CURRENT LITERATURE.
Cider and Perry. By C. W. Radcliffe Cooke, M.P. (Horace Cox.) —Mr. Radcliffe Cooke, by his spirited advocacy of cider and perry as wholesome drinks, has done a real national service. He has helped the farmers of England by stimulating the market for a home product, and he has helped the public in general by putting them in mind of a very cheap, very healthy, and very agreeable drink. There is nothing better to drink on a hot day, or indeed on any day, when one is thirsty, than a " mug " of cider—cider should always be drunk out of a cup, mug, or tankard, and not from a glass—and happy indeed is the man who has his cellar full of really good cider. The only objection to cider-drinking as a habit is the difficulty of getting really good cider. Good cider can only be made out of suitable apples properly treated. But unfortunately people are apt to think that any apples treated any- how will make cider, Mr. Radcliffe Cooke, in the excellent little book before us, shows how necessary it is to grow the true vintage fruits, and what care is required in the work of pressing and fermenting. We have little doubt that if as much care were taken in growing the apples and in making the cider as is taken in producing vintage clarets the result would be in its own way quite as pleasant. Indeed, it might be better, for, from the point of view of health, cider will always be superior to wine. We hope to see the day when well-made cider will beat most of the beer and all the cheap wine out of the market. One of the great advan- tages of cider is the relatively small amount of alcohol it contains. Unless you have the capacity of a German student or a Somerset- shire labourer, it is almost impossible to get drunk on cider. Cider, again, is never the Cause of gout, and is said by some doctors to be good for rheumatism and eczema. We wish Mr. Radcliffe Cooke every success in his task of making the people of this country once again a cider-drinking people. With his pro- tests against the use of chemical,, intended to make badly-made cider keep, we have every sympathy.
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