LETTERS: Apples, and other plants too Pressing case for real cider

I THINK Decca Aitkenhead may be confusing me with another cider maker ("France triggers an apple glut", 8 October). I did not say that Bulmer's Cider is made from concentrates - I don't know whether it is or not. However, there is no need for Inigo Patten (Letters, 15 October) to put organic in inverted commas - we are organic cider makers, our orchard is organic and we are registered as an organic producer with the Soil Association.

Instead of reading Bulmer's annual report in W11 perhaps Mr Patten should visit the row upon row of cider apple trees that Bulmer and others have planted in Herefordshire and there he will see one of the limitations of "environmental best practice": herbicide strips under the trees. Many hedgerows have been pulled up, this is common knowledge - in Herefordshire. Given the right varieties of fruit it is possible to grow the trees in a living environment. With the limited resources of a small cider company, we are proving it.

Ivor Dunkerton

Dunkerton's Cider Co,

Leominster, Herefordshire