The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1845-03-24
The Farmer.
ON Filming MAPLE SUGAR.

rlo Sweet obtained from the maple tree is I'M
.,odIv the purest known; but from msmannge-
',io the manufacture oft, it frequently becomes
,,, impure 1t value is lessened while the expense
,,,ling il increases | am sensible that the meth
,,bch shall recommend is not altogether new
-, and that it is more by attending to some appar-
.,y minnie and trivial circumstances in the opera
IL, than 10 any new plan, that my sugar is so good.
,,,b has been written upon, and many useful inn
,,nemcnts been made, and in that part of the pro-
.,, which relates to tapping the trees, and gathering
,i eapoating the sap, &c, but still if the final OPP
, +. not understood, there will be n deficiency in
,,,,nIi,y of the sugar. shall conGne myself TO
n,rt of the operation which relates to reducing
Y scup to sugar, as it is the first importance. My
,,,p,s is this When the syrup is reduced to the
,,.;,ence Of West India moasses set il away till
au,, perfectly cold and then mixed with it the cur-
5,inr matter, which is milk or eggs. | prefer eggs
nmik because, when heated the whole of it curdles;
whereas milk produces only a small portion Of curds.
THE cses should be thoroughly beaten, and e(lecua-
IL mixed with the syrup while cold The syrup
,LonGthen he heated till just before it would boil,
when the curd rises, bringing with it every impurily,
even the co,oing matter, or great portion of II,
which had received from the smoke, kettles buck
s, or reservoirs. The boiling should be checked,
and the skum carefully removed, when the syrup
should be slowly turned into thick wooden stainer,
md left to ran through at its leisure. would remark
that great proportion Of the sugar that is made in
he cOantry, is strained after cleansing This is
error It examined in wine glass, innumcrable,
uingte and almost imperceptible PARTICLES of eurd,
MIL be seen floating in il which if not removed, rem
iai liable to burn, and otherwise injure the taste
color Of it.
Afnnel stainer does this much better than linen
aa is indeed indispensable. AS to the quanti-
rae eggs necessary, pint to pailfu of syrup is
amply sufficient, and half as much will do very well.
\ now put MY syrup into another kettle, which has
been made perfectly clean and bright, hich is placed
over quick bu, solid fire, and soon rises, but kept
from overlooking by being Iadled with lorg dip
per- When it is sufficiently reduced, q ascertain
ahsby dropping it from the point of knife, while
hot, into one inch Of cold water-ir done, it will not
ianedaleIy mix with the water, but lies at the bot
nan round fat Drop is taken from the fire, and
6shaming allowed to subsde. A thick white scum,
WlCn Is useaOc, Is removed, ana lHe sugar luTHeu
hlo cask, placed on inclined platform, and left
undslurbed for six weeks longer when should be
tapped ia the bottom and the molasses drawn off. 1t
will drain perfectly dry in few days.
The sugar made in this manner is very nearly as
white as lump sugar, and beautifully grained. We
have always sold ours at the highest price of Muscd-
WdOes and even when these sugars have sold at Is
cts ours found ready market ut twenty. Two
hands will sugar Off $50 lbs. in a day. From the
scum taken off in cleansing, usually make, by di-
lnlog and recIensing, one sixth as much as had at
hf, and of an equal quality. 1t is not of much con-
sequence as regards the quality of the sugar, wheih-
Hcare be taken to keep the sap clean or not. The
points in which the greatest error is committed, are
aeseCling to a flannel strainer, strain after
ceansng-o have the sugaring kettle properly clean
@-and to remove the white scum from the sugar
W. Clark, Of Ospego