409 
shreds of white paper, and the chips of the alder, the willow, 
the beech, and the sweet apple tree, can be used advantage¬ 
ously for this purpose; but those of deal give it a very bad 
taste. 
I have my doubts whether isinglass is proper for clarifying 
cider, when it is intended to be kept. It is now known, that 
that substance absorbs astringent, a principle which I think 
contributes very much to the preservation of the liquor. 
The ingredients set down by Miller for clarifying Spanish 
wines, would in all probability succeed in clarifying cider. 
The following is his receipt: — 
Take a certain quantity of whites of eggs, bay salt, and salt 
water, mix these ingredients together, and pour them into a 
cask from which part of the wine has been drawn. At the end 
of two or three days this mixture will clarify that which re¬ 
mains. It must be left to settle for a week, and then racked. 
It is said, that gum arable, powdered fine, is good to make 
liquors gluant; an ounce of it mixed with cider, will be suffi¬ 
cient for each hogshead. 
When it is shifted into another cask during the summer, the 
heat and evaporation will deprive it of all its briskness. As it 
has a variable taste in general, while the apple tree is in blos¬ 
som, it should not be racked at that time. 
The loading of casks into carts is very much facilitated by 
means of a triangle, known here under the name of Forces. It 
is a triangle of spars, of a moderate height, with a rope and 
pully, by means of which a cask is hoisted and then let down 
into a cart, which, in the mean time, lias been driven under 
the machine. On account of the cheapness and various ad¬ 
vantages of this contrivance, it may justly be considered as 
very economical in a farm, and the use of it recommended to 
all growers in easy circumstances. 
Cider never fails, when it is removed from one place to ano¬ 
ther, to throw out a quantity of gas, which often occasions the 
leaking, and sometimes bursting, of the vessel. These acci¬ 
dents may be prevented, by placing near the bung a small 
wooden pipe, from a foot to fifteeen inches long, through 
which the air may escape; this will secure the cask, and pre¬ 
serve the liquor. 
It may be quieted, during a carriage of some miles, by in¬ 
troducing into it pounded bay salt; a very small quantity 
will produce this effect. It is after the same principle, that 
this ingredient, scattered in damp hay, prevents it from heat¬ 
ing; a practice very much used in Germany. 
CHAPTER 
