cVder. 
iJquCr ; find such as are duly ripe will pro- 
duce a proportionate increase, both of the 
quantity and of the flavour. Some persons 
are so curious in this particular, that they 
.select their apples individually, and keep 
the juice barrelled for several years, whence 
it acquires considerable strength and rich- 
ness, equal, if not superior, to many of the 
inferior classes of foreign wines. When 
boiled, and kept in this way, it is called 
cyder wine. 
It is to be lamented that very large 
quantities of crude cyder are made in some 
districts from unripe apples, especially from 
windfalls. This liquor is peculiarly un- 
wholesome, and rarely fails,' if drank to 
excess, to induce violent colics, and spasms 
of long duration. The evil is increased by 
the incautious practice of drawing the ex- 
pressed liquor into copper or leaden vessels, 
from which it receives a metallic solution 
that proves in most instances fatal. Even 
those who make cyder with the utmost 
care and cleanliness from unripfe apples 
.should be particularly attentive to its due 
fermentation, without which, though it may 
not immediately turn sour, it will neither be 
palatable nor wholesome. Such should be 
aided while fermenting by the addition of a 
very large toast, made of good wheaten 
bread, well leavened; and if that should 
fail, the cyder should not be used without 
the addition of about a quart of good spirits 
to two of three gallons of the liquor. Tliis 
will prevent the acetous fermentation from 
taking place, and reduce the bad qualities 
of this crude beverage. 
Exclusive of the state of the fruit when 
gathered, much depends on the care w'ith 
which it is taken down, and conveyed to 
the sweating room : such apples as are 
bruised should be rejected, or at least be 
made separately ; for they will give a taint 
to the liquor; and, if numerous, will also 
occasion the fermentation to be unequal : a 
matter of great importance ! Apples should 
be gathered by hand, and slipt into a bas- 
ket by means of such a ladder and cloth 
fiinnel as represented in the Agricultural 
Blagazine for September or October, 1807, 
whereby they are saved from injury. 
The proper degree of ripeness is ea- 
sily ascertained by those who are in the 
habit of gathering; sucli persons know 
by the touch, and by tlie mellow ap- 
pearunce, of proper fruits when they are fit 
for the press : the shaking of the kernels is 
extremely uncertain, as is also the colour of 
the kernels. When a hard sort of apple 
bites ciisp, and flakes wifliout foughnesS, 
it is in proper condition. The softer fleshed 
apples may be tried by pressing the thumb 
on that side which has not been exposed to 
the suhi If the flesh pits easily, and soon 
assumes a bruised appearance, the juices 
are sufficiently prepared for expression. By 
trying the son-side of the apple much de- 
ception is often experienced. 
Those who are very curious in their cy- 
der pick off all the stalks, and w'ipe each 
with a dry cloth ; but this cannot be done 
upon a large scale. However, all filth 
should be avoided as much as possible. The 
fruit when first pulled, should be laid to air 
on a floor, and in a day or two should be 
piled. If the weather proves froSty, a 
blanket should be laid at night over each 
heap, that the whole may be kept in a very 
gentle sweat. This dissipates much of the 
aqueous fluid, and disposes the apples to 
break freely in the mill, without wdiich there 
would be double labour and far less pro- 
duce. When they appear clammy, or be- 
gin to look shrivelled, they are in a state 
for milling. The mill and press are made 
upon different plans in various parts ; those 
who make cyder for sale, and can shew 
many hundred hogsheads, generally have a 
horse W'alk, and grind the apples by means 
of a trough, wherein they are crushed by a 
large stone roller, about a foot broad, and 
three or four feet high, which revolves on 
an axis fast at one end to a central post, 
and at the other having a hook to which the 
horse is attached. The horse goes round 
at an easy pace, so as not to hurry the ap- 
ples out of the trough while the stone par- 
takes of the circular motion, and mashes 
the apples, which are confined by the two 
concentric sides of the trough. The mills 
are usually made in a very negligent man- 
ner, whereby the apples are very insuffi- 
ciently and unequally ground ; besides it is 
extremely difficult to keep the troughs 
clean, and to prevent the apples from 
jumping out when first acted upon by the 
stone, unless the walls or sides are inconve- 
niently high, or that only a thin layer is- 
bruised at a time. To remedy this, we of- 
fer a new form for the trough and stone, 
which it will be obvious remedies the former 
evil. (See fig. 3 and 4, Plate IV. Miscel.) 
In the same plate is shewn the mode of 
keeping the apples from rising before the 
wheel : it is simply a board which fits flat 
upon the top of the circular trough. This 
board is fixed by two arms to the axis on 
which the stone revolves, and by means of 
