DIFFICULTIES OF FERMENTATION. 
147 
French wines. The whole secret consisted in distilling the Alcohol from one hogshead of cider and 
adding it to another ; thus “ fortifying ” it, as brandy is used to fortify grape wines for exportation. 
In years of great abundance of fruit, when the barrels are all filled with cider, and tons upon 
tons of fruit are still left to rot away in the Orchards, a great economy would be effected if the 
fruit could be crushed, fermented, and the spirit distilled from the liquor ; for with good fruit a brandy 
of superior character would be obtained. The great obstacle consists in the uncertainty of the crop. 
Marshall mentions that “ in 1788 there were men who would make 100 hogsheads that in 1783 did 
not wet the press and many of our readers will remember that in the years 1856-7-8-9, a succession 
of bad seasons, there was not half a hogshead of cider made in several famous fruit districts in 
Herefordshire, whereas in 1867-8, hundreds of bushels of fine fruit were lying in heaps in March 
which could not be sold, and were left there to be absorbed by mother earth. 
Well fermented Cider of good quality should contain from 5 to 10 gallons of Alcohol in 100 
gallons of liquor, and the French chemists say as much as 12 per cent. Good Perry is stated to 
yield 7 per cent, of spirit. The practical rule for estimating the strength of the must of Cider or 
Perry, and for all Saccharine unfermented liquors, is to allow 1 per cent, of Alcohol for every five 
degrees of density. For the sake of comparison it may be added of the grape vintage, that Claret 
of first quality should contain from 13 to 17, Sherry from 18 to 20, and Port from 24 to 26 per cent, 
of Alcohol. 
Difficulties of Fermentation. —The combination of favourable circumstances necessary 
to perfect fermentation cannot always be commanded by the most careful managers ; but with the 
carelessness so general in the orchards it is often positively prevented. The ordinary sources of 
difficulty are many. The season may have been bad and the fruit not well ripened; the 
varieties of fruit may be poor with weak watery juices ; the fruit may not have been well mellowed 
in the heaps ; it may have been overheated and frostbitten ; or it may have been crushed 
indiscriminately from the heaps ; the prevailing temperature at the time, may delay injuriously, or 
hurry on too quickly the fermentation ; or lastly, there may be a want of cleanliness in the Cider 
house, the vats or the implements used. Such circumstances for the most part inevitably result in 
the production of inferior liquor, but by good and proper management it can be kept from getting 
so bad as it otherwise would do. 
The knowledge that all Fermentation is connected with the growth of Fungus Yeast Plants in 
the fermenting fluid, at once affords the explanation of many of the difficulties that arise in the process, 
and points out the means best adapted to meet them successfully. Circumstances which encourage 
the rapid growth of these plants, such as a warm temperature and juices rich in Saccharine principle, 
produce an active fermentation : Whereas, a low temperature and thin watery juices, deficient in 
Glucose, cause them to grow so weakly, that a low fretting fermentation sets in and creates great 
difficulty, at first to increase its activity and afterwards to arrest it. This would often be impossible 
without the addition of certain substances which have the power of stopping fermentation at once. 
These are commonly called “ anti-ferments,” but we now know that they stop fermentation simply 
