Sweet Cider and "Applesass^' 147 



added, in quarters, during the boiling process, was 

 mighty appetising and enticing food. It was 

 brick-red in colour and many farmers' wives 

 added lemon and other flavourings to it, that 

 made it, indeed, a food fit for the gods. 



That ^'sass" was used, too, to make tart pies 

 and I never knew that any one had to be twice 

 asked to take a second piece, indeed, the women- 

 folks just had to hide those pies if they wanted 

 to get them to the table. That lattice-work upper 

 crust, with the '*sass" fillin' shining through, just 

 made them irresistible. 



SCHOOLBOYS TTSED WHEAT STRAW 



As a schoolboy I recall that I used to pass a 

 farm on my way to the seat of learning where they 

 had a large orchard and, consequently, a liberal 

 supply of "sass" and cider. A barrel of sweet 

 cider had been left in the root cellar, under the 

 barn, and the extreme cold of winter partly froze 

 the contents of that barrel. The watery part con- 

 gealed but the centre of the barrel was a syrupy 

 fluid — the very nectar of the sun-kissed apples. 

 "We schoolboys, with our shining morning faces, 

 used to linger lovingly about that barrel. We'd 

 break through the ice at the bunghole, insert 

 straws and fill up on condensed apple juice till our 

 little '' tummies" were like to burst. We just 

 sucked the whole centre out of that barrel and, I 

 opine, that that farmer had a very poor quality 



