t>N THE MANAGEMENT OF CIDER. 905 



asteiisk are also excellent dessert apples. The seven last named, 

 five of which are new varieties by Knight, I have oblaiued from 

 Europe, and propagated in my nursery. None of the old Enghsh 

 cider varieties exceed, in the specific gravity of their Juice, 1.079, 

 water being 1,000. Six of Knight's new varieties are over 1,079, 

 and one is 1,091. Knight is of opinion, that with proper varieties 

 of fruit, the defects of almost every soil and aspect might be cor- 

 rected, and that tine ciders might be made in any part of England. 

 In France and Italy, small berried grapes of a harsh flavor, are 

 preferred for wine making, (Loudon,) and it will be found that the 

 cider apples recommended by Loudon and Coxe are under a mc- 

 diam size, and several of them austere and harsh. 



2. Soil and Aspect. The ap|)le, like the grape, is known to 

 take much of its character from the soil on which it grows. The 

 best cider orchards in England are on a stratum of red marie which 

 stretches across the island. The soil of Herefordshire, highly re- 

 puted for its ciders, is an argillaceous, or clay marie ; and Knight 

 says, the strongest and most highly flavored cider which has been 

 obtained from the apple, was produced from fruit growing on a 

 shallow loam, on limestone basis. All the writers npon the sub- 

 ject seem to agree, that calcareous earth should form a component 

 part of the soil of a cider orchard. It appears to have the effect 

 of mitigating the harshness of rough and austere fruits, and of neu- 

 tralizing the juices of those which are too acid. Coxe says, the 

 soil which grows good wheat and clover, is best for a cider orchard. 

 My own observation would induce me also to prefer a dry and 

 somewhat loose soil, in which the roots, destined to furnish food 

 for the tree and fruit, may penetrate freely, and range extensively, 

 in search of nutriment. The Juices of plants and fruits are always 

 more concentrated when growing on a dry, than on a wet soil. 

 Mint, or otLer aromatic herbs, is much stronger in the specific vir- 

 tues of the plant, when grown on a dry soil, and greater in volume, 

 when grown on a wet one. The maple yields the sweetest sap, 

 though less in quantitv, on a dry soil. Apples may grow large on 

 a moist alluvion ; but the fruit will neither be so abundant, nor so 

 rich, as on a dry soil. The thriftiest trees produce the most wood 

 buds ; those less thrifty, the most fruit buds. The best aspect for 

 an orchard, is one somewhat elevated or undulating, protected 

 from prevailing cold winds, and facing the south, south-east or east. 

 Ciders brought to the Albany market, from the hilly towns of Co- 

 lumbia and Saratoga, on tlie transition formation, possess the most 

 spirit, best flavor, and resist longest the acetous fermentation. 



3. Condition of the Fruit, F^'uit should be used when it has at- 

 tained its perfect state of maturity, and before it begins to decay, 

 because it then yields the greatest p!0|.>ortion of saccharine matter. 

 The most certain indicntion of ripeness, says Crocker, is the fra- 

 grance of the smell and the spontaneous dropping from the ti-ecs. 

 Each kind of ihe apple should he rnimufactured separately, or those 

 kinds only mixed which ripen at one time, and which experience 

 shall show, are not prrjudicial to each other. Who would evrrr 



27 VoT,. 1. 



