red to make a hogshead of cider is from
twenty-four to thirty bushels; and in a good year an acre of orchard
will produce somewhere about six hundred bushels, or from twenty to
twenty-five hogsheads. The cider harvest is in September. When the
season is favourable, the heaps of apples collected at the presses are
immense--consisting of hundreds of tons. If any of the vessels used in
the manufacture of cider are of lead, the beverage is not wholesome.
The price of a hogshead of cider generally varies from 2l. to 5l.,
according to the season and quality; but cider of the finest growth
has sometimes been sold as high as 20l. by the hogshead, direct from
the press--a price equal to that of many of the fine wines of the
Rhine or the Garonne."

* * * * *

_OLD APPLE TREES._

"At Horton, in Buckinghamshire, where Milton spent some of his earlier
years, there is an apple tree still growing, of which the oldest
people remember to have heard it said that the poet was accustomed
to sit under it. And upon the low leads of the church at Romsey, in
Hampshire, there is an apple tree still bearing fruit, which is said
to be two hundred years old."

The _Fig_ and the _Fine_ are equally interesting, and in connexion
with the latter we notice the editor's mention of the fine vineyard
at Arundel Castle. Aubrey describes a similar vineyard at Chart Park,
near Dorking, another seat of the Howards. "Here was a vineyard,
supposed to have been planted by the Hon. Charles Howard, who, it is
said, erected his residence, as it were, in the vineyard." Again, "the
vineyard flourished for some time, and tolerably good wine was made
from the produce; but after the death of the noble planter, in 1713,
it was much neglected, and nothing remained but the name. On taking
down the house, a stone resembling a millstone, was found, by which
the grapes were pressed."[5] We were on the spot at the time, and saw
the stone in question. Vines are still very abundant at Dorking, the
soil being very congenial to their growth. "Hence, almost every house
in this part has its vine; and some of the plants are very productive.
The cottages of the labouring poor are not without this ornament, and
the produce is usually sold by them to their wealthier neighbours, for
the manufacture of wine. The price per bushel is from 4s. to 16s.;
but the variableness of the season frequently disappoints them in the
crops, the produce of which is some