The daily gazette., 1876-01-13
APPLES AND CIDER.

| IhlS is the apple eatinS scaSoh' o"'
| the lovers of that fruit are not having
their usual enjoyment, tor the crop
was not only short, but ii was not well
grown, and a great part OF 1t was de-
fective. Apples are poor this season.
and dear, which is matter or more
| serious consequence than many per-
sons would suppose. Apples have be-
come one of our staple articles OF eX-
| port; but it is fruit OF home con
sumption that they have most impor.
tance. Apple eating is looked upon
rather scornfully by many persons. 1t
is associated with school boy days,
with rustic habits. it suggests MUNICH
ing, the smell of the peel upon the
stove, the seed snapped in the face, or
slip upon the unfriendly core flung
| in the way of the unwary walker. To
cat apples is rather intra dig. The
gentleman, who takes whisky, straight
or crooked, or gin cocktails before
mid day, would regard with contempt
an invitation to eat an apple at that
time, or indeed at any other hour of
the twenty.four. But this, like many
| notion of assumed loftiness, is very
unwise. 1t may be safely said that,
| except the various kinds of grain, there
| is no product of the earth in this
| country which is so good for food as
the apple. This noble fruit is no mere
J palate pleaser; it is very nutritious i.
| affords fully as much nourishment as
the potato, which is regarded as II
| staple article Of food. What an outcry
goes up if there is prospect of Il faI-
ure in the potato crop! and yet very
little is said of the chance of dearth
of apples, which shows II lack of true
appreciation of the FRUIT. Not only is
it more nourishipg than the potato, but
it contains acids, mild and gentle, a.
well as pleasing to the taste, which act
in Il beneiiccnt manner upon the whole
animal economy An apple eater is
very rarely either dyspeptic or bilious.
The apple is also tonic in quality, and
contains phosphorus in greater quanti-
ty than any other vegetable docs.-
Therefore, it is a most fitting and de.
siiablr article of diet for us Americans,
who live in such y state of mental
excitement, and are indisposed to
bodily cXcrtion. 1t feeds the brain
and stimulates the liver, which is Just
what we need.
| Nature, as if knowing that such would
be our national temperament and such
our hygicnic needs, has given the apple
in this country a development which K
has attained nowhere else. There are 40
apples to be compared with American
| apples, either in size or in flavor. This
fruit is one of the few things that we
brought from England which have i'm
proved upon our soil. Its excellence is
so great here and so peculiar that it may
be almost called our national fruit. And
yet there are signs that its cultivation Is
falling into neglect. The apple orchards
which lay around the old farmhouses
beautifying them in the spring, and en-
riching them in the autumn, are dying
out or have died out, and no sufficient
measures seem to have been taken to
supply Their places The greening, the
pippin, the spit2enberg, and other varis
ties almost worthy TO be named with
them, are diminishing in numbers and
| detericrating in quality; and those which
are OIL red instead of them are coarse
Aashy things, lacking both flavor anc
substance. The frut-growe er' > attention
seems of late to be concentrated upor
the pear, which takes very great air.
upon itself, both at the truitera and
upon the table. IT is coddled and wrap.
ped up, and ha, very high and mighty
names given to il, and is very costly
the apple out OF the market. TINS is tc
be deplored; for, admitting the delicious
ness of the pear, and giving to it all tn,
high respect which is its dua, we shoulC
not forget that for real worth it is not L
be named with the apple. The pear is
msre luxury Of the palate, having, to b,
sure, the desirable stomlchic qualities
that belong to all fresh acid fruits. l1u'
the apple has substantial merits. 1t i
L. i
mind and body IL il a domestic fruit
homely, yet rich and beautiful and Wig
orous, like so many homely things, among
them the homely graceS and virtues. J.
l. 'he roast beet OF fruits. We could bet
tcr spare them all. except perhaps th'
4 strawberry in its season, than we coul,
spare the apple. And yet the strawberry i
merely ephemcrai: the apple lasts tn
year around, to feed US and to cheer u
by its peculiar corrective and stimulatlG
;, qualitie.
Moreover, the apple produces elder,
h beverage which uugit to be far moY
a commonly used ami more cheaply obtain
y ed than it is. Good cider used to he q
's | common in the Nothern Atlantic State.
,0ee and particularly in New England an
o. New Jersey, as good milb-almost Il
70 good water. 1t was drunk daily, an
Is generally three times II day, not only b
ai the rural population, but by those IN Il.
y towns. 1t was cheap, so cheap that th
- poorest people drank it. Now, good c
q. der is the rarest beverage that one ca
ID search for. It is almost unfndable; an
when found it is very dear, costing abou
ly three times AS much as wine does in tn
~, wine countries Of Europe. This ough
n not to be, and it need not be. Cider ha
qualities which make it, in moderation,
most desirable beverage for us; and
has virtues which give it a very gres
,r and specific value in one of the mo.
q painful and distressing diseases to whic
an the male sex is subject. But the cid,
et that is generally offered is not fit for ar
az az one to drink. II is made without car
% Of refuse apples, the decay in which
plainly to be tasted in their juice eve
after fermentation. IL is neglected, ar
: becomes sour and offensive. The cons
quence is that there is prospect Of i
disappearance in the wake Of perry,
beverage made from pear-jnice, of viii,
most OF our readers probably new
n heard, and which probably none of the
ever tasted. They have not lost muc
%. 1t was not to be named with cider in fl