417 
fruits, kich as the woodcock, thevredstreak, and that called 
Pawson. The liquor of this fruit is high-Coloured, heady, fra* 
grant, and of a substantial taste; but it depends a great deal 
on the making : it requires to be very much racked, the pe¬ 
riods for which may be known from the inspection of the 
liquor, as in all other cases of the kind. Its fault is, that if it 
has failed to be duly racked and clarified, as soon as it was 
becessary, it gets harsh. My method has always been to pre- 
pare it in open vats, and to draw it off from the lees With a 
«ock at the bottom, to prevent the pellicle from breaking, and 
to repeat the same process till it became clear. It must be 
lowered, and prevented from simmering after the first fermen¬ 
tation, as much as possible, and it allows this kind of manage¬ 
ment, without any diminution of its strength better than any 
cider I know. The lees must be well filtered at each rack* 
ing, and what is extracted from them, be put with the other 
cider in the same vessel. It keeps better in bottles than in 
casks ; as in the latter, it does not keep its fragrance so well 
as some other ciders, though it retains body for several years j 
but it preserves its perfect excellence in bottle as long as caa 
be wished. 1 have no idea that it gets better for being kept a 
long time ; it is very good in a year; and, perhaps, it is never 
better than at the end of a year and a half, or two years. 
As to the price, it is sold from about xSl. to 20I. a pipe. I 
have known it, when it was very good, to sell as high as 4s. a 
gallon. My late uncle, of Chestmill, made some of it to such 
a perfection, that he was offered an equal quantity of port wine 
in exchange. 
The following letter cannot fail of being extremely in¬ 
teresting to the Jersey grower. 
SIR, 
St. Helietf January 10, iSor. 
In consequence of the conversation we lately had toge¬ 
ther on the subject of the cider which is made in this island, 
1 take the liberty of communicating to you some particulars 
about a small quantity I made in 1788. 
In the first place, I took care that the apples should be 
gathered on a very dry day* and then I had them put in a 
heap till they were quite ripe; wheli the time came for grind¬ 
ing them* I gave orders that no water should be mixed with 
them* except such as would be absolutely necessary for that 
process* which was strictly observed. 
I had three hogsheads of cider which I left to work on the 
lees, after which I had it racked three times; and, in March, 
1789, I put half a gallon of Coignac brandy into each hogs¬ 
head, and soon after I had it bottled off. l.had exactly sixty 
dozens, which I put on board the Beggy, (Captain Thomas 
Bandinel), and sent them to the Bay of Honduras. 
The heat of the climate made a great many of the bottles 
fly during the passage. The remainder, (the bottlesincluded). 
Was sold as mountain wine, at the rate of forty-three shillings a 
Worcestershire.} e e dozen. 
I 
