44 



The points in the above which interest cider makers are the total 

 sugars, which, when the cane sugar is converted into reducing sugar, 

 show an average of 12.12 per cent of fermentable sugar. This is 

 undoubtedly a high average for American apples. The free acid, 0. 61 

 grams per 100 grams of fruit, is also high, nearly reaching that of the 

 German apples and being 0.2 to 0.4 grams above that of the French. 

 The tannin was not determined. On page 29 of the same bulletin Mr. 

 Browne gives the analyses of the fresh must as expressed from the 

 fruit of 10 varieties of apples, including a number of the best-known 

 summer and winter sorts. This table is quoted in part below. 



TABLE VIII. Analyses of must of American apples by C. A. Browne, jr., Pennsylvania 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, 1899. 



a Corrected by author's request factor, 0.0014. 



b Calculated at Blacksburg, \*a. 



The average sugar content in 100 cc of apple must for the 10 vari- 

 eties given, as shown by Browne's table, is 11.94 grams reducing 

 sugars, which for practical purposes may be read per cent. This is a 

 low sugar content even compared with German averages. The average 

 acid, 0.62 grams in 100 cc of must, is high. From must of this aver- 

 age composition one might expect to produce a cider of 5 per cent 

 alcohol, with still a little sugar left unfermented. With such must 

 undiluted, there is no reason to say that a cider of proper strength 

 can not be produced. 



In the department of horticulture of the Virginia Agricultural 

 Experiment Station the writer has for the past fourteen years been 

 bringing together a large collection of pome fruit trees, more espe- 

 cially of apples. This collection now contains 375 varieties of apples, 

 including crabs, collected from various portions of America and 

 Europe. Many of these are now coming into full bearing, and Prof. 

 R. J. Davidson, chemist of the station, has begun an exhaustive 

 investigation of the chemical composition of the fruits. This inves- 

 tigation is not undertaken solely with a view to studying cider making, 

 but for the general purpose of accumulating scientific data for our 

 studies of these fruits in all lines as commercial fruits and as raw 



