVATION. 



The Apple may be grown successfully in many parts of Australasia, 

 but the localities specially adapted for it are those which possess a com- 

 paratively cool and moist climate. In these cooler districts the trees 

 are likely to be longer lived, to attain a greater size, and to bear better 

 and more regular crops than in less congenial localities. At the same 

 time, the fruit will, as a rule, possess a higher flavour and keep much 

 better. In the medium warm districts, the trees may grow well for a 

 few years, and bear freely, but they will be comparatively short-lived, 

 and the fruit is apt to be deficient in flavour, and does not keep well as a 

 rule. Tropical regions are unsuitable for the Apple, as the heat is too 

 great. Cultivation may be carried on successfully in various soils, 

 but the one above all others is a strong deep calcareous loam with a 

 gravelly or marly subsoil. When such a soil is available it should 

 invariably be chosen, though any good deep cultivation land may give 

 satisfactory results. Some varieties will adapt themselves to particular 

 soils or localities much better than others, thriving and giving good 

 returns where others fail. Horticultural science has not yet shown the 

 reason for these differences, and, as a consequence, no precise rules can 

 be laid down as a guide in making selections. The writer has a theory 

 that these peculiarities are not so much due to the varieties themselves 

 as to the stocks upon which they are worked. More precise knowledge 

 upon this point than growers now possess is much required, but doubt- 

 less it will be obtained in time, and then cultivators will know what 

 stocks are best suited to particular varieties, soils and districts. 



In preparing land for Apples or any other fruit trees it will be 

 advisable to do the work thoroughly, as a good foundation is as neces- 

 sary for an orchard as a mansion. As a rule, the ground should be 

 broken up to the depth of 15 inches at the least, and 18 inches or 

 2 feet will be still better, and more especially in heavy soils. In light 

 or shallow ground, where the subsoil is loose gravel, marl or sand, the 



