Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-01-15

thorough manner practicable for making a !
strictly first class article Of sugar, yet must do
Il In the most economical method possible Will 4
Won favor me with some practical suggestions |
on the subject SUBSCRIBER
The best apparatus for making maple su-
gar, as indeed from most other operations on
the farm, is in the long run the cheapest You
want then in the first place, 1000 tin buckets
The deep narrow ones are the best. They do
not catch so much rain water, and do not
during a dry spell when the sap does not
run, subject the little sap that may be IN
them to the degrading influence OF the sun
and wind. Do not for the sake of saving
few cents, or even a couple of dimes, suher
yourself to be cajoled into the belief tha'
some nice wooden buckets will do as wen ae
tin. No amount of washing, scaldIng' paint
ing. or doctoring of any kind, will keep
wooden bucket free from the taints OF degra-
dation-souring as it is more generally call
ed which expresses but half the meaning.
You next want 1000 spouts. The best we
have ever used, all things considered, Is
Wizards franklin Spout. 1t is of wood,
three inches long, bored and burned out tire
whole length, and has hook made Of wire
fitted to it, on which to hang the bucket. 1t
protects the orifce in the tree from wind and
rain. and the black, charred inside has most
beneficial effect upon the sap, and protects 1t
from getting tainted during the interval be-
tween two runs An objection some
times raised against this spout is that 1t stops
some of the pores of the tree, the very pores
that yield the most sap. This is most alb
surd objection. In the first place the spout
need not, we may say should not, be driven
into the wood at all, the bark being ahund-
antly strong to hold the spout and sixteen
quart bucket of sap, as we know from abund-
ant experience. In the next place there are
no tubes or channels in trees analogous to
the arteries and veins of animals, but the We
getable fluids pass from one cell to another
which is in contact, vertically and horizontal
" the fluids of different densities passing
through the porous portions simultaneously
in opposite directions, and commingling IN
obedience to law well understood by chem
lists and psychologists, and which they call
osnloc We saw thousands of trees last
spring in the Connecticut valley with two or
more spouts in each, but we cannot recon-
mend the adoption of that practice. The differ
ence in the amount of sugar produced does
not compensate for the additional injury done
to the tree. Use large tin gathering pals.
If YOU employ common farm hands you want
pals so large that they will not ordinarily
carry them more than three quarters full, or
they will waste their wages every day over
the top when they find just too much in
bucket to fill the pail Not one in thous-
and of them will 60 back after 4 quart Of
sap when by pouring it in.o the pail and let
ting it run over he can get rid Of it. Get
gathering tub of $50 or 200 gallons capacity,
large at the bottom, and a wood shod sled to
draw it on. Two or more rings on the mid
die hoop to facilitate the fastening Of it to the
sled are convenient. A plank fitted TO Just
fill the chime of the tub, should be pinned
or bolted to the beams Of the sled to keep the
tub from slipping about. A rubber hose
about one and half inches in diameter may
be attached to the bottom of the tub behind,
with the other end hooked up on top.
through which to discharge the load. \ box
with board bottom and perforated sides
tin is best, is fitted INTO the hole in the up
per head or cover of the tub to catch ice,
leaves, or any other foreign matter, and keep
it from getting into the tub. Throw away
the ice after it is drained it will not pay
for boiling.
Build your sugar house by the side ofsome
elevation of easy ascent, so as to run the sap
down from the gathering tub into your store
tubs-sap-holders as they are sometimes call
ed. Make it large enough to hold a season S
wood and all your apparatus, board it up
close and tight; do not believe one word of
the silly balderdash about boiling faster in a
current of cold air. If you want yentila-
tor make it tubular, SO small as not to per-
nit counter currents of cold air, an running
from near the top of your evapOrator out of
the top of your house, and as much higher as
you please, the higher the better; but don't
We beg of you make one Of those great fiat
things called ventilat0rs. that let in a current
of cold air on one side and promise to let out
a current of steam on the other. There will
always be air enough in the house make it
close as you will, and warm air buoys up and
carries off some of the vapor Of the evapora-
tors, while the cold air only condenses it and
throws it down within the house
For store tubs get new ones made of pine,
and fit covers to them to keep out everything
that should not be in them but more especi-
ally to keep them from the influence of the
air, the heat of the house, and from cOndens-
ing the vapOr ofthe evaporators. Old rum and
melasses casks spoil more sugar than they are
worth every year, and though sometimes used
are wholly unfit for storage.
The evaporating apparatus is the next
thing to be considered, and as you are start
ing entirely new, we advise by all means that
you get the Corey evaporator---you will want
No. us feet longand it will cost You with all
the necessary fixtures SIG. Itseems large
price and so it is, but it is patented and the
fix their own price and are sell
ing about as many as they can make. We
counted twelve of them at one station on the
Vermont and Canada R. r. the other day, and
the Station agent said there had been several
Others taken away by the owners. We called
at the mandatory at Bellows Falls not long
since, and found twelve men at work on them,
and not one completed evaporator on hand.
Make a foundation Of cable stores for your
arch. Dig deep and drain thoroughly your
foundation. The directions for building the
arch that accompany the Corey evaporation are
all you need. We would, however, use stone,
instead of brick if we had really good ones
on the farm or had by.
We have attempted thus to comply with
the seasonable request of " \ subscriber = In
the most explicit manner possible, because
this is a subject in which many are interest
ed and more are becoming so daily.
CONVENIENT FARM BUILDNGs.-The North |
ern States of America require more attention |
to convenience in the erection of barns, sta
bles and sites, than in a more moderate eli |
mate; and not only should these buildings
be- contrived so as to avoid the necessity of I
the attendants gong repeatedly into the win
ter storms, but the dung ought to be removed |
by trap-doors into cellars, where carts or
eleighs can be backed up to the accumulation