Mahcii ;24. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEB. 
489 
to jour ■\visba.3, and bliould any of your numerous readers 
derive any benefit from tbe same, it will be a gratification to 
me to know that tbe information I bave given bas been of 
any benefit to tbeiu. 
Most of tbe Sweet Cider you meet with, especially that 
wbicb is bottled, bas its sweetness preserved by some 
cbemicul process it undergoes as soon as taken from tbe 
press. A system called “matebing” is also mucb used, to 
suppress the fermentation ; but sucb systems I do not re¬ 
commend, for tbe Cider gets so much impregnated with tbe 
drugs that are used, that any person wdio is in tbe habit of 
drinking pure, unadulterated Cider, can easily detect it. I 
should say it is also highly injurious if taken in any large 
(luautity ; in fact, I bave known people suffer from taking 
a second glass. There are many men who derive their 
principal income from their Cider crop, and, of course, use 
means to make as mucb as possible of the best (luality, with 
tbe least tiouble and expense, knowing that if they can only 
keep it sweet it will be purchased readily in the large towns. 
The producer of such Cider will argue that it does not 
alfect the li(iuor; but I leave the reader to judge whether 
sucb powerful means as are required to check at once the 
fermentation must not impregnate the drink. 
Now fur the mode which we adopt in making sound Sweet 
Cider. It is certainly attended with mucb more trouble and 
labour, and some say waste, but in that I do not agree, if it 
be managed with care; for all the dregs wbicb are taken 
from tbe bottom of the cask each time of racking are put 
back into a barrel set apart on purpose, and which, in a 
short time, if tbe weather is clear, will again separate. It is 
then again racked, and makes good strong Cider for general 
purposes, llisappointmeut will sometimes occur from 
neglect, but, if strictly watched, you will be amply repaid by 
possessing such a pure, wholesome beverage, that I have 
known it to be taken in preference to the best wine. 
To make sucb Cider we take tbe best fruit, or I would 
say the apples from a certain orchard, which being mostly 
good sorts we never separate them, as it requires a mixture 
of sour and bitter with tbe sweet to make tbe best quality. 
There should be about two-thirds of tbe latter to one-third 
of tbe sour and bitter. We allow tbe apples in that orchard 
to remain till nearly the last gathering, unless frost sets in, 
which is highly injurious. Care should be taken never to 
put tliem together in frosty weather, as it is very detrimental 
to tbe quality, which becomes pale and thin, and will not 
keep good any length of time. There is a rule wbicb 
should generally be the guide, and that is, that when the 
apples will easily fall by shaking the tree they are in the 
best stage for gathering. We then take them to the apple 
loft till sufticiently matured for grinding, which will take 
place, according to the mildness of the season, in about a 
fortnight. You will perceive that some of them will turn 
quite black, but care must be taken to have these picked 
out. They can be thrown back with the rougher apples, 
and used in the general way. 
As soon as the apples are ground, the pulp is placed on 
the bed of the press, in alternate layers with fine clean 
wheaten straw, in the afternoon, and remains in that state 
till the next morning, to enable the liquor to retain as much 
as possible the liavour of the pips and rind. The juice is 
then pressed out as fast as possible, and at once removed to 
the fermenting vat (a barrel with the head taken out answers 
the purpose). This vat is filled nearly full, and the juice 
remains there till the first or vinous fermentation has taken 
place, which occurs, generally, on the second day ; but if 
the weather is cold it may remain much longer. It is easily 
perceived by the white froth or scum with which the whole 
surface is covered. The outside will become more creamy, 
and as soon as you perceive it turn brown, the cider must 
be immediately drawn off and put into the cask. You must 
be particular not to mix any of the scum or pickings at the 
bottom; to avoid which have a cork hole at the bottom ot the 
vat to place your tap in, from which you draw off the liquor, 
instead of dipping into it. The greatest vigilance is now 
necessary. An empty cask must be kept ready to rack the 
Cider into as soon as required, as now the object is to prevent 
the acetous fermentation taking place, and thus preserve the 
sweetness. This fermentation is discovered by applying 
the ear several times a day to the bung-hole (the bung 
being loosely placed on), to note if a singing noise, which 
accompanies incipient fermentation, be audible. This noise 
is a kind of hissing occasioned by the extrication of small 
bubbles of ciU’bonic acid gas, whicli, as the action increases, 
break forth in a torrent, accompanied with a formation of 
froth on the surface of the liquor. A very short continuance 
of this is destructive of much sw'eetness in the Cider. Care 
must, therefore, be taken, on the very first symptoms of fer¬ 
mentation, instantly to rack the Cider into the other cask. 
