208 PAnWERs' AND MECHANICS' JOURNAL. 



fibrous pulp, as! riiigcncy, dryness, and ripeness at the cidcr-makirig 

 season. " When the rind aid pulp are o;reen, the cider will al- 

 wavs be thin, weak, and colorless ; and when these are deeply 

 tinned with yellow, it will, however mannfac'iired, or in whkt> ver 

 soil it may have f:;rown, almost alwavs possess color, with either 

 strength or richness." — {Knight.) The apple, like the grape, nmist 

 attain a state of perfection, or perfect maturity, before its juices 

 develope all their excellence ; and as many of our best eating ap- 

 ples do not acquire this maturity until winter or spring;, this affords 

 a satisfactory reason why winter fruit is seldom or never s;ood cider 

 fruit. In a dry apple, the essential elements of cider are cfenerally 

 more concentrated, or are accompanied with a less pronortion of 

 water, than in a juicy oiie ; of course the liquor of the former is 

 stronger than that of the latter. Of our be^t rider apples, ten or 

 twelve bushels of fruit are required for a barrel of juice ; while of 

 the ordinary juicy kinds, eight bushels generally suffice. 



The only artificial criterion employed to ascertai-i the quality of 

 an apple for cider, is the specific gravity of its mn^f. or unferment- 

 ed juice ; or, its weight, compared with that of water. This, says 

 Knight, indicates, with very considerable accuracy, the strength of 

 the future cider. Its weight, and consequent value, is supposed to 

 be increased in the ratio of the increase of the saccharine matter. 

 In making wine of domestic fruit, say of the currant or gooseberry, 

 for example, we use sugar till the unfermented liquor attains a cer- 

 tain specific gravity ; or until the saccharine matter of the fruit, 

 and thai artificially supplied, bears a certain proportion to the wa- 

 ter. This insures to the liquor strength, or body, as the sugar is 

 converted into spirit by the fermentive process. 



Very little has been done to acquire a correct knowledge of the 

 relative value of our native apples for cider. Coxe has described 

 and figured one hundred varieties of this fruit, of which about thirty 

 are recommended for cider. Of these thirty kinds. I selected the 

 following for my nursery, as not only being best for cider, but as 

 generally combining the desired qualities of table fruit also ; viz : 

 the Hagloe and Virginia Crabs ; Harrison, Campfield. Stire, yellow 

 Newton, and Newark Pippins ; Priestley, Graniwinkle, Winesap, 

 Carthouse and Cooper's Russetting. We have, undoubtedly, 

 among our indigenous fruit, many kinds of excellent cider apples 

 hitherto unnoticed ; and it is very desirable that their properties 

 should be tested, and the result of the investigation made public. 



In Great Britain, more attention has been given to this subject. 

 The specific gravity of the juice of old cider varieties, has not only 

 been ascertained by scientific men, and their relative value fixed, 

 but new varieties have been obtained by artificial crossing, sur- 

 passing, in richness of juice, any before cultivated. Loudon has 

 given a table of 38 cider apples, in his Encyclopedia of Agricul- 

 ture. Of these, the following are only known to be in our nurse- 

 ries, viz : *Hedstreak, Wine, Stire, Hagloe Crab ; ^Maiden's Blush, 

 *Count Pendu, *Downton and Grange Pippins ; Foxley, Siberian 

 Harvey, yellow Siberian and *Minshul's Crab. Those with an 



