270 On making and fining Cyder, 



strength depended on the quantity of saccharine mat- 

 ter contained in it, and that consequently its specific 

 gravity would shew its real strength, and my practice 

 was founded on this supposition and very generally 

 was attended with considerable success ; but, meeting 

 with the must of the Virginia crab, so famous for its 

 cyder, I learned that this was, at least, an exception to 

 that principle ; for its specific gravity was, as near as I 

 remember (for my notes are in the city) rather below^ 

 the mean weight of our common cyder apples ; and its 

 cyder is not below our best cyders. This taught me 

 that there was some other principle, less open to detec- 

 tion, on which the excellency of cyder must depend. 

 I however proceeded in my usual mode of fermenta- 

 tion, and soon found that this must had much less a 

 tendency to extreme fermentation, than that of our com- 

 mon apples of equal weight ; and consequently, re- 

 quired less judgment to restrain it than others. The 

 importance of this fact needs no comment : It gives 

 a decided superiority to that apple for cyder, above 

 all others. ^ 



The cyder you mention as so much approved by the 

 French minister, was from the Virginia crab. I think 

 in the year 1777 or '78. Cyder being then ver}^ scarce 

 in Philadelphia, I had obtained but a single hogshead, 

 directly from the press, and the fermentation was con- 

 ducted with more than common care, and consequent- 

 ly became spontaneously not merely fine, but perfectly 

 bright, and exhibited that appearance of bounding up 

 of small drops to the height of six or eight inches, so 

 highly pleasing in the finest Champaign wine, without 

 any appearance of froth on the top of the glass, and re- 



