100 



CIDER. 



" Qaiftt Maecenas," &<;. 



How Jobs it happen, tliat willi maniiold advaii- 

 ta^es (and Pomona never showered them more 

 plentifully tiiaii on our hills) for making good ci- 

 der, so little of it id ever to be found in tiic cel- 

 lars of New England? This question has been 

 asked before — and the answer is obvious — wai.'of 

 care and skill. But very raucii is ov.ing to ..ic 

 former ; too many umongus had rather swill d(. .'u 

 forty barrels of bad cider, than bo at tiic trouUa 

 of producing a single barrel of good. 



Ist. The apples are often in a bad condition — 

 :}d. There is a want of cleanliness in making the 

 cider. And 3d. There is little or no pains taken, 

 after it is made, to refine and preserve it. 



To remedy these defects, it is requisite that the 

 apples should be perfectly sound, but mellov; ; 

 that great care sliould be taken in Imving every 

 thing belonging to the cider mill clean, with a 

 oleanly disposition in those about it ; and lastly 

 '.he cider, well strained, should be put into clean 

 •asks and conveyed to the cellar. As soon as tlie 

 fermentation is so far completed, that the foam 

 ceases to rise, and wliilo the cider yetsings to the 

 ear, it siiould be nicked, (to use a technical phrase) 

 !. e. stopped close in the cask before the fermen- 

 tation is entirely over. The object of nicking is 

 '0 prevent the escape of the fixed air, which gives 

 '.he sparkling appearance and lively taste that al- 

 ways belong to good cider. It is likewise impor- 

 uiut to prevent an intercourse with the atmospher- 

 ic air, whicli, however cheering to the spirits of 

 .nan, is apt to sour the disposition of cider. This 

 IS a point that deserves great attention. Cider, 

 when properly managed, is in tlie condition of 

 wine — in fact it is n sort of moderate wine — and 

 the object is to prevent its becoming vinegar. — 

 Too great care, tbercforo, cannot be taken to 

 keep tlie fixed air in, and the atmospheric air 

 out. 



ft is common for those who wish to 'jave fine 

 (•ider, to rack it off-', as the phrase is— i. e. draw it 

 out of the original casks and put it into others, as 

 soon as it has become clear, after the formenta- 

 tian. The object is to remove it from the lees. 

 Butthe advanta^fe of this measure isperhaps ques- 

 tionable; for in drawintr off the cider, a good deal 

 of the carbonic ari^l (fixed air) must necessarily 

 escape, and thus far the liquor is injured. The 

 .loint then is, whether the cider will be injured 

 • iiore by standing on the lees, than by the loss of 

 •.arbonic acid in chancri,i.T casks — and this per- 

 haps can onlv bo settled by experiment. But if it 

 be racked oft' it should be done as expeditiously 

 as possible, that but little time may bo allowed for 

 •Jie e.scape of fixed air. 



Cider may bo kept srood in a vessel of any size, 

 as long as it romnius unbroached. But as soon as 

 vou begin to draw the cider, the outer air is get- 

 ting in, and the fixed air is getting out — and this 

 mischief is increasing every time you draw, until 

 at length the liquor, before it is half u.sod, becomes 

 ftat, stale, and utterly unfit to drink. To remedy 

 this evil entirely, the cider should bo kept in ves- 

 sels so small, that the contents of one of them may 

 hi; used attl;e timcof broachinsr. Hence it is, that 

 bottled cider is superior to that of the casl;. But 

 as bottles are considered too expensive for gerier- 

 al use, small casks might be substituted, and would 

 be found much better than large ones, because the 

 cider would be sooner drawn out, and therefore 



NEW ENGLAND FARx^lEll. 



not so long exposed to tiie air after broaching. 

 We would therefore recommend (particularly to 

 small families) the use of 10 or 15 gallon casks,in 

 preference to barrels or hogsheads. 



JIany people have an idea that cider may be im- 

 proved by mixing with it some foreign substance- 

 such as rum, brandy, &c. Hence they will take 

 much pains, and pay an extra price to get a " rum 

 cask" to put their cider in. But this notion is er- 

 roneous. Cider instead of being improved is de- 

 cidedly injured by a mixture with rum, brandy, or 

 other spirituous liquors. Notwithstanding all the 

 praise bestowed upon it, wo have never drunk a 

 glass of good cider from a cask previously imbued 

 with rum. It has a rummy taste, which destroys 

 the fine flavour of genuine cider. The object 

 should be to get pure cider — not cider and rum. 



Some persons put beets into their cider, others 

 a slice or two of raw beef, under the idea that the 

 liquor wants something to feed upon. What non- 

 sense ! It is not a tincture of beets, or of beef,that 

 we wish for ; but pure, unadulterated cider. And 

 all foreign substances, whether solid, liquid, or 

 xriform, should be carefully excluded — and then 

 you may put the cup to your lips, with the certain- 

 ty of gratifying your palate, exhilirating your 

 spirits and promoting your health. — Berks. Am. 



Ost. 19, 1827. 



to that species ; but it exceeds it in rapidity of 

 growth in a most extraordinary degree, We have 

 been told upon undoubted authority, that a young 

 individual of each species was planted in 1817 Op- 

 en a sandy hill in one of the coldest of our east- 

 ern counties. About a twelvemonth since it was 

 found that while the Scotch pine had reached no 

 higher than six or seven feet, the P. larico was a' 

 least 12 feet high. — Lon. Mng. 



