OP FRUIT TREES. 163 



"'You ought to collect all the apples of a similar 

 sort together, having a regard both to the quality 

 and degree of ripeness. Without this attention, 

 you will carry to the press apples which are green, 

 others rotten, and there will result from it a very 

 bad liquor. On the other hand, you will have by 

 separation, cider of different qualities, but all good. 

 Some is good for immediate use, that is, in three 

 months; some will keep for one or two years. 



" ' The Normans separate the sweet apples from 

 the sour. This was the advice of the celebrated 

 Olivier de Serres, the father of French agriculture. 

 He says, Let us remark that we ought not to mix 

 the different kinds of fruit. The sweet should not 

 be mixed with the sour: each should be separately 

 pressed. This will affect the goodness as well as 

 duration of the cider. Thus sweet apples will give 

 the best quality, and sour the second. The last 

 will keep the longest.' Abbe de Rosier. 



" Such are the opinions of French cultivators as 

 to the sorting and selection of apples. 



" The Complete Farmer's Dictionary gives us the 

 English practice. The Herefordshire planter thus 

 describes his operations. 



" ' As the apples are gathered, I have them all 

 sorted according to the several degrees of ripeness, 

 making in general three sorts, which a little expe- 

 rience teaches to separate properly, the difference 

 being apparent at first sight. As fast as they are 

 gathered, they are carried under a shed to ripen. 

 I suffer my apples to lie a longer or shorter time in 

 heaps, according to their nature ; such as are hard 

 and solid lying longer than those that are soft and 

 pulpy. I divide my apples into three sorts, but I 

 have six qualities of cider, each differing in taste, 

 flavour and quality. 



"' As fast as the fruit is ground (I need not say I 

 use the ripest first) the pulp is put into vats near 

 the press before it is put into the cheese; at the 





