364 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXI. 



the purpose. The pulp is generally wrapt in hair-cloth, and the vessels, 

 being first well cleansed and scoured, are filled by the pressure. Both 

 the quantity and the quality of juice differ according to the species of fruit, 

 as well as the state of the seasdn ; but Mr. Booth calculates that, upon 

 an average of years and quantities, about two hogsheads of pulp are requi- 

 site to produce one of juice : pears, however, yield about a third more than 

 apples. The specific quantity of saccharine matter in cider-juice, he also 

 slates as being usually between 1040 and 1060, which is equivalent to from 

 14 to 21 pounds per barrel, as weighed by the brewer's saccharometer ; 

 being a difference of 50 per cent, between the value of one juice and ano- 

 ther. This, however, we believe to be rarely attended to by the farmers, 

 though there can be no doubt that the actual value of every hogshead could 

 be ascertained by that instrument*. The apples, after being thus pressed, 

 are provincially termed " cheeses," which are often re-ground with water ; 

 and these "washings," as they are called, are again pressed out, and fer- 

 mented apart into a weaker kind of liquor : the fruit sufficient for three 

 hoo-sheads of cider being generally allowed to be sufficient for one hogshead 

 of washings. The pulp is afterwards usually given to the pigs. 



CIDER. 



In the manufacture of cider, the expressed juice of the fruit is termed 

 " must," which is in a foul and turbid state as it comes from the press, 

 and can only be purified by undergoing the vinous fermentation. It is, 

 therefore, put into casks, which should be well washed throughout the 

 whole of the inside, with either sound liquor or common brandy, so as to 

 correct any unpleasant taint that they may have acquired. The casks are 

 not quite filled to the bung until the process is completed ; and in a day or 

 two, according to the temperature of the air, and the ripeness of the fruit, 

 it begins to work. If attention be not paid to the state of fermentation, 

 its excess will occasion the cider to be rough ; and, as that which contains 

 a considerable degree of sweetness is most valuable, the casks are usually 

 placed in the open air until the object is effected, as the most effectual 

 method of accomplishing it. If, however, there appears a strong disposition 

 to renew the fermentation which it has already undergone, the liquor 

 should be racked into a clean cask from time to time, in order to separate 

 it from the dregs. The necessity for this may be perceived by a hissing 

 noise in the cask; and the mode of operation, as well as that of the 

 practice of " stumming," is thus described as the common mode through- 

 out the west of England : — 



" Tlie fermentation is usually stopped by burning a piece of cloth or 

 paper, two or three inches wide, and six or seven inches long, dipped in 

 brimstone, and put into the bung-hole of a cask that has six or eight gal- 

 lons of cider in it. After lighting it, the bung-hole is secured, and the air 

 in the cask is sufficient to keep up the combustion until the match is con- 

 sumed. This done, the hogshead is rolled to and fro, in order to promote 

 the union of the cider with the sulphurous vapour. It is then filled up 

 within a few inches of the bung-hole, and all fermentation is for a time 

 suspended ; but, on observing it to return, this fumigation is to be renewed 

 as often as necessary. When the liquor remains quiet, and a candle will 

 burn clear in the bung-hole, the fermentation is easy, and not likely to pro- 



* It is made under the direction of Mr. Booth, and can be ohtained at Mr. M'Gowan's, 

 Gerrard-street, Soho, London; together with an explanation and directions for its use; 

 for the price of two guineas. 



