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CIDER FACTORIES IN FRANCE. 



The United States Government recently appointed a special 

 agent to study and report upon the manufacture of cider in 

 Europe, and the results of this inquiry have been published 

 under the title " A Study of Cider Making in France, Germany, 

 and England," as Bulletin No. 71 of the Bureau of Chemistry of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. From this bulletin 

 the following account of the factory systems, as applied to cider 

 in France, has been taken, as they differ in some respects from 

 those more commonly met with in this country : — 



Considerable importance is attached to observing the maturity 

 of the fruit. The French especially argue that both the sugar 

 content and the quality of the product are affected thereby. 

 The first will doubtless be readily admitted by all, and the second 

 in part, but further investigation is needed before all that is 

 claimed can be admitted. While the fruit should certainly be 

 mature — that is, it should have reached the perfection of its 

 growth — it should not be allowed to ripen and fall from the tree, 

 as this will lead to very irregular ripening and yield at no time 

 a satisfactory amount of evenly ripened fruit in proper condition 

 for grinding. 



The French lay great stress upon gathering and ripening in 

 bulk, as they claim in this manner to secure the most perfect 

 development of the delicate aroma which is such a marked 

 characteristic of the best Normandy varieties. Their method is 

 generally to dislodge the fruit by shaking and by the use of 

 poles at about the stage of maturity which is recognised as right 

 for gathering and barrelling. In many places this fruit is left in 

 huge piles under the trees until late in the season, though this is 

 not considered the best practice. The better method, which 

 seems to be quite well observed by larger growers, and espec- 



