C 32 ] 
drew my attention particularly to this subject; but 
the process by which this summit of perfection was 
reached, was not detailed. However, if we are not 
possessed of the knowledge requisite to reach this 
high degree of excellence, every one, who has inde¬ 
pendence of mind enough to think for himself, must 
be convinced that the general practice of manufac¬ 
turing cider in this state is notoriously absurd. 
,What then is the process, which our fumers gene¬ 
rally adopt ? In almost any period of autumn, apples 
of all tastes, sweet, tart, sour—of all sorts, from the 
aromatic spitzenberg to the acrid crab—of every 
condition, unripe, mature, mellow, sound, knotted, 
rotten, depending from the branch or mouldering 
on the ground, are all gathered together; and, as 
though they had not already contracted impurity 
enough, and a sufficiency of the discordia semina 
rerum” irreconcileable principles, they are heaped 
into one huge mass, to ferment and rot, for a period 
of time, which conveniency, or perhaps chance, may 
prescribe. Here they are exposed to sun-shine and 
dew, to heat and cold, to all sorts of v/eather, and 
actually sweat themselves into insipidity ; or, if you 
may judge by the fine savor with which they salute 
the olfactory nerves, as you approach the cider- 
press, into acidity. In this delicious state, the rot¬ 
ten and the sound are mashed under the wheel, or 
ground in the mill, and pressed together, mingle, 
with reluctant concord, their contrary juices. The 
must, or juice which flows from the press, is poured 
into casks not always sweetened with the utmost 
