Book II. 



MACHINERY FOR CIDER MAKING. 



675 



4136. PaTy h manufactured on exactly the same principles as cider. The pears 

 should not be quite ripe, and the admixture of some wildings will add much to the 

 sprightliness of the taste. " It is thought by some to resemble champagne more than 

 gooseberry wine does ; and it is said, when of the best quality, to have been at times 

 sold instead of champagne." {Lardners Cyc. Dom. Econ.) 



41 37. The produce of cider or perry by the acre can only be guessed at, by first ascer- 

 taining the number of trees. From an orchard of trees in full bearing, half a hogshead 

 of cider may, in seasons ordinarily favourable, be expected from the fruit of each tree. As 

 the number of trees on the acre varies from ten to forty, the quantity of cider must vary 

 in the same proportion, that is, from five to twenty hogsheads. Pear-trees, in equally 

 good bearing, yield fully one third more liquor ; therefore, although the liquor extracted 

 from pears sells at a lower price than that produced from apples, yet the value by the 

 acre, when the number of trees is the same, is nearly on a par. 



Sect. VI. Machinery and Utensils necessary for Cider-making. 



4138. The machinery of the common ciderist includes the mill-house, mill, press, cloth, 

 vat, and cask, with their appurtenances. 



4139. Marshal, in The Rural Economy of Gloucester shire, remarks, that a mill-house, 

 on an orchard-farm, is as necessary as a barn. It is generally one end of an out-build- 

 ing, or perhaps an open shed, under which straw or small implements are occasionally 

 laid up. The smallest dimensions, to render it any way convenient, are twenty-four feet 

 by twenty ; a floor thrown over it, at seven feet high ; a door in the middle of the 

 front, and a window opposite ; with the mill on one side, the press on the other side, of the 

 window, as much room being left in front, towards the door, for fruit and utensils, as the 

 nature of the mill and the press will allow. The utensils belonging to a mill-house are 

 few : the fruit is brought in carts or baskets, and the liquor carried out in pails. 



41+0. Of the common cider-mill there are several varieties, formed on the principles of the bark- 

 miils of tanners. The circle enclosed by the trough is in Devonshire generally in one division (Jig. 602.), and 



is sometimes divided into compartments for containing different varieties of the same fruit, {fig. 603.) The 

 size of the runner varies from two and a half to four and a half feet in diameter, and from nine to twelve 



inches in thickness ; which in general is equal, like 

 that of a grindstone, not varying, like that of a mill- 

 stone : the weight one or tw tons. The bottom of 

 the chace is somewhat wider than the runner, that 

 this may run freely. The inner side rises perpen- 

 dicularly, but the outer side spreads, so as to make 

 the top of the trough some six or eight inches wider 

 than the bottom, to give freedom to the runner, and 

 room to scatter in the fruit, stir it up while grinding, 

 and take out the ground matter. The depth is nine 

 or ten inches. The outer rim of the trough is three 

 or four inches wide ; and the diameter of the inner circle, which the trough circumscribes, from 

 four and a half to five feet, according to the size of the mill. This is sometimes raised by a table of 

 thick plank fixed upon the stone, with a curb of wood, lessening to an angle, fixed upon the circumference 

 of the trough, making the whole depth of the trough about equal to its width at the bottom. This lessens 

 the quantity of the stone; and the plank upon the centre answers other purposes. The entire bed of a 

 middle-sized mill is about nine feet ; some are ten, and some few twelve, in diameter ; the whole being 

 composed of two, three, or four stones, cramped together as one ; and worked, or at least finished, after 

 they are cramped together. The best stones are raised in the Forest of Dean : they are mostly a dark- 

 reddish gritstone (^non-calcareous), working with sufficient freedom, yet sufficiently hard for this intention. 

 The bed of the mill is formed, and the trough partly hollowed, at the quarry, leaving a lew inches at the 

 edge of each stone uncut out, as a bond to prevent its breaking in carriage. Much depends on the quality 

 of the stone. It ought not to be calcareous, in whole or in part, as the acid of the liquor would corrode 

 it. Some of the Herefordshire stones have calcareous pebbles in them, which being of course dissolved 

 leave holes in the stone. Nor should it be such as will communicate a disagreeable tinge to the liquor, 

 A clean-grained grindstone grit is the fittest for the purpose. 



4141. The runner, as it has been seen (Jig. 602), is moved by means of an axle passing through the 

 centre, with a long arm, reaching without the bed of the mill, for a horse to draw by ; and with a short 

 one passing to an upright swivel, turning upon a pivot, in the centre of the stone, and steadied at the 

 top, by entering a bearing of the floor above. An iron bolt, with a large head, passes through an eye in 

 the lower part of the swivel, into the end of the inner arm of the axis. Thus the requisite double motion 

 is obtained, and the stone kept perfectly upright (which it ought to be) with great simplicity, and without 

 stress to any part of the machine. This is the ordinary method of hanging the runner. There is a more 

 complex way of doing it, but Marshal says he sees no advantage arising from it. There are some mills, 

 it seems, with two runners, one opposite the other. On the inner arm of the axis, about a foot from the 



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