The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-12-06
The Rise, Pre- aress, Decline an" al
Of Cider Drinking in Maine.

TUESDAY Morning, Iecember o, 1871
The Rise, roaress, Decline aud Revival
Of Cider Drinking iu Maine.
"In old hard cider times is an expression
often ON the lips of men of middle age. The
eliminating point in what may be called this
bibulous era in the history of Maine, seems to
have been reached about the year 1910, in the
Harrison campaign, and N this State the
phrase we have quoted appears TO recall the
period to which il refers as wildly and pleas
antly as "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," or any
other battle-cry. A tender recollection of
the pure apple juice Of other days is cherish.
ed by hundreds with the liveliest satisfaction.
Its association with the huge open fires and
hospitabIe hearths of old farm-houses, and
the "paring bees" "huskings," and other
characteristic festivities celebrated therein,
constitutes the poetry of hard cider, and the
wonder is that 10 bard has arisen to sing its
praises as. old Joel Barlow sung those of
'hasty pudding" alas! obsolete, or at
least cast down from its high position as the
browning glory Of the Yankees feast-the
mighty rival of pumpkin pie
But after 1910 the great torrent of cider be-
gan to dry up, probably because improved va
rieties of apples were introduced which were
in good demand at high prices, so that only
a small rivulet reached 1851, when the first
Maine law went into operation. From that
time till about the middle of the last decade,
very little cider was manufactured in Maine.
The temperance reform had some agency in
diminishing its consumption, and the high
price of apples and the almost universal graft
ing of the old orchards did the rest. Cider
mills fell into ruin all over the State. When
the enforcement of the liquor law was lax
enough to permit it, men in want of stimu-
lants drank whisky instead of muddling their
brains with cider. The generation of cider
drinkers had passed away, and new race
that knew it not had grown up.
But about five years ago sudden increase
in the quantity of cider began, and the rise
in the stream has been gradual but steady,
till it has become torrent again. This re
newal of the old custom of making cider by
farmers is probably due to variety OF causes.
Maine has become fruit-growing State,
and on some single farms thousands of bush
els oil apples are produced annually. The
PRESS of Saturday told of single farm in
Norway which produced apples enough for
nearly fifteen hundred barrels of cider, and
this enterprising Norwegian has number of
rivals in different parts of the State. Men
who formerly devoted themselves to general
architecture now make apple raising special
ty. This year the quantity of apples is so
great that the low prices have compelled farm
ers to carry them to the mill. Vinegar
still commands good price, but the most of
it gets "nipped in the bud" as it were, and
is intercepted as beverage, while it is in a
transition state. There is cider everywhere.
Every farmer has one or two barrels at least,
and every guest is RECALLED with it, while it is
subjected to steady draughts for daily con-
sumption in the family that are "quite fright
full 10 see." No stage stops to change horses,
but all the passengers drink cider. In the
city all who are able have this year sent out
their orders to the country for cider. Its un-
usual abundance makes it so cheap that new
channels ale opened for it where it never
flowed before. The whole land has been ran
sacked to find barrels enough to hold il. If
they should 10y any accident, burs: simnltane-
ously, the whole State would be submerged
in cider several feet deep!
We do not propose to discuss the ethical
side of the cider question any further than
this: cider drinking when prevalent, ela-
braces a much larger number of people than
the drinking of spirituous liquors ever can.
Boys are allowed to indulge in it freely, and
their appetite for it is not gratified to HARM
fui extent. People who would not think of
drinking rum, or even ale or beer, are quite
easily led into degree of intemperance by
the convenient obscurity that attends the
transition Off to old cider. There is often
a surprising degree of indecision manifested
on this question, and doubts are to be cleared
up only by the rigorous scientific method
that is, by induction based upon a vast num-
Der of tentative examinations. In this way
a barrel of cider in large family will soon be
exhausted. Many people betake themselves
to this beverage on account of its "anti-bil-
lious" properties. The effect would no doubt
be good if they always observed due modera-
ton, but when cider is taken down in large
quantities, as it frequently is, it is capable of
Supplying and besotting human being as
hardly anything else can. Of all drunkards
cider drunkards is the most maudlin- The
most beastly.