76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Fon Tar. kew exgland farmer. 



CIDER. 

 Mr. EniTOR, 



Cider is our natural bover.'igo. That it is 

 capable of surjiassinn^ the wines of other coun- 

 tries, is a fact frequently well attested at the 

 tables of affluence. To iacilitatc its more ex- 

 tensive experience is the purpose of this com- 

 munication. 



Agriculture, of which the making- of Cider is 

 a part, is the fir^^t of sciences. Its pre-eminence 

 entitles it to the distinction of the Divine sci- 

 ence. But much is lelt to the reason as well as 

 the /(zior of man to exalt it to periection ; and 

 in this economy of Providence, who can he in- 

 sensible to its beniijiiity and condescension in 

 makin!^ us joint laborers in the accomplishnifnt 

 of our enjoyments ? I am persuaded that you 

 will not think this seriousness as out of place, 

 since, in connexion with the immediate advan- 

 tage, it must have been the ba-is of institutions 

 for the encourag-ement of agricultural pursuits. 

 (n a pecuniary \ lev.-, the subject is within the 

 demonstration of arithmetic — in years of usual 

 abundance, it may be computed, that a million 

 of barrels of cider arc made in Massachusetts, 

 worth, ill such years, a dollar each, made in the 

 common manner ; any mode of making which, 

 witljfiut material multiplication of exjiense, shali 

 cnlflmce this price, will add the additional value 

 to the stock of profit ; and it is not extravagant 

 to say, that oven in years of the greatest plenty, 

 like the present, it may he so improved in ijua- 

 lity as to be advanced to ten times its ordinary 

 price. Nor is it the epicure alone who would 

 willingly pay for the luxurious draught — the 

 salubrity of a pure and palatable liquor would 

 force parsimony itself into the ecoiioitu/ of its 

 purchase. Our autuamal complaints derive, in 

 a great measure, their existence and aliment 

 from the use of viscous and vapid juices. The 

 proverb, that it is better to pay the butcher 

 than the doctor, is much exalted in its applica- 

 tion to the present subject — it is belter to com- 

 ply with the terms of nature, than to endure 

 the penalties of their transgression. The apple 

 tree, like the vine, is dependant on man; — 

 through his delinque:':y, the yicldings of both 

 degenerate into\inegar, but on the perform- 

 ance of his duty, they are exalted into wine. 



A finished s|)cculatioii on the making of Cider, 

 should begin with the songs of the Mantuan 

 bard, on 

 •' The kinds of stoc'.c, aiut what those kinds will bear." 



And on the methods and progress of cultiva- 

 tion, from the " wild disorder" of the nursery to 

 ■■• Tlie stately trtc, which in autuiun bends 

 With liUishinj triasurts." 



For, 



" ^Vo^lld't tliou thy vats with geneious wine should 



froth ? 

 Respect tliy orc'iats ; — think not tliat the trees 

 Sponlnneous v/ill produce a wholesome draught. 

 The ]ilant which sh.iots from mid. a sullen tree, 



\t leisure g^rows for late prosttiity, 



Tke ^introus Jtiiror lost.'''' 



But as these pleasing and interesting invesli- 

 /^ations are better adapted to seed-time than 

 harvest, I will pass on to the business of the 

 season — the mahing and preserving Cider. A 

 clean, convenient and covered mill, is the first 

 pre-requisite, for without such a mill, all other 

 attentions may be frustrated. The apples should 

 he reduced to a fine pulp. The color o^ the 



liquor and its smoothness are both improved liy 

 laying a few hours in the trough after grinding. 

 Lay up the pomace on the press in clean straw, 

 without using a drop of water in any part of the 

 process. Three or four times as much water 

 is often used in making less than a hogshead of 

 cider, than would be required to ruin a pijie of 

 jiroof s|)irit. Kvery mean should be adojitcd to 

 retain the sjiirituous jiroperty of the liquor — it 

 is its lite. If a cider is wanted, 



" Some strong, to cheer 

 Tlie wint'ry revels of the laboring hind. 

 And tastiful some, to cool the sumim r hours," 



the cheese may be reground, with some assist- 

 ance from the well. 



" Water will imbibe 



The small i (mains of spirit, and acquire 



A vinous flavor." 



Press the cheese gentlj' at first, and advance 

 slowly to the utmost power of the screw. — 

 Art now commences its operations against the 

 •' lloating Ice'" — and in no stage of the business 

 can they be more eQectually interposed — in 

 proportion to the clarification of the stum the 

 tendency to an ensuing fermentation is moder- 

 ated, and its dangerous excess arrested. 



In turning up, as it is called, out of tke tub, 

 ihe grossest of the pomaceous mass is usually 

 detained by a strainer of straw, coarser than 

 •' the goat's shaggy beard." Instead of such a 

 strainer, prepare a tunnel with moveable rims, 

 in the form of a sieve — over the bottom rim, 

 stretch a covering of fine tlannel — over the sec- 

 ond, a covering of baize, and the uppermosi 

 overspread with drugget, with the nappy side 

 of each pendant. These strainers will arresl 

 on their way to the vessel, all the gross and 

 most of the subtle impurities which tend to the 

 agitation and vitiation of the liquor. Shoulu 

 the strainers choak they can be easily relieved. 



