Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-03-30
Agricultural,



MEssRs. EDIToRs.-As the season for making
maple sugar is drawing near, take an opportu-
nifty to send you short account of my method
of manufacturing that article; which you are at
liberty to insert in your valuable paper if you
think it may be any benefit to your readers; and
although | make no pretensions to any superior
attainments in the business, yet having had con.
siderable experience in it for some l2or Is years
past think have made some important i'm
provements, not only in the quantity and quality
of the sugar; but also in the expense of making
it, and, perhaps some of your readers who live
in sugar making regions, may not have paid that
attention to this important branch Of agrcutu-
raj interest which the subject demands; as it is
but few years since farmers in this vicinity
thought that making maple sugar was an unpro-
ftable business, and not worth much attention.
But | am glad to say that the business is in
creasing in this place, and, that probably there
is double the quantity of sugar made in this town
that there was ten years ago shall pass over
all the old methods Of making sugar, and come
directly to the course now pursue. Our sugar
place consists of about 275 trees now large e.
nough to tap We have erected small build
ing in the central part of the sugar place, in
making apparatus.
In regard to making sugar of good quality,
think the most important thing to be observed,
is strict regard to cleanliness in all the opera
tons Ny practice is to scald all my buckets
and holders, thoroughly, Immediately after using
them, before pack them away, and also before
| commence using them the next season; and
in this way can keep them perfectly clean and
sweet.
All who are acquainted with making sugar no
Goubt have observed that during few days the
last of sapping, the sap becomes thick and sill
my; and if the buckets and holders are put away
with any of this Shiny sap adhering to them, it
becomes acid, and the wood is so impregnated
with it, that it is almost impossible to get it out,
and if it is not got out it Injuries the quality of
the sugar very much. My method of tapping
the trees is, to bore them with 3 inch anger,
fiom two to four inches, according to the size of
the tree.
| have till within two years, used the common
spout or conductor, driven into the hole, which
is familiar to all who have made sugar now
use, as substitute, conductors made of sheet
IRON: which think much better They were
made in the following manner Take piece of
sheet iron, say four or six inches long, and a.
bout two inches in width; bend it in the form of
half round, and sharpen one end of it. This
drive into the bark of the tree directly under
the hole, and an inch or two below it, so that
every particle of the sap that runs out is caught,
and no trouble with leaky spouts.
But another, and greater advantage, is the
following. Every one who is familiar with the
business will have observed that the outside
grains of the tree afford the most sap, and the
quantity dminishes as you bore into the tree -
Now in using the common spout, you must lnva-
riaby stop the sap from one or more of the out
side grains, by driving the spout to make it tight,
and thus loose the benefit of the best part of the
incision.
have also observed that when trees are tap
ped in this manner, the sap will start earlier IN
the morn ing, and also run later in the season,
than it will from trees tapped in the usual way
We hang our buckets on the trees, 50 near the
conductors that no sap is wasted by being blown
away. In order to do this we bore hole near
the top of the bucket, large enough to receive
the head of ~ penny nail We then take a
small piece of sheet iron, through which we
punch hole to correspond with the hole in the
bucket This we nail on to the bucket, over the
hOle, 10 prevent lls ledllhS Out, VIC Inen u'"o
nail into the tree directly under the conductor,
on which we hang the bucket.
We use for boiling sap, sheet iron pan, six
feet long, l-2 wide, 6 inches in depth, which
we set on brick arch of corresponding size
The pan is set on the top of the brick work or
ARCH so that the bottom only is exposed to the
fire. We usually keep the pan about half full
while boiling, and as there is but little depth Of
sap, and large surface exposed to the heat, it
evaporates very rapidly, and being SO shallow, ii
is almost impossible to get heat enough to make
it boil over; while in boiling in kettles or cha.
drons, which was our former practice, il was al
most impossible to boil without losing consid
erably by its running over, even with the best o
care