282 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 31, 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



CIDER APPLES. 

 I have read with much interest (he several 

 communication? that have appeared in the New 

 E. 'gland Farmer on the subject of talk fruit ;- 

 and have heen surprised that so little has been 

 sa d in relation to cider fruit ; a subject of deep 

 interest to the farmer, not only as it is bis prin- 

 cipal reliance for a healthy table beverage, but 

 because it may contribute essentially to the 

 prohis of his business. As this branch of or- 

 charding has for some time engaged my atten- 

 tion, 1 beg leave to call the attention of your 

 horliciillural correspondents to it, and of invit- 

 ing their cooperation in illustrating its impor- 

 tance, and in suggesting rules for its successful 

 prosecution. 



The quality of cider depends upon the apples 

 from which it is manufactured -the soil and lo 

 caiion where they grow — and the process of 

 manufacturing. When the two first are favour- 

 able, and the last well conducted, ihe product 

 will he a tine racy liquor, superior tor the table 

 to the common wines of Fi ance, Spain and Italy, 

 and will keep as well as them. Where these 

 requisites are disregarded, the liqnar is often 

 harsh, turbid and nnpalatat)ie, and generally 

 runs into the acelou* fermentation in the warm 

 svealher in April and May. 



The first requisite is good apples. And here 

 it is proper to premise, that a good tiilde apple 

 is seldom a good cider apple. The esteemed 

 qualities in the first are, a good size, handsome 

 appearance, rich fiavour, and juicy pulp. The 

 best cider apples, on the contrary, are ofien 

 small, knolly, dry and austere. Knight thinks 

 he has combined the qualities of the livo, m his 

 Downton pippin, a seedling producec' in 1804, 

 by crossing the Golden and Orange (.ippins. — 

 He says of it, " it is probably the most valuable 

 apple for the table and press that has ever ex- 

 isted." The Golden pippin has been consider- 

 ed preeminent in England; and Loudon remarks 

 of the Downton, that it ranks next to the Golden, 

 both I'or de.^sert and cider. The Hagloe crab, 

 extolled by fllarshall as (iroducing a cider which 

 exceeds tor richness, flavour and price, any li(|- 

 iior which nature and art have produced, and 

 which has sold for si.\ly guineas (more than 

 ^270) the hog:ihead of IIU galls, has beauty, 

 size, llavour, keeps well, and is pronounced by 

 Coxe a valuable market fruit. 1 have both 

 these apples, and expect fruit from Iheni next 

 iiimmer The old Slyre, Ruckman's pearmain, 

 Bullock's pippin, Newark pippin, Newtown 

 pippin, and some others, are also exceptions lo 

 the rule. In general the best cider apples are 

 comparatively dry — their juices are more elab- 

 orated or concenttated — contain less water and 

 more sacoli.irino matter, than dessert fruit. — 

 The best test wc liave is the specific gravity of 

 '.he nius; of fresh expiessed juice. This is heav 

 ier than water in proportion to the quantity of 

 sugar it contains. 'I'he sugar is converted into 

 spirit, during the processor fermentation. And 

 it is the strength of the cider n hich mainly pre- 

 vents the acetous or vinegar fermentation, and 

 jjreserves its rich vinous flavour. The parlicu- 

 hu flavour of the fruit is dissipated in the fer- 

 liicnling process. The Styre, which has been 

 preeminent in l-ngland and America, as a cider 

 apple, gave the heaviest must, Knight tolls u?, 



of any of the old English varieties. Is is wor-t 

 thy of remark, that Loudon has omitted the' 

 Slyre in his late table of British apples, proba- ! 

 bly from its age rendering it unfit tor further 

 propagation. Coxe speaks of many fine dessert 

 apples, the juices of which are not strong enough , 

 for good cider; and his good cider apples are i 

 uniformly stated lo afford strong juice. The 

 must of the V^andevere is eleven penny weights 

 heavier in the pint than water; Cooper's rus- 1 

 seting 24 dwts. heavier than water, and its ci- 

 der is in high estimation. The practice of test- 

 ing the quality of cider apples by the specific 

 gravity of their juice, is of recent origin, and i 

 as yet has been principally confined to Europe. 

 I am not theretnre able to class our native cider' 

 apples by this test. The varietie- most highly 

 recommended bv Coxe, are the Harrison and 

 Campfield of Newark, the Winesap of West, 

 Jersey, Hughes' and Roan's crab.o, of Virginia, 

 Greyhouse, Carthouse and Cooper's rus.seling. j 

 The progress of horticultural science in Eu- 

 rope has been much greater than with us. — 

 There not only the specific gravity of apple 

 juice, ami the consequent ad iplation of particu- 

 lar varieties lor good cider, has been ascertain- 

 ed, but Successful expcrimpnis have lif-en made 

 to produce new and better varieties, by cross- 

 ing old ones. Mr Knight has extended this pro- 

 cess to the pea, strawberry, peach, cherry, pear 

 and apjile. The tollowing slalemeni exhib- 

 iting the aperific gravity of ditTerent varie- 

 ties, will sboiv that his elTort* h.ive been suc- 

 cessful in regard at least to cider apjdes. 

 Old Varieties. 

