The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-03-17

Though the snow lies full six feet deem In
the forests of New Hampshire and Vermont
as we write, yet soon the sugar season will
commence. The suns rays are now so pow
ertul that few days of south wind will scat
ter the snow and the hoar frost, and the sap
will mount up to the taps prepared for its re-
ception. 1t seems now as if the sap must be
most plentiful, and of good quality, for the
roots have been well tucked up through the
winter in an sider-down quilt of snow. The
quantity of sap varies in quality with each
year; forty gallons of sap will yield from ten
to twelve or even thirteen pounds OF sugar
according to its sweetness. The high price
OF sugar at this time makes it incumbent upon
all the owners Of sugar orchards to manufac-
ture the greatest amount of sugar possible,
and of the finest and purest quality. Clean
illness is as needful requisite in sugar max
ing as in butter making Buckets and taps
should be thoroughly scalded before using. 1t
will seem a formidable undertaking to scaId
three or five hundred buckets, but 1t will nav
to do it. Then all elm leaves should be skim
med out as they color it greatly. Elm bark
and leaves are much used in domestic dying,
and are of an indelible color. Tin taps are
used by some sugar makers-but many of the
best sugar manufacturers repudiate them
thinking that they, by rusting, darken the
sugar. All these little things are of some i'm
portance towards the manufacture OF good
article. n.
when the sap runs freely, then the huge
pan is well secured and cleaned, and the fires
are lighted in the sugar house which will be
kept burning until the season closes. Most
OF tha pans used in small sugar orchards hold
forty gaisons. These are filed, and when the
syrup Is We'll boiled but thin, it is strained
through linen clOths while hot into clean but
5er nrkins winch naVe been properly scalded.
uyt1 Ia Al r.
boils, for during good sugar season watches
are kept up every night.
In the early morning the cooled Syrup is
carefully poured of, leaving the settlines,
which will amount to nearly quar-, land will.
work clean into vinegar. And its absence
tends greatly to whiten the sugar. TIE thin
syrup is boiled down 10 almost grained sugar,
and Is poured into firkins and stirred off.
Stirring is very needful thing in the manu-
and skinned, ard SKINNED and stirred dur
ing the whole process of boiling. To make
sugar cakes the sap is boiled to greater con-
sistency than for grained sugar, which is ex-
actly like common brown sugar, but ii proper
ly made it will rival in crystalline Whiteness
Stuart's coffee crushed A No. /, but pecu-
liar process is required. The nearly grained
sugar is set aside until the warm days In
May, then 1t is turned into firkin in the
bottom of which an inch auger hole has been
bored; stand it upon another firkin. Take
clean linen cloths wet in pure cold water, and
press tightly over the whole surface OF the
sugar, leaving no part uncovered. Next
morning the white cloth will be OF dark
red color; rinse off the cloth and leave 1t
soaking all day, applying another cloth in
the manner above described, wringing out
the cloths in pure water and pressing down
tightly. This must be continued for three
weeks faithfully, never allowing morning
to pass without changing the cloth. Full
gallon of high celored syrup will run out,
which is very strongly favored with maple, /,
but is used for cooking purposes. Srgar
made in this manner is delicious, whether
used IN tea or berries. We hope our Berk-
shire and Hampden county farmers will try
this process of sugar making and favor US
with the result. A
When the syrup is put on to boil .ths sec
ond time, just as it comes to the boiling point
turn in full coffee cup of new milk, stir it
well, and soon a heavy scum rises to the top,
which will carry off much sediment; it must
be skinned off directly, fer, if allowed to boil
| in, it blackens instead of whitening 1t. Ver-
mont manufactures more sugar than New
| Hampshire and Massachusetts, combined
| On the hilsides of some Vermont sugar or
chards labor-saying plan is in operation
| The sugar house is built at the farthsst cor
| ner OF the orchard, at the lowest polnt OF tne
hill; main duct is placed on an inclined
plane; to this is joined ducts which extend far
| up the mountain, into which spouts from all
the trees in line fall; the sap from trees q
little distance from the main trough are con-
Quoted by longer spouts into the trough. In
this way the tiny drops from five hundred
trees swell into respectable stream, which
flows into reservoir placed within the sugar
house. Thus all the trouble of collecting the
| sap is avoided, and more than ton OF sugar
| is easily manufactured. Three pounds to q
of the Moosilaukee, in New Hampshire, the
same plan is in operation. Two or three
thousand trees are tapped, and an immense
amount of sugar is manufactured.
| Most of the farmers in the mountainous
| towns of these two States make all the sugar
and syrup they use in their families, and
0hen good article is made no better sugar
can be desired.-SprinQfel Republican.