The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-03-21
PROCESS OF MAKING MAPLEsU.
GAR, eFcsN

sends the Ne1o EngLand Farmer his
1 process of making Maple Sugar. The
sugar season has now arrived, and the
following suggestions may be useful to
many s-s4.,,
This 10 performed with half-inch Bit
TO the depth of from p to 81 inches &C.
cording to the size of the tree. 4 good,
sound, thrifty part of the wood is selec.
ted, without much regard to the side of
the tree The buckets are made perfect
-ly clean and sweet BY scalding, both at
the commencement and close Of the sea-
son, and are attached to the tree By
| small nail driven up close, so as TO level
the bucket. The spouts are made Of q
dark colorcd wood, with small orifce,
80 as not to attract the suns rays, or dry
up, and sharpened in such a manner as
only to crowd at the surface of the tree.
The sap is gathered with team, in
holders standing upright on sled, aud
is drawn directly from them by means of
q spout with 4 strainer attached, in the
sugar house, which built on o side hill
to favor this operation and save labor
and prevent wste. The sugar-housc is
ventilated BIZ doors and windows, and
capacious to hold all the fuel and also
ell the sugaring apparatus. The boiling
is performed in two sheet-iroa pans, Of
the capacity Of II bbls. each, set on end
to end in q brick arch, foot high in the,
door, with the chimney in the rear, and
cast-iron door at the mouth, and an
other smaller one in the middle of ona
side TO put in wood and give proper
draft. Such an establishment is capa-
Bile of boilingaway one barrel por hour,
and will require about one half cord Of
wood per 100 lis of sugar. ~
When 50 far boiled down as to apron
from tin dipper, it is removed to a
smooth oaldron kettle, set in an indipen.
dent aroh on one side of the chimney,
and while still warm, about two quarts
ofskimmed milk per 100 lbs. of sugar is
well stirred in, and then it is raised to q
boiling heat, and passed through, tho
strainer frame. It is the put immed.-
atsly into brass, kettle (set in another
arch on the opposite side of the chimney,
in moveable manner) and boiled down
rapidly, until, when blown in bubbles
from the sugar trier, it will rattle dis
tinctly on the boiling sugar, when it is
taken off partially cooled in tho kettle,
stirred little, and ladeled into the On.
king moulds to prepare it for market.
APPARATrs USED.
A dipper made Of double tin, holding
one gallon.
A strainer frame made of four upright
pieces of scantlin (something similar to
the frame OF tablet with strips of
board nailed on the top, and at the
sides to hold them together. Nails are
driven into the legs, to which three
strainers are hung, one above the other,
by loops at the corners the upper be,
ing common milk strainer, the next
thicker, and the bottom a very thick
flannel. The syrup passed through this
apparatus will be 90 perfectly pure that
sediment will settle if it should stand
ever so long, and there will be no need
of boys to hold strainers till the patience
even of young, Job would be ex-
hausted.
A sugar-trier is merely an elastic
twig, with knot SO tied in the end az
to leave an orifce of the size of nine
penny bit. This, is thrust into the
boiling sugar, and makes good fun for
the children to blow off the bubbles.--
If used as above recommended ssiaaro il
no need ct failing in sugaring of just
right, once in q hundred.
Caking moulds are made with bot
tom of zinc, with strips OF wood nailed
on around tee sides and lengthwise, into.
which are put particles of zinc crossWiss
making oblong cakes of any size and
mum Der on . mould which the nanufac..
turer may fancy.
REMARKS.
By the above method the sap is never
cooled until the sugar is entirely done !,
consequently saving Of fuel, labor and
syrup is made, and in my opinion the
quality Of the sugar is better.
A half inch bore is better than lar
ger one, as it does not injure the tree
SO much, and it will afford full as much
sap, taking the season through. The
flow of the saccharine fluid depends
mainly on the depth of tho bore, not on
its size as many imagine.
A nicer and whittier sugar may be
made by doing it down slightly, and
draining in a tub with wet cloth on
the top; but the flavor of the article Is
not SO good as that of cake sugar un-
drained. l come to point on which
! have the misfortune to differ from most
writors for the agricultural papers,
The prevailing opinion seems to be-
- that all the sap will make equally
white sugar with the same care and at
tention." I am satisfied both from
analogy and observation, that this is a
mistake. My opinion 10, that the ma
ture of the soil has as much to do with
the quality of maple sugar as it has
with that OF wheat or any other vegita-
bic production. No two things in the
vegetable kingdom arc in every respect
precisely the same. Their character
depends in greater or less degree upon
the mineral and other substances in the
soil, The sugar maple growing in 4
limestone soil takes up lime, as any OBJ
serving man can easily discover by set
Ting pure syrup strained as above de-
scrlbed. l have sugared off the bottom
| of such syrup, and found it to be mora
| than half pure lime, in fine state Of 50.
luton. It is very white, but viii not
adhere in cake. Nearly all the very
white sugar which has fallen under my
observation at our fairs came from
limestone soil. The presence Of gypsan
undoubtedly would have the samc efIees
whilo iron would have an opposite enc,
and so of other minerals, according e
their character. In selecting the grotea
for sugar orchard, therefore, the PR
erence should be given to soils as nave
for base, mineral substapes saoralns
light eolge