PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



on The .In if Making mid Man ter, that the most certain indications of the ripe- 



ness of apples are the fragrance of their smell, and their spontaneously dropping from 

 the trees. When they are in lliis state of maturity, ill a dry day, the limbs may, lie 



says, be slightly shaken, ami partly disburdened of their golden store; thus taking such 



apples only as are ripe, and li aving the unripe longer on the trees, that they may also 

 acquire a t\\w degree of matin its. It may not, he thinks, be ami^s to make three gather- 

 ings of the crop, keeping each by itself. The latter gathering, as well as wind-falls, 

 Can, however, only be employed in making inferior cider : the prime eider must be drawn 

 from the former gatherings. 



4124. (hi the proper win arc of fruits, or rather on their proper separation, the merit 

 of eider will always greatly depend. Those whose rinds and pulp are tinned with 

 green, or red without any mixture of yellow, as that colour will disappear in the first 

 Stages of fermentation, should be carefully kept apart from such as are yellow, or yellow 

 intermixed with red. The latter kinds, which should remain on the trees till ripe 

 enough to fall without being much shaken, are alone capable of making line cider. 

 Bach kind should be collected separately, as noticed above, and kept till it becomes 

 perfectly mellow. For this purpose, in the common practice of the country, they are 

 placed in heaps often inches or a foot thick, and exposed to the sun, air, and rain, not 

 being ever covered, except in very severe frosts. The strength and flavour of the future 

 liquor are increased by keeping the fruit under cover some time before it is ground ; 

 but unless a situation can be afforded it, in which it is exposed to a free current of air, 

 and where it can be spread very thin, it is apt to contract an unpleasant smell, which 

 will much affect the cider produced from it. Few farms are provided with proper 

 buildings for this purpose on a large scale, and the improvement of the liquor will not 

 nearly pay the expense of erecting them. It may reasonably be supposed, that much 

 water is absorbed by the fruit in a rainy season ; but the quantity of juice yielded by 

 any given quantity of fruit will be found to diminish as it becomes more mellow, even 

 in very wet weather, provided it be ground when thoroughly dry. The advantages there- 

 fore, of covering the fruit will probably be much less than may at first sight be expected. 

 No criterion appears to be known, by which the most proper point of maturity in the 

 fruit can be ascertained with accuracy ; but it improves as long as it continues to ac- 

 quire a deeper shade of yellow. Each heap should be examined prior to its being 

 ground, and any decayed or green fruit carefully taken away. The expense of this 

 will be very small, and will be amply repaid by the excellence of the liquor, and the ease 

 with which too great a degree of fermentation maybe prevented. (Crocker.) In Ireland 

 a mixture of every sort of apple is considered as producing the best cider. A propor- 

 tion of crabs is always admitted. " The taste, in consequence, is very sour, and less 

 sweet than English cider : but this is matter of fancy ; and, a relish for rough cider once 

 acquired, the sweet kind loses much of its attractions. Owing to a considerable admixture 

 of crabs, the Irish cider is always more sour than the English, and this is a quality, 

 when not too predominant, for which it is valued by the natives." (Lard iter's Cyc. 

 Dtwi. Econ.) 



4125. /// grinding, the fruit should be so reduced that the rind and kernel should be 

 scarcely discernible. In such a complete mixture it seems probable that new elective 

 attractions will be exerted, and compounds formed which did not exist previously to 

 the fruit being placed under the roller. The process of slow grinding, with free access 

 of air, gives the cider good qualities it did not possess before, probably by the absorption 

 of oxygen. To procure very fine cider, the fruit should be ground and pressed im- 

 perfectly, and the pulp spread as thin as possible, exposed to the air, and frequently 

 turned during twenty-four hours, to obtain as large an absorption of air as possible. 

 The pulp should be ground again, and the liquor formerly expressed added, by which 

 the liquor will acquire an increase of strength and richness. (Lardners Cyclo. Bom. 

 Econ.) 



41 26. Whetlier the pommage should, immediately after grinding, be conveyed to the press, 

 there to be formed into a kind of cake, or what is called the cheese ; or whether it should 

 remain some time in that state before pressing, ciderists have not agreed. Some say it 

 should be pressed immediately after grinding ; others conceive it best to suffer it to 

 remain in the grinding trough, or in vats employed for the purpose, for twenty-four 

 hours, or even two days, that it may acquire not only a redness of colour, but also that 

 it may form an extract with the rind and kernels. Both extremes arc, Crocker thinks, 

 wrong. There is an analogy, he says, between the making of cider from apples, and 

 wine from grapes ; and the method which the wine-maker pursues ought to be followed 

 by the cider-maker. When the pulp of the grapes has lain some time in the vats, the 

 vintager thrusts his hand into the pulp, and takes some from the middle of the mass ; 

 and when he perceives, by the smell, that the luscious sweetness is gone oil*, and that his 

 nose is affected with a slight piquancy, he immediately carries it to the press, and by a 

 light pressure expresses his prime juice. In like manner should the ciderist determine 



