UTENSILS RACKING. 359 



simple directions be carefully followed, the fruit 

 ripe and good, and kept as above directed, the best 

 cider will be unquestionably obtained. 



It is scarcely necessary to insist upon all the uten- 

 sils which are used in the making of cider, being not 

 only of the proper kind, but clean, sweet, and whole- 

 some ; and that the casks should be perfectly sweet, 

 sound, and tight: for if any leak occur in them, 

 that leak will form a communication between the 

 external air and the liquor within, so that vinegar, 

 instead of cider, will be frequently the result. 



It may be asked, perhaps, why we have not given 

 sundry details, particularly concerning the racking 

 of cider, with which books that treat on this subject 

 are more or less filled. Our only reply is, that 

 Iceeving, as it is called, of cider, as well as racking 

 it, are wholly unnecessary ; and, that if our direc- 

 tions be properly complied with, the best cider will 

 be made by those means. We may add, besides, 

 that racking cider generally does it mischief; it not 

 only gets rid of a considerable portion of carbonic 

 acid, on which its briskness depends, but also of some 

 part of its alcohol, on which its strength depends, 

 and, therefore, we advise neither ; it is, however, 

 barely possible that a very strong bodied cider, made 

 late in the autumn, or near Christmas, might be ren- 

 dered sooner fit for drinking, by exciting the vinous 

 fermentation more effectually, by racking; but this 

 occurrence is very rare, and is one which the present 

 writer has never witnessed. 



What, then, is the theory of making cider ? Simply 

 this : The juice of the apple contains an acid called 



