“And by eating of which (before flesh became his meat) he lived to a far greater age than since any have been observed to have lived. And of all the fruits our Northern parts produce, there’s none more edible, nor more wholesome than _Apples_; { 179} which by the various preparations of the cook are become a part of our table entertainment almost throughout the year, and are esteem’d to be very temperate and nourishing.
“They relax the belly, which is a very good property in them; but the sweet more than the sharp. They help concoction, eaten after meat, with a little bread: you may be confident that an apple eaten after supper”—paste this in your hats, ye revellers—“depresseth all offensive vapours that otherwise would offend the head, and hinder sleep. Apples rosted, scalded, or otherwise prepared, according to the skill of the operatour, are good in many hot diseases, against _Melancholy_, and the _Pleurisie_.
“But _Cider_ is much to be preferr’d, it being the more pure and active part separated from the impure and feculent; and without all, peradventure, is the most wholesome drink that is made in Europe for our ordinary use, as before is observed. For its specifick vertues, there is not any drink more effectual against the _Scurvy_. It is also prevalent against the _Stone_, and by its mundifying qualities is good against the diseases of the _Spleen_, and is esteem’d excellent against _Melancholy_.”
Possibly the course of time has made us merrier than our forbears; at all events “melancholy” is a disease for which no remedy is prescribed in the modern editions of the Pharmacopœia. What with musical farces, and Arthur Roberts, and the means to purchase a “livener” next morning, no citizen of London is justified in the possession of lowness of spirits. { 180}
Making cider is easy enough, but requires, like all other manufactures, care and a modicum of common sense. And here let me join issue with those who maintain that the inferiority of English cider is due to the antiquated methods employed in making it. In the first place I question the inferiority; and in the second, although it is a fact that there is very little difference between the methods of to-day and two hundred years ago, we are more careful, on the whole, in the selection of the material. Far more important than complicated machinery is the proper choice of apples. Grow these in a scientific way, and do not eat all the best for dessert. The cider apple should be neither green nor over-ripe—and certainly not rotten like those used occasionally for the harvesters—free from injury (and therefore not a “windfall”) and just full ripe. The selected fruit should be placed in a mill which breaks them up and pulps them; the pulp is then put under a press, and squeezed dry to the last drop. The liquid is then left to ferment, and this process should be very gradual, and be closely watched. Finally the cider is drawn off, the finest qualities being bottled, and they may be regarded as pure wine. At all events they are frequently sold “as sich.”