PRACTICE OF FERMENTATION : POMMAGE. 
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guided by practical experience alone, it has been able to enjoy the results of fermentation without 
the necessity of waiting for Science to give the explanation of the various stages of the process. 
“Come let us hye, and quaff a cheery bowl, 
Let Cyder new wash sorrow from the soul.” 
Gay’s “ Fifth Pastoral .” 
Practice of Fermentation. —It is agreed on all sides that the pommage, or pulp of the 
fruit, should be removed from the mill as soon as the grinding is finished—that is, as soon as the 
Apples or Pears have been reduced to one uniform pulp : but there has been much discussion as to 
how long it should be allowed to remain before being submitted to the press. The old writers state 
that it was the general practice in their times to press the pommage at once from the mill, and fill 
their barrels from the press; but they are unanimous in advising that the pommage should be placed 
in open vessels, from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, before the must is expressed from it. 
Thomas Andrew Knight held the same opinion. In America the pommage is allowed to remain 
in an open vat from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, or longer, according to the prevailing 
temperature, and an instance is given in Kenrick’s “ New American Orchard ” (1844), where a Mr. 
Price won the first prize in Concord, Massachusets, and great distinction, for Cider made from 
Apples, whose pommage had been exposed for eight days before being brought to the press. In 
Germany, and in some parts of Normandy, Professor Schlipf states the pommage is left in open vats 
from five to twelve days, until fermentation is well established and the lees begin to settle, when the 
thin liquor is drawn off, and the remainder submitted to the press. The French do not follow this 
custom, and, except when they very occasionally use table fruit, they press the pommage at once 
from the mill. 
The advantages to be derived from leaving the pommage undisturbed for a certain period are 
very great. The juices of the fruit, set free by the crushing, are enabled to re-act on the peel, the 
kernels, and the more solid tissues, aided doubtless, by the alcoholic fermentation which so quickly 
sets in ; and they thus have time to extract the full flavour, perfume, and colour of the fruit, which 
are all so essentially required to give character to the Cider. The common practice (becoming 
unfortunately still more common) of pressing the pommage direct from the mill, is therefore very 
disadvantageous. 
The pommage from the mill should be placed in large wooden vessels, and filled to within a 
foot or eighteen inches of the top. The vessels should be covered with a cloth or board, and 
allowed to remain untouched for a couple of days, and the pommage may safely be left for three 
or four days if the weather is cool. A gentle fermentation quickly begins, and within a few hours 
minute bubbles rise to the top, and soon form a white froth there. As the Carbonic Acid gas 
escapes, it spreads over the surface at the top of the vat, and thus keeps off the action of the outer 
air from the pommage, although it may be left for some days. 
“ Yet even this season pleausance blithe affords, 
Now the squeezed press foams with our Apple hoards.” 
Gay’s “ Fifth Pastoral 
Pressing the Pommage.— When a sufficient time has elapsed successive portions of the 
pommage are taken from the vats, and placed upon close textured rough horse-hair cloths, 
