Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation Part 39

As regards straining, we have seen some of the finer sorts of perry made by a more complete straining than the above; in fact, a rough kind of filtering in flannel bags. This would take too long a time for general purposes. It is, however, a good way of making drink for bottling.

The after-management of cider and perry is a subject upon which much has been both said and written. We, however, join in the country opinion, that "if it be made well the less it is messed with the better."

We prefer putting cider in large casks in a cool cellar-say of from one to two hundred gallons or more,-to each of which should be two tap-holes, one in the middle and one towards the bottom; the first tapping from the middle hole insures a clear fluid without disturbing the lower part, which thus goes on "settling down."

If cider from good fruit be made well, it will have an agreeable sub-acid flavour, derived from the malic acid, which is the principle which gives the refres.h.i.+ng juice of most fruits.

Fermentation is necessary to make good cider, as by it the sugar of the fruit is converted into alcohol or spirit; and if, when this process is complete, the fermentation ceases, we shall have a refres.h.i.+ng, exciting, and generous fluid; if, however, it pa.s.ses from vinous to acetous fermentation, we get acetic acid, and the product is sour.

Cider made from good and well-ordered fruit in temperate weather, and put in casks in a cool cellar, will be likely to ferment equably, and to stop at the right time; if so, the product will be of the best; if, however, these conditions have not been complied with, the cider will be more or less harsh or "hard," and no means will avail to improve it.

Sulphur may be burnt in the casks to check fermentation; but we would after all prefer acetic to sulphurous acid. Chalk and lime will decompose the acid, but to little purpose. The London method of adding sugar or sugar-candy and water to sour cider-and to them all mature cider is sour-is in itself innocent enough.

There is, then, this consolation: if the cider be harsh, farm labourers will drink it; and as they will not, as a rule, drink half so much of the inferior as of the best, they will after all be the gainers.

CHAPTER LI.

ON THE USES AND ECONOMY OF CIDER AND PERRY.

If we canva.s.s the opinions of the ma.s.s of the people in cider-producing and non-cider-producing counties as to the relative merits of cider and beer, we shall find opinions wider apart than even the counties themselves. The "Beer-drinking Briton" cannot at all understand how the lover of cider can skin his throat with such sour stuff as cider, whilst the agricultural labourer in cider districts infinitely prefers harsh cider to the finest ale. We recollect, in one of our geological trips in to Herefords.h.i.+re, in company with an esteemed clerical friend, that a quarryman, working in Wenlock limestone, tendered us a few sh.e.l.ls, on which we offered him sixpence, remarking, "Here's a quart of beer for your trouble." This same man then gave our companion a couple of trilobites, who presented him with a coin of like value to our own, but with the remark, "Here, my friend, is a _gallon of cider_ for you." The effect upon the man's whole being will never be forgotten. He was the slave of the Church for the whole day, and ever thereafter for all we can tell.

In cider districts the farmer, his family and friends, all relish cider, and with all, its proper use seems to agree in a most remarkable manner; but it would be fun to a country cousin who could cease to look at the matter in a serious light to see what a face his London relative would make at a draught of his "own peculiar;" and yet he of the town professes to like sweet cider; but as his knowledge of sweet cider is obtained from the summer drink of the London houses, called "Prime Devons.h.i.+re Cider," the following recipe will explain it:-

Take of Vinegar (or sweeter still, cider) 1 pint.

Brown sugar (or treacle) 1 pound.

Water 7 quarts.

The following will be found in Cooley's "Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts:"-

CIDER, MADE.-An article under this name is made in Devons.h.i.+re for the supply of the London market, it having been found that the ordinary cider will not stand a voyage to the metropolis without some preparation. The finest quality of made cider is only ordinary cider racked into a clean cask, and well sulphured; but the ma.s.s of that which is sent to London is mixed with water, treacle, and alum, and then fined down, after which it is racked into well-matched casks (_i.e._, a burnt-sulphur match). The larger portion of the cider sold in London, professing to be Devons.h.i.+re cider, would be rejected even by the farmers' servants in that county.

No wonder, then, that cider is not a favourite beverage when it is only used as a summer drink in some sophisticated form; but, when understood and obtained at all good, we believe it to be wholesome and palatable, and, indeed, we know it to be preferred before even the best ales in cider districts.

There is a common error amongst town-folk who prefer the above mixture that cider is not intoxicating, that it has no strength in it; but we regret to say that it is not only intoxicating, but we believe more exciting than beer: it is true that its effects pa.s.s off sooner.

Drunkenness with cider would seem to be so far different than in the case of beer, in that while the latter makes its victim heavy and stupid, the former incites to motion, and leads to quarrelling, fighting, and foolhardiness.

Hence, then, cider so exhilarates the farm labourer that he will do any amount of work if he is constantly plied with it, and all the while that it is but stimulating him, he fancies he is getting strength and vigour from it; but, alas! he is only thus drawing upon his capital; exhaustion follows a hard day's work got over amid hard drinking, which requires the following day to be spent on the same high-pressure system, or else little will be done. Hence one of our own labourers, during barley mowing at so much _per acre_, was fain to confess that he "wanted a pint of cider at four o'clock in the morning worse nor any other time of day."

It happens, then, that as harvest work is wanted to be done expeditiously, it is let out by the piece, by which the labourer gets more money and more cider. But consider, my masters, that, when not under these stimulants, you can only expect from the workman a languid day's work when the excitement is over; and too often, indeed, the poor man gets a long illness as the result of his forced, that is, stimulated labour, and, if not, such a system of drawing upon his capital-strength-is certain to end in premature old age.

