21 



the excellence of their ciders. These statements at once recall state- 

 ments of like nature in regard to the quality of grape wines of certain 

 districts. In the case of wines it can not be questioned that experi- 

 ence has abundantly demonstrated the correctness of these claims. 

 Soil and climate certainly play a very important role in the production 

 of all fine wines. Do they play an equally important role in the pro- 

 duction of ciders? The chemical data on varieties grown in different 

 countries must in part answer this question. 



It was not found that any investigator had really undertaken a 

 serious inquiry into this matter, and the manufacture of cider can by 

 no means be said to have reached a stage of perfection which warrants 

 definite conclusions of like value to those which govern wine making. 

 It is very evident, however, that in certain districts where grapes will 

 not grow to such perfection as to admit of their culture as a wine 

 fruit, apples have for ages taken their place. European peoples are 

 without exception consumers of wines in considerable quantity, some 

 nations much more so than others. Hence, wherever the grape wine 

 can not be successfully produced, there has been a more or less per- 

 sistent effort to supply the demand for wine by using a fruit which 

 will thrive under local conditions. 



THK FRENCH CIDER DISTRICTS. 



In France the grape will not thrive in open culture to any extent in 

 the northwestern and northern provinces. Hence the provinces of 

 Brittany, Normandy, and Picardy, lying in this part of France, are the 

 chief seat of the cider industry. These lie along the Atlantic Ocean, 

 the English Channel, and the borders of Belgium. 



Normandy is in fact the principal cider country of France, and it is 

 here that one finds the industry best developed in all its details. Also 

 in this province has been developed a large number of seedling varie- 

 ties of apples with the sole idea of cider making, and, though the face 

 of the country is often a forest of apple trees, one never finds dessert 

 or culinary varieties growing in these open plantations. The idea of 

 commercial apple growing, as developed in America, is wholly unknown 

 to these people. If a proprietor desires table fruit it is grown in his 

 garden on walls or trellises, or on the walls of his residence or out- 

 buildings, always in the form of cordons, espaliers, etc., never in open 

 field culture. In fact, the orchard culture proper is for cider making, 

 just as farther south in France the country is in places occupied with 

 vineyards for wine making. 



The varieties are seedlings from the apples grown here for centuries. 

 It is only during the last forty years that a study has been made of 

 these various seedling varieties, and certain ones have been selected 

 for propagation because of vigor, productiveness, and qualities desired 

 in the processes of cider making. One finds certain varieties every- 