We now advance to the preservalion of the 

 Cider, which is the principal diiticulty ; and 

 after all the directions which can be given 

 much must be supplied by discreet observation. 

 The vinous, the acetous, and the putrefactive, 

 are the three fermentations to which the liquor 

 is inclined — they are, indeed, but one progres- 

 sive operation, with interinediaic pauses. The 

 first is an effort to free itself from a farther as- 

 sociation with the fruit, and to excite its own 

 s[)irit, and is closed with a calmness which 

 marks an intermission of the endeavor — an ad- 

 vance to the second, which converts into vine- 

 gar, is restrained only by the due ascendanc} 

 and retention in the body of the liquor of Ihf 

 spirituous (piality excited and quickened by the 

 first — the last is produced by an irreclaimable 

 foulness. The intermission between the two 

 first is short, and has been considered the criti- 

 cal moment for the successful interposition of 

 art, and racking, fumigation, salt-petre and 

 roach-alum, have been specifics relied upon ; 

 but more is depending on the internal condition 

 of the lirjuor, than on these prescriptions, or on 

 any other consideration. Ciders of a good stam- 

 ina, purified and protected from the internal 

 and external occasions of its injury, by an at- 

 tention which ought to be as common as wash- 

 ing down a hog before cutting it up, will never 

 depreciate into sourness ; nor will any applica- 

 tion reclaim that which sunk under the pressure 

 of its inherent impurities, or lost its virtues by 

 the inattention of its keeper. In respect to 

 racking, however, if it be inelTcctual for the 



ronovatan of the liquor, it is seldom attendee 

 with disadvantage, and is sometimes the besi 

 expedient lor its purification. 



lite ijuaUttj of the juice of an apple in its nat» 

 ral sttile^ is the prime inquiry to guide all our rfe 

 cisions on the fUicor., the taste., the color., and tht 

 durdbilili/ of cider at maturity. Generally, the 

 quality of the juice may be inferred from the 

 outvv;;rd ajipearance of the apple, as it departs 

 from the spiritless white into the golden yellow 

 and the gorgeous carnation. Hence, 



" i^et ev< ry tree, in every garden, own 



The Tid-strcak as suprtm^."' 



" The pippin, burnish'd o"er with gol<!,'' i? 

 but a grade below. But general rules have 

 their exceptions, and on the present subject a 

 surer criterion than outward show may be de 

 rived from internal examination — any apple 

 contains a rich fiuid, suitable to make a sound, 

 palatable and cxhilaratuig cider, which, on] 

 breaking, emits an active fragrant flavor — is not 

 over abundantly juicy, and has a glutinous con- 

 sistency. That the crab will make the best 

 cider, is one of those crude conceits, that every 

 thing is enveloped iu mj'stery, and that we cart 

 in no other way escape the foolery whiclj na- 

 ture is jdaying with us, than to forsake our 

 senses. It is all important to the lull perfection 

 of the fruit,- that after having been gathered 

 (which should be done when ripe, in drv wea- 

 ther, with no external iiijur\-, and before frosts 

 shall have corrupted it.) that it be spread oiv 

 covered floors to mellow, and to impart to the 

 air an useless portion of its aqueous jiarts. — 

 Rains and dews hurt ripe apples even ivhile on 

 the trees, but they injure them mucli more itr 

 iieaps. or spre.ad in contact with any substance 

 and with each other. While in either of these 

 situations, humidity, according to its degree 

 and continuance, retards or stays the ]>rocess of 

 maturation, institutes that of decomposition, anil 

 :mpairs the spirituous quality upon which the 

 preservation of the cider wholly depends. It 

 ■should be regarded, too, as almost equally in- 

 dispensable to the good quality of the liquor, 

 that the fruit should be separated before grind- 

 ng. from unripe and unsound apples, and from 

 all filth. The juice of an unripe apple is evea 

 more pernicious than that of a defective one. 



The place in which the cider shall now be 

 set to subside is interesting to its welfare. In a 

 cellar of uniform temperature through the 3'ear, 

 it may be left nndisturbcd to settle and refine 

 on its own lees. The unstoppagc of cellar win- 

 dows in the spring, admits an active agent to 

 the acetous fermentation, against which, draw- 

 ing off may be a safe guard. If placed in an 

 open exposure below the freezing point, 



" The hoary frosts, and northern blasts, take care 

 The muddy bever.age to serene, and drive 

 Precipitant, the baser ropy kes." 



In this case, racking before a removal into the 

 cellar, (for it ought not to freeze) and again in 

 JIarch or April, may be necessary for the ex- 

 clusion of the oft'ending matter. The difference 

 in tlie two modes of treatment already supposed 

 is, that in the first, nature is left to her oivn 

 unmolested operation, through which her inten- 

 tions of giving to man a delectable draught, 

 will (if they have not been thwarted by his own 

 remissness) be efTectually accomplished : — in the 

 other, she is hastened on in her designs, and the 

 precipitation of the performance requires, that 

 certain of its stages should be seized to thrust 



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