Seeing, however, that the labourer has got to believe that drink keeps up his strength, it too often follows that he concludes that the more he gets of it the better; and hence, as a rule, there is no satisfying him upon this head, and the result is, that the labourer too often keeps himself in that state of thirst and muzziness during his work that almost compels him to seek the public-house when work is done. Here quarrels ensue, and it is a wonder that manslaughter is not more frequently the result. Expelled from the scene of his debauch, he finds his way home, unless, as is not unfrequent, he is "found drowned" in the river by which he may have to pa.s.s.

This is no fancied sketch, as it is derived from the sad experience of the author and the result of events in his own parish. On one melancholy occasion it was indeed sad to hear the Coroner, among other remarks, observe that full four-fifths of the inquests in a cider county were the result of drink.

Is there not, then, a heavy responsibility resting upon the farmer in especial connection with cider, while his men are partially paid in this fluid? It is different in the beer-drinking counties, as beer costs more money, and is never allowed in such quant.i.ty as cider. Put it down as true that the farmer _at times_ gets more work out of his men by plying them with cider, yet we feel sure he thereby hastens the time when such men can no longer work, and they have then to be chargeable to the parish, if in the mean time nothing worse should happen.

Mechanics are not paid in drink; they purchase what they require out of regular wages, and thus they have the option, which many of them take advantage of, of leaving off strong drink altogether; and though they too are sometimes hard pressed to get a piece of work done, yet, by over-hours, for which they are rightly paid, not, as in the country, wholly by cider, but in money, the business is managed, and the workman can afford extra meat and bread, by which his worn muscles are truly renovated, and not merely stimulated to frantic action as by drink. The great rise in the price of meat, even before cattle disease became rife, is due to the cause that so much more meat has, within the last five years, been eaten by the British workman. In this advance, however, the farm labourer has had no part; he rarely gets meat twice a week, while all this time his wages have advanced so much as 25 _per cent._, which rise, in nine cases out of ten, is only looked upon as a boon, inasmuch as it enables the recipient to "enjoy himself," which simply means he has more to spend at the public-house.

We conclude, as the result of experience, that each sack of corn that finds its way to market from a cider county costs 1s. (or 3d. per bushel) in drink, which, though it is produced on the farm, might yet have been sold to produce that amount.

Would it then not be better to sell such farm produce, and, by giving extra money instead of drink to the labourers, and so, by allowing him the option of taking less drink but more meat, gradually to withdraw him from the temptations to get drunk, which beset him under the present system? For, while we feel quite sure that the morbid craving for the public-house has commenced with drinking on the farm, we may be certain that if by any means we can check this system, it will ultimately be a great gain to both master and man.

Where are farm labourers best off? We say in the non-cider counties. In these he has learnt the use of skim-milk and the value of meat. In cider counties the farm labourer despises skim-milk as "poor weak tack, only fit for pigs." He cannot get meat, as he takes part of his wage in a stimulant which excites him to spend some of his money in falsely "_keeping up his strength_."

Now what are the results? We unhesitatingly a.s.sert, muscle, longevity, more robust, honest, well-to-do families, healthier bodies and minds, beyond the cider limits.

If, then, these things be so, some change in the use and economy of this wholesome drink is an object worthy of the deepest and most earnest consideration. One man alone can do no good. Beneficial results can only follow upon calm discussion and combined action by the masters, upon well ascertained facts. We would not stint the labourer of that which is to do him good; and if we find that he is really willing and capable of taking the whole responsibility connected with his drinking requirements upon his own shoulders, we cannot help thinking that it would be for the good of all parties to pay increased wages in full rather than any portion in kind, and more especially of the kind we have thus animadverted upon.

POSTSCRIPT.

In bringing these Papers to a conclusion, we would, among other matters, make a few remarks upon the t.i.tle under which they have been issued, namely, _Science and Practice of Farm Cultivation_.

Now it will be seen that our object has not been to enter into the minutiae of practical farming, but rather to point out some of the more important scientific principles by which much of practice is regulated.

Hence, then, we would beg the reader to amend the t.i.tle as follows:-"Science _of_ Practice _in_ Farm Cultivation." This will more fully explain the aim and object we have had in view in the series of Papers now concluded.

It is now time to tender our best acknowledgements for the aid we have received in the many drawings with which this small work has been so liberally ill.u.s.trated. We owe especial thanks to Mr. Hardwicke for several fine plates of interesting agricultural as well as botanical specimens; to the Royal Agricultural Society of England for the loan of the woodcuts of roots; and to our friend Mr. Wheeler, of Gloucester, for the use of the woodcut ill.u.s.trations of gra.s.ses; and as both the drawings of roots and gra.s.ses were made by us direct on the wood, rough though they may be, we yet hope they may be deemed more faithful than any second-hand copy.

Our labours being ended, it only remains to add that we hope our little work may have the effect of inducing some of our agricultural friends to look into the principles connected with the various operations which they daily superintend, as by so doing agriculture will be really elevated to a science; whereas, by merely copying what has been done before, we shall only be empirics, practising rational empiricism it is true, but still coming short of that light and knowledge which is the life,-_the science_ of our profession.

J. B.

BRADFORD ABBAS, DORSET,

_Sept. 25, 1865_.