674 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



Its colour is remarkably deep, its taste harsh and flat, and it has a strong tendency to 

 become acetous ; probably by haying given out fixed and absorbed vital air. Should it 

 become acetous, which it will frequently do in forty-eight hours, it must not on any 

 account be put into the cask. If the cider, after being racked off, remains bright and 

 quiet, nothing more is to be done to it till the succeeding spring; but if a scum collects 

 on the surface, it must immediately be racked off' into another cask, as this would pro- 

 duce bad effects if suffered to sink. If a disposition to ferment with violence again 

 appears, it will be necessary to rack off" from one cask to another, as often as a hissing 

 noise is heard. The strength of cider is much reduced by being frequently racked off"; 

 but this arises only from a larger portion of sugar remaining unchanged, which adds to 

 the sweetness at the expense of the other quality. The juice of those fruits which pro- 

 duce very strong ciders often remains muddy during the whole winter, and much atten- 

 tion must frequently be paid to prevent an excess of fermentation. 



4130. The casks, into which the liquor is put whenever racked off", should always have 

 been thoroughly scalded, and dried again ; and each should want several gallons of being 

 fuU, to expose a larger surface to the air. 



4131. The above precautions neglected by the ciderist, the inevitable consequence will be 

 this : Another fermentation will quickly succeed, and convert the fine vinous liquor he 

 was possessed of into a sort of vinegar ; and all the art he is master of will never restore it 

 to its former richness and purity. When the acetous fermentation has been suffered to 

 come on, the following attempts may be made to prevent the ill effects of it from running 

 to their full extent : A bottle of French brandy, half a gallon of spirit extracted from 

 the lees of cider, or a pailful of old cider, poured into the hogshead soon after the 

 acetous fermentation is begun : but no wonder if all these should fail, if the cider be 

 still continued in a close warm cellar. To give effect to either, it is necessary that the 

 liquor be as much exposed to a cooler air as conveniently may be, and that for a con- 

 siderable length of time. By such means it is possible fermentation may, in a great 

 measure, be repressed : and if a cask of prime cider cannot thence be obtained, a 

 cask of tolerable second-rate kind may. These remedies are innocent : but if the 

 farmer or cider-merchant attempt to cover the accident, occasioned by negligence or 

 inattention, by applying any preparation of lead, let him reflect, that he is about to 

 commit an absolute and unqualified murder on those whose lot it may be to drink his 

 poisonous draught. 



4132. Stumming, which signifies the fuming of a cask with burning sulphur, may some- 

 times be advantageous. It is thus performed : Take a stripe of canvas cloth, about twelve 

 inches long and two broad ; let it be dipped into melted brimstone : when this match is 

 dry, let it be lighted, and suspended from the bung of a cask (in which there are a few 

 gallons of cider) until it be burnt out. The cask must remain stopped for an hour or 

 more, and be then rolled to and fro, to incorporate the fumes of the match with the cider ; 

 after which it may be filled. If the stumming be designed only to suppress some slight 

 improper fermentation, the brimstone match is sufficient ; but if it be required to give 

 any additional flavour to the cider, some powdered ginger, cloves, cinnamon, &c. may 

 be strewed on the match when it is made. The burning of these ingredients with the 

 sulphur will convey somewhat of their fragrance to the whole cask of cider ; but to do 

 it to the best advantage, it must be performed as soon as the vinous fermentation is 

 fully perfected. 



4133. Cider is generally/ in the best state to be put into the bottle at two years old, where 

 it will soon become brisk and sparkling ; and if it possesses much richness, it will remain 

 with scarcely any sensible change during twenty or thirty years, or as long as the cork 

 duly performs its office. 



4134. In making cider for the common use of the farmr-house, few of the foregoing rules 

 are attended to. The flavour of the liquor is here a secondary consideration with the 

 farmer, whose first object must be to obtain a large quantity at a small expense. The 

 apples are usually ground as soon as they become moderately ripe : and the juice is either 

 racked off" at once as soon as it becomes bright, or more frequently conveyed from the press 

 immediately to the cellar. A violent fermentation soon commences, and continues until 

 nearly the whole of the saccharine part is decomposed. The casks are filled up and 

 stopped early in the succeeding spring, and no further attention is either paid or re- 

 quired. The liquor thus prepared may be kept from two to five or six years in the cask, 

 according to its strength. It is generally harsh and rough, but rarely acetous ; and 

 in this state, it is usually supposed to be preferred by the farmers and peasantry. When 

 it has become extremely thin and harsh by excess of fermentation, the addition of a small 

 quantity of bruised wheat, or slices of toasted bread, or any other farinaceous substance, 

 will much diminish its disposition to become sour. 



4135. Madeira Cider. Take new cider from the press, mix it with honey till it bears an egg, boil it 

 gently for a quarter of an hour, but not in an iron pot ; take ofF the scum as it rises, let it cool, then 

 barrel it, without filling the vessel quite full : bottle it off in March. In six weeks afterwards, it will 

 be ripe for use, and a strong as Madeira. The longer it is afterwards kept, the better. {Mech. Mag.) 



