Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1848-03-17
ANrtrhIturaI.
Manufacture Of Maple Sugar.


an opportunity to send you short account
of'my method Of manufacturing that arti-
Gle which you are at liberty 10 insert in
your valuable paper il you think il may be
any benefit TO your readers and although
make no pretensions TO any superior at
talnments in the business, yet, having had
considerable experience in il for some IL
or Is years past, think have made some
important Improvements, 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 ma
king regions, may not have paid that atien.
ton TO this important branch of agrcultur.
al interest which the subject demands as
II is but few years since farmers in this
vicinity thought that making maple sugar
was an improbable business, and not worth
much attention.
increasing in this place, aud, 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 max.
ing sugar, and come directly to the course
now pursue. Our sugar place consists of
about 275 trees now large enough to tap
We have erected small building in the
central part Of the sugar place, in which we
make our sugar, and store all our sugar
making apparatus.
In regard to making sugar of good quail
~, think the most important thing 10 be
observed, is a strict regard to cleanliness in
oil the operations. My practice is to scald
all my buckets and holders, thoroughly, i'm.
mediately after using them, before pack
them AWAY, and also before commence u.s.
ing them the next season and in this way
can keep them perfectly clean and sweet.
All who are acquainted with making su.
gar no donbt have observed that during a
few days the last of sapping, the sap be-
comes thick and shiny and il the buckets
and holders are put away with any of this
Shiny sap adhering to them, it becomes &C.
i'd, and the wood is so mpregnated with it,
that It is almost impossible to get il out, and
II II is not got out, it Injuries the quality of
the sugar very much. My method of tap
ping the trees is, to bore them with "a
luch anger, from two 10 four inches, accord.
ing to the size of the tree.
l have ill 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
1o"1uo'o's 'haue OF sheet iron; which
t - u, .nucn oeue' nhey were made III the
following manner. Take piece Of sheet
iron, say four or six inches long, and about
two inches in width; bend it in the form of
a half round, and sharpen one end of it,
This drive into the bark of the tree d.
rectly under the hole, and an inch or two
pelow H. so lnat every particle oil the sap
mat runs out Is caught, and no trouble with
'e"sy spou's
A. s.,,. ano'ne'' ana erea'er advantage, is
VIC 'onow'"s' Every one VINO Is familiar
WIN ','e business WIN nave observed that
the ou's,ue grams Of me Tree afford the most
ee"p' a"' '"e q"sn'''y dih'n'shes as you bore
NV '"e uee wow IN using the common
sPoo'' you must ,nVa''nny stop the sap from
:' VI ~. "'o.e .. Tue OUTSIDE grams by driv-
, ns ,ne 'poa. 70 make ugn'' and thus
80. .s"''' VI '"e "e'' part OF 'he IN
NTv"
ns'e a, s observed ,hat when trees are
,appHu u. '"'s 'naine'' 'ne sap WIN START ear
the season than !, sil " Ga, a,,u run la.e, ~
,h e ea'T" 'nd" :, ~, WIN rom trees tapped IN
,hs e , ,s.." way, we nang our buckets on
SaP was,eo " pe'ng o'own away In or
es' ~ 10 'nls we pore mole near The top
~ '"e 'u'ne', 'arge enough 70 receive the
"eaI OF ~ penny nan we then take .
smaI' piece OIL sheet 'ron' through which we
pu"In = no'e 10 correspond win the hole IN /
.e ouone.. ms we nan on 10 The buck
%, o,er ',le nole, 70 prevent lis tearing out,
We ."e ~ u'Ve a nan INTO inc Tree directly
b' "ue' '"o So"uu''or' on which we hang the
' W -.
re use LOT ooll,hg sap. sheet IRON pan,
sh lee' iohs' IL WIDE, inches IN depth,
M"e" VIC SC, on oficK arch Of correspond
~ SIZE Inc pan Is set on the top OF the
"'ick WORK OF arch, SO that the borlom only
Is exposed 10 me hre. We usually keep the
pan ABOUT nan iul wihle boiling, aud as
mere Is but little depth OF sap. and large
surface exposd 10 tho heat, it eyaporates
very rapidly, and being SO shallow, it is al.
mos: = Impossible TO get heat enough to make
u ooil over while in boiling in kettles or
o !, which was our former practice,
u was almost impossible to boil without
C0n9lOnfallaslv q