CIDER. 



Cider is the fermented juice of the apple. It is an article of very 

 general use, especially in those parts of the country where fruit- 

 growing is carried on. Statistics of the amount produced or consumed 

 are rather difficult to obtain, and I am unable to present any definite 

 statement on the subject. It is quite a favorite article of home produc- 

 tion, nearly every farmer in regions where apples are grown making his 

 barrel of cider for use through the winter; but a large amount also finds 

 its way into the city markets, finding ready purchasers among people 

 who still retain their taste for the drink, acquired during a childhood on 

 the "old farm." A considerable quantity is also consumed in the shape 

 of bottled cider, "champagne cider," "sparkling cider," and similar sub- 

 stitutes for, or imitations of, champagne wine, large quantities of this 

 clarified cider being produced in some parts of the country, notably 

 New Jersey. Most of the cheaper kinds of champagne (American cham- 

 pagne) are made in this way. 



In England and France considerable quantities of cider find their way 

 into the markets, though it is there, as here, largely an article of home 

 consumption. Certain parts of those countries are famous for the qual- 

 ity of their ciders, notably Normandy, in France, and Herefordshire 

 and Devonshire, in England. France produced, in 1883, 23,493,000 hec- 

 to liters (620,211,200 gallons) of cider, or over one-half of the quantity 

 of wine produced, and three times as much as the total quantity of 

 malt liquors. 



MANUFACTURE OF CIDER. 



In the numerous sections of the United States where apples are grown 

 in large quantities the manufacture of cider furnishes a most important 

 means for the utilization of such fruit as is unfit for marketing, either 

 from being too small or sour, or too thoroughly ripened, or bruised from 

 handling. The conversion of these into cider, and perhaps of the cider 

 into vinegar, is a very important branch of apple growing, and the 

 cider press is an indispensable adjunct to a large orchard. Within the 

 last ten years the manufacture of cider has been greatly aided by im- 

 provements, both in the machinery for crushing the fruit and in the 

 presses for extracting the juice, but it is doubtful if the methods of treat- 

 ment of the juice after extraction have undergone a corresponding de- 

 velopment. The methods of fermentation and preserving operations 

 that are so carefully performed in the manufacture of other fermented 



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