196 THE VALLEY OF THE TEME 



largest pear tree in Great Britain, still in full vigour 

 and yielding an enormous weight of fruit in a favour- 

 able season. 



Cider-making is confined to the western counties 

 because there alone has been maintained a stock of the 

 true vintage fruit, a stock recuperated by the introduc- 

 tion of some of the best Normandy varieties about the 

 middle of the last century. From kitchen apples 

 even from the best eating varieties but a poor, 

 flavourless cider can be made. The true cider apples 

 possess an exceptional richness in sugar, combined in 

 some sorts with an extra amount of acid, and in 

 others the bitter-sweets, which are almost essential 

 to a proper blend with a special proportion of tannin. 



It cannot be said that the cider industry is in a 

 satisfactory way. In general it is made in the 

 roughest possible fashion for home consumption 

 a considerable allowance of cider being part of the 

 daily wages in this district. A few farmers make a 

 special article for sale, and take trouble over the 

 grading and blending of their fruit, as well as in the 

 processes of fermentation and storage. For their 

 assistance a considerable amount of information has 

 recently been acquired by the investigations started by 

 the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society, 

 which led up to the foundation of the Cider Institute 

 near Bristol. Their chief difficulty is the unorganized 

 state of the market ; makers of a high class vintage 

 cider have the same difficulty in finding a remunerative 

 customer as a casual buyer at a distance has in 

 ascertaining trustworthy sources from which to fill his 

 cellar. Lastly, there are a small number of manu- 

 facturers who purchase apples in large quantities and 

 try to produce a standard article in quantities that 

 will permit of extensive advertisement ; and their trade 