Place the dregs into the barrel set apart, and wash your cask 
clean for the next racking, which must be repeated as often 
as these symptoms shew themselves, which will probably 
occm’ in twenty-four hours, more or less, according to the 
state of tho atmosphere. In fine cold weather the rackiiigs 
are less frequent, and sometimes six or seven may sutlice ; 
whilst, in mild foggy weather, I have known two rackings 
required in twenty-four hours; and as many as twenty 
before the fermentation is subdued. A small cask should 
be managed at the same time, in order, at the last racking, 
to be able to fill up the larger one near enough to the top 
so as just to be able to touch it with your finger. Then 
bung it down tightly, and in the month of March take 
advantage of the first few clear days to give it another 
racking. Bung it again tightly, and paste over the bung, 
so as to render it perfectly air-tight, and you will find it 
keep good and retain its sweetness for many years. 
I would observe, that the soil has much to do with the 
quality of the Cider; that from a clay subsoil far surpassing 
that from a light sand.—T. P., South Fethertou, Somerset. 
DISEASES OF DOULTllY. 
EGG-UOUisD. 
The following appearances were observed upon tho ex¬ 
amination of a Shanghae pullet the day following her 
decease 
Body somewhat emaciated; skin much discoloured, as 
if jaundiced, emitting a rancid unsavoury odour. 
I'pon opening the abdominal cavity, the wdiole of the 
peritoneum presented a highly vascular and infiamed con¬ 
dition, especially about the clocea and ovaries. The in¬ 
testines were glued together by recently effused lymph, 
whilst Hakes and patches of the same material were found 
i in various parts of the cavity. Lying over the right kidney 
was a mass of putty-like matter, which bore some resem¬ 
blance to the yoke of an egg, though somewhat changed in 
character. The oviduct being next laid open, exhibited 
much iufiammation towards its termination, whilst in tbe 
calcifying segment was the crushed shell of an egg, from 
which tbe yoke had apparently escaped; the membranes 
being otherwise perfect. Kidneys, lungs, and other organs 
healthy. 
Hence it would appear, that death, in this instance, resulted 
from peritonitis, produced by the irritation set up in tho 
oviduct by the retention of a crushed egg in that canal, and 
by the escape of its contents backwards into the peritoneal 
cavity—a very unusual circumstance, probably, but, never¬ 
theless, in this case, I think un(iuestionable. 
The prevalent system of over-feeding and over-stimu¬ 
lating poultry, doubtless, contributes largely towards the 
production of all manner of inflammatory complaints. 
Had an antiplogistic and unstimulating course been pursued 
with this pullet as soon as any symptoms of irritation or 
1 inflammation of oviduct were apparent, she might now, 
! possibly, have been the mother of a large, thriving, and 
I valuable family of “lovely Cochin-Chinas." — Fued. J. 
Butlek. 
EXIIIDIXION I'EVEK. 
In your paper of February 24th, “ fY. A. E.” states that 
his “fowls" are attacked by the “exhibition fever.” Now', 
as I had nearly twenty attacked in the same way about 
twelve months since, and did not lose a siiii/lc bird, I 
venture to inform you in what way I treated them. Imme¬ 
diately the first symptoms appeared (which was exactly as 
“ fV. A. E.” describes, viz., very loud breathing, accompanied 
at intervals by a husky cough, the head swollen, and the 
eyes closed), I gave the bird about one table-spoonful of 
“ oil," and confined it in a coop, placed in a dry house. 
