Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-08-30
CIDER IN ENGLAND.
A beverage That Is I'm General Use I'm
the Western COuntIes

A beverage That Is I'm General Use I'm
the Western Counties.
1t is surprising that of the three principal
European beverages, wine, beer and cider, so
little attention has been paid TO cider In com
parison with the other two, says the London
Saturday Rev,eW. Wine Is ancient and
classical, and was no doubt the first inveh-
ton to cheer the heart of man. 1t was a SIM
pie and natural thing 10 do To press the fruit
Tor the sake OF drinking the ju &C; to keep the
Juice awhile aud thus discover that there was
a cheerfulness impaired to it; To keep 1t lit
tie longer and lind IL vinegar ana disap
pontment, aud then TO Invent the method OF
staying IL a. tue cheerful stage and prevent
Ing IL from proceeding To the sour aud vine.
gar stage, The process OF distilling must
have come long after this and IL II had never
been discovered the sobrety OF man might
not have been alarmed by such meaningless
medley OF words as tue Blue Ribbon Gospel
Total Abstinence association. To this day
grapes are pressed by the naked feet OF
women dancing on the masses OF fruit to the
sound of the fiddle aud the lascivlous pleas
ing of the lutte, a custom which must be very
ancient. The proper making OF wine Is an
art demanding great skill, aud the juice of
all fruit is so delicate, the chemical changes
are so subtle, that long experience and con-
siderable ingenuity arc required to prepare IL
for transport from the place where 10 Is made
to other climes There are few wines that do
not taste far better where they are made than
elsewhere and there are many very delicious
wines that are never tasted out OF their own
country. The art of vine making has been
brought TO the greatest perfection at Bor-
deaux and 1t 10 from there that the pure
iuiee OF the grape is carried to other countries
and drunk in perfect state.
What fine national beverage We should
have II the same palms and skill had been be-
slowed on cider. Cider Is an innocent aud
delicious drink, with much lower alcoholic
strength than most natural wines, and far
better than all the common wines below those
of high class IL Is In general use In the
western counties, Devenshire Somersetshlre,
Herefordshre especially. 1t Is commonly
made and drunk on the premises; that is TO
say, there Is an orchard on every farm, large
or small and tie cider is made Tor the family
use, including the men employed This Is
what 10 called rough cider, and the quality
depends on the situation aud the season. On
large farms. or at the squirrels mansion, IL Is
often when just made put into an enormous
casl<, constructed by a professional cooper
In the cellar, much too large ever TO havs been
put into or taken out Of the cellar, and then
drawn off the lees for use; there is no better
way OF drinking cider than this case I'm
which the liquor after having been made Is
not moved at all; and your real west country
clder-drlnker likes his cider with no nonsense
about II, sometimes giving preference to It
when II IL what is called rusl-the word be.
ing applied 10 the cider aud not the drlnkcr,
as the ignorant might suppose. There are
many definitions OF gentleman, OF which ito
set in chlmbley cornder, drink elder and
cuss" Is one to be beard of to the westward.
Whet her IL is part cuIarly human to like
variety In eating, but to become strongly at.
tached to the accustomed beverage in drink
ing, we wfil only hint to the psychologist and
ply siologist, but certain II Is that the fond
ness for cider In cider countries Is extreme,
and the alcoholic strength lie not enough Ia
TO make II injurious IL Is recommended for
govt, and IL well known 10 the aforesaid west
ward 10 be q com nlefe cure for all the Ills that
flesh 10 heir 10 Two men have been known
TO sit down before a hogshesd OF cider and
not leave It TIL II was empty, being none the
worse for u Can snything more Do said In
the praise OF eldcri