GRAPES. 



No growtli of the vine which has fallen under 

 our observation, is equal to that which may be 

 seen at St. Mary's College in this city — an accu- 

 rate description of the extent of the vine, and the 

 quantity of fruit, not less than one thousand large 

 bunches, from a single root, planted seven years 

 since, would hardly bo credited. We only wish 

 that every farmer in the state eould see it, as the 

 first reflection that struck us, was thcextrerne,the 

 culpable improvidence and laziness which prc- 

 vsiits 909 out of a thousand freeholders from hav- 

 ing on their tables a single bunch of grapes, even 

 for the wholesome gratification of their families 

 and friends. Hero it is demonstrated that a single 

 vino will yield much more of this delicious fruit 

 than the largest family could consume for several 

 successive weeks. We recommend those who 

 would see what can be done in this conr.try with 

 the grape, to go and seek from the polite and ven- 

 erable proprietor, the gratification which we ex- 

 perienced this morning in viewing his vines, his 

 French chesnuts, his figs, &c. &.c.-~Am. Farmer. 



AGRICULTURE OF THE ISLAND OF 

 CORSICA. 

 In a work on this subject by M. Vigarous, it is 

 stated tliat there are wastes of great extent, called 

 makis, on which the following plants grov/ to a 

 monstrous size : Cistus monspeiiensis. Erica mul- 

 tiflora, vulgaris, and other species, Pistacia lentis- 

 cus. Arbutus, iinedo, Lavandulo stschas, and spi- 

 cata, Lenii'.cra grata, and other specie.-. Genista 

 Anglica, Myrtus Commutis, Asphndelup, Ilellebo- 

 rues, Ferula, Digitalis, &c. These fine plants 

 form such an im[)orvious mass of vegct.-ition, that 

 the first step towards culture is toset fire to them. 

 There are many forests in which the principal 

 tree is the Pinue larico, in many instances 100 ft. 

 high, and 4 feet diameter at the base. Of this val- 

 uable speci. s of pine there are now plants to bo 

 had in several of the London nurseries, and it is 

 perhaps as well, or better worth culture, as that 

 too frequently despised tree the Finns sylvestris. 

 In general appearance it has a stroHg resGmbIanc3, 



SEEDS. 

 In tlie proceedings of the Horticultural Society 

 of London there is an account of two air tight 

 hogsheads of bright looking seeds whose vegeta- 

 tive principle had been destroyed by the iieat of 

 the stagnant air in the hole of a vessel. Seed? 

 from the same seedsman kept in the trunks of 

 passengers in the same vessel, vegetated remark- 

 ably well 



MIDDLE FLORIDA. 



We liavo read with much interest a paper on 

 the subject of Middle Florida, written by David 

 B. Macomb, Esq. Member of the Florida Institute 

 of Agriculture, in answer to some inquiries, pro 

 posed by General Lafayette, in relation to the ex- 

 pediency of a Swiss family's removing there, for 

 cultivating the vine and olive. Mr Macomb ad- 

 vises, and recommends the establishment of Swiss 

 agriculturalists in Middle Florida. He says, white 

 labourers can, and do endure, without experienc- 

 ing any inconvenience, the heat of the sun. The 

 two grand and important staples of the territory 

 of Florida are sea island or long staple cotton and 

 sugar cane. The soil and climate are likewise ve 

 ry favorable to the cultivation of indigo and rice, 

 wheat, maize, barley, rye, oats, millet, &c. 



lie thinks, there is no part of the continent oi 

 North America, more favorable to the cultivation 

 of the vine which grows wild there, in a great va 

 riety of species. All the different foreign grapes, 

 which have been transplanted there, have succeed- 

 ed very well. 



The moan heat in Florida, is less than in South 

 ern Switzerland. The climate of Tallahassee, the 

 capital of Florida, resembles that of Naples, with- 

 out its siroc wind. The wet season continues from 

 i the middle of July to tlio .\utumcal equinox. The 

 I orange tree grows wild in several of the counties, 

 j and in some of them, the China orange is cultivat- 

 I ed with great success. Tlie olive is also a staple 

 ' production of the territory. Many of the trees are 

 I larger than the largest which grow in France, and 

 i excel the latter, both in the quality and quantity 

 of fruit. Silk lias likewise been prepared with 

 ; success. The while and purple mulberry thrive- 

 I very well. — Salem Observer. 



\ METHOD OF REVIVING PLANTS. 



This is called a proper method of reviving plants 

 &LC. wlien their leaves and buds are faded, and 

 their bark and roots hard, and nearly dry, by M. 

 de Droste, of Hulthof. The directions arc, to 

 dissolve camphor by saturation in alcohol, adding 

 tho former until it remains solid at the bottom; a 

 sufficient quantity of rain or river water is then 

 to have tho alcoholic solution added to it, in the 

 proportion of four drops to one ounce of water. As 

 tho camphor comes in contact with the water, it 

 will form a thin solid film, which is to be well 

 beaten up with the water in small flocculi, but will 

 ultimately combine with the fluid, and disappear. 



Plants which iiad been removed from the earth. 



