Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-10-13
From ulo Country Gentleman.
The Making and Drinking of Cider
in England.

counties prc-oininent. All the farmers make
it for their own family use and for thcir
hands. 1t is the daily drink Of men. women
and children, and the oaly drink Of many, as
beer is in other places. No laboriuc man Is
expected to work with less supply than two
quarts a day, usually three and farmers whose
cellars and orchards both happen to run dry
must either buy apples or cider or give up
farming.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS.
This general and constant use of cider gives
an opportunity of determining its effect. as o
beverage, and apart from the tyrannical cray
ing which it creates, in common with an fer
mented drinks, aud the consequent burden on
poor families Il does not seem to have any
injurious effects pbysiologically, but rather
the contrary. Life is protracted in Hereford
shire to an average Of five per cent beyond
the high average Of England generally and
have just read Of a Christmas party in Bid
dciord, Devonshire, whore there were twenty
present who were upwards Of s0years of age
II is reported that, at a grand show in Here
ford in the seventeenth century. twelve Nor
ris dancers with their musicians, &c. eigh-
teen in all, made up an average Of l02 years,
their Maid Marian being a sprightly lass Of
l2O! | have several times seen here @ live
ly old maid Of "a, walking at good pace,
miles from home, with her sight, hearing and
voice quite good and such strength Of body
as enabled her 10 lease (gean) wheat ears
in the stubbles through all the harvest An
old gentleman Of 81, goes wbistling over his
farm with his hedge bill wedding hook or gun
IN his hand l saw him one day at q railway
station too late for a train which would save
him a twelve mile walk, and when urged to
wait for the next train he began to jig a
hompipe to convince them that the walk was
nothing for a boy like him A fine, iovial
chiruping old boy he is too, with eyes and
ears as quick as birds, and quite bloom
on his wrnkled check These are two sam
pies Of many all around.
a very noticeable thing here is the excel
lent condition Of the teeth and gums, and the
clear red and white OF the skin and bright
ness Of the eyes, even to advanced years. l
find that draught of cider seems to cleanse
the mouth, dissolving and floating off mucus,
and | cannot help thinking that its mild acid
regularly used is very beneficial The poorer
people will swig down mugs Of inferior, sour
cider just as if it were going down large
metal funnel, and one cannot help wondering |
at their Threats, Just as we wonder at the
hands Of men who can grasp live Goals or red
not pokers. These men are as hearty and
healthy and as strong, if not crippled by rhcu-
matism, as any men anywhere. They never
taste spirits or care about thom, but their
wives, who are much exposed to bad weather
Too, are fond Of tea, and like to get a drop o.
rum or gin in it, and are too apt to fall into
leplorable habits, under which poor children
ufier and homes are rendered miserable bells {
lpon earth.
CARE OF THE APPLES.
The apples used for cider are of differ
mt class from those used for dessert or cook .
ng. They are at the same time street when !,
lilly ripe) and aStriRgeRt, both these quail y
les being essential for making good keeping
ider. They are generally called bittersweets,
nd those that are most valued now for great y
ield and rich dense juice are the sorts all u
one type, and are called Normans, the or. d,
final stock having been brought from Nor .,
andy, where cider is largely made and used ~
are is taken even in gathering the windlalls ~
separate the sorts, placing those which ''
AZURE together in the same heap, and those
saps are made on a clean smooth bottom of III
ASS and leveled off with the back of hand. ~ u,
Ike to about II or 10 inches deep. In this IN
ly the fruit is found to keep with least rot aI
loss Of flavor, or, what is worst of all, VI
Iuseously tasting, ruinous mouldiness. Some i9
often-it is found an advan- Vi
&c to mix sorts, some supplying sweetness, W
hers astringency and flavor. The latest ~
piles, maturing in November, or even De- p
inber, are usually the richest, and in this Ut
lid climate cider-making goes on sometimes u; =,
! Oandlemas february ID, which is NOV III
g day here,) and the cellars are mostly u
'oye ground, with grating windows, over y.
hich bag is hung in the half a dozen u
gifts Of sharp freezing. Some strew COW q
ing over the apples as a protection against ~
osts, but it is agreed that it is very seldom Il
lat they are hurt by frost, and that other y
Use the covering is injurious as well as in
onvenient. The cider is found to " work"
ferment) better in the open air than in any
nclosed room, but a shed-roof is an advan-
age because Of hoops becoming loose if ex- {
osed to alternate wetness and drying.
THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.
As soon as a lot of apples become so mel.
ow as tc have their fullest sweetness, and to
crush almost like boiled potatoe, without
the cracking noise with which an unripe APP
pie breaks, they are ground at once and
roller mills, much like those used in America,
are now preferred, it being found quite use
less labor to grind up all the skins and seeds,
as they used to do with the idea Of improving
flavor and keeping qualities. After being
ground, the whole "must' is sometimes left |
to stand twelve hours or more in tubs before
pressing, in order to extract more color from
the skins and pulp. Viscidity and muddi-
ness Of this must is an indication of richness. |
The must from the Norman apples looks like
a thick mud of clay and water, or like the i
washings Of iron ore. After pressing, the
juice is placed either in large open vat or
in an ordinary hogshead or barrel, not quite
full, to fine" If the weather is warm,
and especially if any unripe apples have been
mixed among those ground, hasty fermenta-
ton will soon set in, and the liquor will be
covered with white bubbles Of ascending gas.
This state of things is dismaying to the cider
maker, threatening harsh, sour drink, and is
very difficult and often impossible to control.
Drawing of into another vessel is the usual
course and, as it always checks fermentation
(perhaps by cooling the liquor,) although it
aeldiiies or fattens by admitting oxygen and
allowing spirit and earbonie acid gas to es-
cape, it is the better choice between two evils.
Sometimes, when the juice IL rich and sweet
and the weather COOL the juice will remain
torpid for length Of time, and this is a dis
tress too, because it threatens TO protract the
filming into the dead winter. The course
which makes the cider-maker happy is to see
dark brown scum form on the top Of the
cider, with few white bubbles If this rises
freely, the muddy cider will be clear and
bright in three or four days, aud when it is
clear the crust begins to crack This stage is
watched for closely, and when it arrives the
cider is drawn off just above the lees, and
put into hogshead, with glad assurance of
its being good drink" and requiring pro,
badly only one more racking. If this
move is delayed few hours too long, the lees
begin to rise with second fermentation, the
cider lust now clear hecomes turbid a,,oin