1 43 CIDER. 



This fact deserves more attention than is commonly 

 ^ivento it ; and if the time and occasion would admit, 

 1 should indulge myself in speaking largely on it." 



"As the inquiry is how to make the best cider, there 

 need not any thing be said of imperfect fruit, or that 

 which falls from the tree early in the season, as they 

 cannot be applied to this purpose ; the September gale 

 beating down such great quantities of apples, tempts 

 the farmer to use them with those that continued long- 

 er on the tree. But where this gale happens early, 

 the effects are fatal to the cider : for, if they are made 

 up immediately, the fermentation rises too high, in 

 consequence of the too great degree of heat in the 

 air ; and this evil is increased by the imperfect and 

 great quantity of juice contained in the fruit ; if they 

 remain unground, they become insipid, especially 

 those which lay on the ground under the trees ; and if 

 gathered in heaps, they are disposed to rot. To make 

 the best cider, you must have sound fruit, [gathered 

 late in the season, in dry weather, after the middle of 

 October, if possible. They should! lay in large heaps, 

 covered with the dews and rain, about fourteen days; 

 in which they heat, and throw off a great proportion 

 of their indigested and insipid water, and ripen more 

 uniformly than while on the tree. They must not be 

 ground while they are wet., either from the rain, the 

 dew, or from the moisture thrown out by the heat pro- 

 duced by their laying together. The finer the apple 

 is ground, the more it will yield. If the mill is well 

 fitted, it crushes the seed, and gives a peculiar aromat- 

 ick bitter to the must, which becomes more and more 

 distinguishable as the cider is longer kept. Some pre- 

 fer this flavour, and others dislike it, not distinguish- 

 ing it from the bitter of the rotten apples, although 

 very different from that pungent bitter, both in taste 

 on the palate, and effects in the stomach. If straw is 

 used in forming the cheese for the press (cloth made of 



