American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-03-02
Che farmers department.
Manufacture of Maple Sugar.

are better than wood for this rea-
son. If properly washed, they can
never impart sourness to the sap.
Made large enough to hold nine
quarts each, they would cost about
S35 per 100, and six-quart-pails cost
$50 per 1O0 They may be made
square or round, but the latter are
better to clean and to keep their shape.
They should be largest at top, so as
to pack away in nests when not in
use. The top should be strongly
wired, like a tin pan, and hole made
under the wire enables it to hang on
a nail driven into the tree, securing it
thus from swine and other animals,
and preventing the sap from being
blown away by the wind. Old horse
shoe nails, Strengthened and sharpen
cd, are the best.
The best spouts are made of thick
timed iron. When the vessels are
hung as above described on nails,
the spouts need not be more than
three inches long. They should be
widest where they enter the tree.
After the sheet tin is cut up to the
proper size, the concave shape is
given to them by placing them be-
tween convex and concave piece
of wood and giving them a brisk blow
with. msllet. Ground sharp at the
widt end, they are easily driven into
a tree.
Never allow the sap to stand in
the pals twcnty-four hours-the
fresher it is when boiled, the purer
will be the sugar. While boiling,
large quantities should not be poured
in at time, as that will stop it, and
make irregular work; but reservoir
should be placed above the boiler,
from which the sap may be drawn in
stream through faucet, just fast
enough to supply the evaporation.
A little practice will enable the OPP
orator to judge how large this stream
should be. Two boilers are better
than one if the fire is made to pass
from under one to the other-the
first or hottest being chiefly for boil
ing down to syrup, and the second or
coldest for heating the sap and doing
the first evaporation. The faucet Of
fresh sap runs into the first, and a
pipe of syphon, with faucet, conveys
it to the second. Cooks patent
sugar evaporator is very valuable for
boiling the juice of sorghum, as it re-
duces the juice to molasses in less
than half an hour by continued
process, and would be very useful
for maple sugar, but less indispensa-
bic. 1t is on a principle similar to
that Of the two boilers above desert
bed, but more complete and perfect;
the sap enters one end and flows
from one side to the other many
times by means of intercepting par
titions, till it reaches the other end,
by which time it is reduced to syrup,
the proper current being given by
raising or depressing the end, as the
case may require.
Kettles are poor boilers-they waste
fuel and make poor sugar. Shallow
sheet-iron pans are much better.
They may be kept cleaner, they evap-
crate more rapidly, make finer sugar,
and effect great saving of heat.
In all cases, the boilers should be so
set that a thin sheet of flame may
pass under them. For example:-a
sheet of fame two inches thick, under
boiler, is as good as if foot thick
the same amount may therefore be
spread over six times the surface,
and consequently be about six times
more economical.
We have some good homemade
pans, used for boiling sorghum sue
cessfully, made by mailing good thick
sheet-iron to plank, so that the sheet
iron formed the bottom and ends,
and the plank the sides-the sheet
iron was secured to the plank by two
rows of closely driven nails. The
pans were about 8 feet long, and four
wide, and 6 inches deep. These
would be cheap, and very good for
making maple sugar. The fire place
should of course bea little narrower
than these pans. The chimneys
should be high enough to cause a
good draught.
To make good sirup, the sap must
be reduced to one twentieth or one
thirtieth of its bulk, or be boiled twice
as much as sorghum juice. The sirup
is then to be strained through flannel,
and placed aside to cool and settle II
to "a hours. Then return it to the
van, and to every gallon add and stir
beaten egg and a gill of milk to clari-
fly it, keeping it carefully from boil
ing till the scum has risen and has
been SKINNED of. Then boil it care
fully until it will harden, which may
be known by dropping some from
spoon into cold water. When this
takes place, the liquid sugar may be
then poured into proper vessels, and
then the cakes placed in a box to
drain. To make the sugar perfectly