158 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



lowing elaborate and most valuable communication 

 from John Lowell, esquire, will supply every defi- 

 ciency, and cannot fail of being acceptable. From 

 Mass. Agricultural Repository, vol. iv. 



" Some remarks on the necessity and importance of improving 

 the manufacture of Cider, introductory to some extracts from 

 approved English and French works on that subject. By the 

 Corresponding Secretary." 



In his introductory part, Mr. Lowell observes, 

 that " there is nothing of which a good farmer is so 

 proud, as of his orchard ; and the state of the or- 

 chard is generally a pretty good test of the charac- 

 ter of the man as to industry arid capacity, at least. 

 Our climate arid soil are well adapted to the apple 

 tree, and it certainly is desirable, that cider should 

 continue to be the general drink of the New Eng- 

 land people. It is greatly to be desired that this 

 liquor should be improved in its quality as much as 

 possible. The quality of our cider, as it is com- 

 monly drunk, particularly in the country, is infe- 

 riour to that of any cider country in the world, and 

 much inferiour to that of New Jersey." In the 

 opinion of Mr. L. some of the causes of the ill 

 quality of our cider, compared with that of New 

 Jersey or Europe,maybe resolved into the following : 



" 1. Inattention to the selection of proper fruits 

 in making our orchards. 



u 2. Neglect to separate the different sorts of 

 apples, so that those only which are of an equal 

 degree of ripeness should be ground together. 

 What sort of wine do you suppose would be made, 

 if the ripe and unripe grapes were all put into the 

 same press? Is cider an exception to the common 

 laws on this subject ? How can it be expected that 

 cider should pass regularly through the process of 

 fermentation, when it is composed of liquor in vari- 

 ous stages of ripeness ? Some farmers, we know, arc 



