18 



IN ENGLAND. 



In England a strong effort is being made to bring about a better 

 understanding of the importance of grading ciders in accordance with 

 some standard. But it could not be learned that any generally accepted 

 classification had been adopted, further than that the Bath and West 

 Society, which holds the only fair at which &ny considerable exhibit 

 of ciders is made in England, recognizes two classes, i. e., those show- 

 ing 4 per cent of alcohol or more, and those which show less than 4 

 per cent of alcohol. The latter are called small cider by their chemist, 

 but this word is not accepted in the English trade. From analyses 

 made by the United States Department of Agriculture of samples 

 selected at Bath, at the annual show in May, 1900, it appears that the 

 classification that year was not based on accurate chemical data, or else 

 the samples were confused in handling. 



There were goods of both classes, bottled and in casks, and it appeared 

 that the classification was rather artificial, being often determined, not 

 by the quantity of alcohol a certain quality of juice will produce, but 

 by the stage at which fermentation had been arrested. The analyses 

 of ciders from the Bath and West exhibit of 1900 show conclusively 

 that fermentation had not been normally carried out, but that it had 

 been arrested by artificial means. 



In fact the cider of commerce in England, except in some few cases, 

 has no recognized standard. There seems to be a very unwise effort 

 to cater to a demand for a sweet liquor showing only 3 to 4 per cent 

 of alcohol. If made from a good quality of fruit and unadulterated, 

 such cider must still contain considerable unfermented sugar, which 

 renders it very unstable and difficult to handle in shipment, except as 

 sterilized bottled goods, unless treated sufficiently with preservatives 

 to check fermentation. There is another alternative equally bad, 

 namely, to ferment the juice dry, dilute with water, and dose with 

 saccharin to produce the sweet taste desired. It was said that this 

 was practiced, but no proof of it was seen. 



In England, however, excellent grades of bottled ciders were found, 

 both still and gaseous. Some of these were made from special varie- 

 ties of apples, as Foxwhelp, a very old English cider apple, or Kings- 

 ton Black, but more often they were made from the mixed fruit of 

 the district. Eight examples of these ciders are shown under sample 

 numbers 32 to 39 (see p. 111). These were really fine ciders, some dry, 

 some bottled with a small percentage of unfermented sugar, and others 

 sugared in the process of champagnizing. 



A sparkling cider is not necessarily a sugared article, but, if pure, 

 is best produced by bottling before fermentation is complete. It is 

 then a normal French "mousseux." This grade can, however, be 

 produced by charging with gas artificially when bottled. A cham- 