 Loan's pearmain . . . 1072 



Orange pippin .... 1074 

 Fux whelp ..... 107G 



Old pearmain .... 1079 



Kedstreak 1079 



New Varieties of Knight. 



Grange . . 1079 of 1002 



Downton pippin . 1080 ' 1804 



Foxley . . . lOCO '■ 1807 



Yellow Siberian . . 1085 ' 1805 



Siberian Harvey . 1091 ' 1807 



In selecting for my cider fruit, some years 



ago, I limiteil myself to four well known kinds, 



viz. the Harrison. V/inesap, Hagloe and Hughes' 



crab. I have since added lo my cider nurserv 



the preceding neiv varieties of Knight, and soma 



indigenous varieties. 



Another object in planting an orchard for ci- 

 der should be, lo plant not only none but the best 

 fruit, but to plant each variety by itself, and in 

 siilBcient numbers, that the fruit may be manu- 

 factured separately. Who would ever expect 

 to make good wine from twenty diflerent varie- 

 ties of the grape, commingled in a common 

 mass? — or a palatable hash from a mixture of 

 all sorts of meat ? jet we attempt what is equal- 

 ly inconsistent, when we expect to make good 

 cider from a mixture of apples, sweet and 

 sour, ripe and unri[)e, acrid and bitter. A cer- 

 tain maturity and mellowness in fruit is necessa- 

 ry to develope its good qualities in vinous liq- 

 uor. This seldom happens lo several varieties 

 at the same time, and never to many. Rut if 

 the fruit of each is used by itself, or even judi- 

 ciously mixed, the period of ripeness may be 

 taken advantage of, and the liquor greatly im- 

 proved. We have cider already manutactured 

 trom the Crab and the Harrison, separately, 



which ordinarily sells for six to ten dollars the 

 barrel; and yet it is believed that neither of 

 those are our best cider apples. Let us profit 

 by these truths, ascertain which are our strong- 

 est cider apples, confine our culture exclusively 

 to them, and we shall soon have ciders, bearing 

 the names of the respective apples from which 

 they are made, which will drink well, keep 

 well, and sell well. 1 will send you some fur- 

 ther suggestions on this subject, as soon as I find 

 leisure. J. BUEL. 



Albany, March 21, 1826, 



P. S. I obtained seed of the white mulberry 

 last autumn in the east part of Coventry, Con. 

 This shrub, (for it can hardly be called a iree) 

 is extensively cultivated there, and in Mansfifld. 

 Seed could be obtained, 1 think, tlirough .Mr 

 Fomeroy, the sl;ige jiroprictor in Coventry, 16 

 miles east of Hartford, en the south road to Bos- 

 ton. I design to try the rauliierry for hedges. 



PREMIUMS 



Offu-ed by the Philadelphia Society for Promoting 

 Aiiricultnre. in \&2!}. and at the Annual Meet- 

 i:ig. Jon. 17, 1826. 



1. A Gold Medal, of the v\\ne of fifty dollars, 

 to the person who shall have carried on Farm- 

 ing; in Pennsylvania on the largest scale>' wuh- 

 out U'^iiig, or suffering to be u«ed on his proper- 

 ty, any ardent spirits (except when pre-cribed 

 by a physician) for the period of two years. 



2. The .Silver Mcdo I of the Society lo li.e 

 Farmer who, pre\iously lo the 1st Jan. 1827, 

 sh;ill have made the most extPii-ii\e and ihe 

 most u.selul I'xperiment in this .Slate on the use 

 of Fish as a manure. 



3. The Silver Medal of the Society t'or Ihe 

 best experiment of applying a stream or other 

 source of water to a field, in n way llie least 

 expensive, and so as to secure Ihe supply. The 

 Soi-iely reserving to itself the right of rejecting 

 any c'aim ivhich Ihey shall not consider worthv 

 of the (jreiniom. 



4. Fifti; dollars, or a gold medal of that value, 

 for the greatest quantity of Sewing Silk made 

 from cocoons of silk worms, which have been 

 bred in Pennsylvania, and leJ on Ihe white or 

 Italian mulberiy Iree. 



5. Tzi;enti/.fii-e dollars for the best Treatise on 

 the culture of the while or Italian Mulberry 

 Tree, and on the Breeding and Management of 

 Silk Worms, the result of practice in the United 

 States. 



6. A Siher Cap, value fifty dollar.', for Ihe 

 best specimen of Wool adapted to Ihe Manufac- 

 ture of Superfine Broad Cloth; reference being 

 had to Ihe form, properties and characteristics 

 of the Sheep, filling it for the production of 

 high flavoured mutton with light olTal. 



7. A Silver Cup, value fil'ly dollars, for Ihe 

 best specimen of Long or Combing Wool, refer- 

 ence being had lo the form, (iroperiies, and 

 characteristics, affording most llesh and tallow, 

 with least olTal. 



8. A Silver Cup, value twenty-five dollars, for 

 the best Potatoes produced from Ihe Seed of ihe 

 Apples, reference lo be had to Ihe product and 

 quantity of Ihe root. 



Extracts from Ihe minutes of the Philadelphia 

 Society for Promoling Agriculinre. 



W. S. WARDEK, Secretary. 

 2d mo. (Feb.) 1, 1826. 



