402 SOILS EARLY RIPENING FRUITS. 



Yet opinions in this respect among cultivators 

 differ. Some even say, that many valuable fruits 

 delight most in light sandy soils, particularly those 

 which ripen early ; others assert, that " the most 

 highly -flavoured liquor is produced by a soil," which 

 has been termed, " shallow loam, or a lime-stone 

 basis." What is meant by " most highly-flavoured" 

 we are not told ; but if it be intended to assert, that 

 the strongest cider, which is cider containing the 

 largest quantity of alcohol, is produced from such a 

 soil, we must beg leave to express our doubts, or at 

 least to question whether an orchard in such a soil 

 has ever produced a plentiful crop ; for we think it 

 very possible to obtain, with suitable management, 

 good cider from some apples produced in the most 

 unpromising soil ; but we must not forget, that in 

 planting apple-trees their productiveness is the grand 

 thing to be attended to : we have known the styre 

 apple so unproductive in a peculiar soil, as to be 

 obliged to be cut down ; the same may be said of the 

 Burgundy pear. 



The opinion that apples which ripen early do not 

 make strong cider, has been controverted ; but many 

 experiments which we have made in Somersetshire, 

 with the codlin and the stubbord (an apple extremely 

 pleasant to eat, and which ripens early in August), 

 fully confirm this statement: the best apples for 

 cider are unquestionably those which ripen about or 

 rather after Michaelmas. Although we have made 

 very pleasant cider from both the fruits mentioned, 

 we could never, with all our care, make strong cider 



