Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-03-07
WHOLE NO. 11s.

when everything seems right for 1t, we get
only small quantity, while other years the
sap will run at times when one would almost
think IL impossible, and those who have given
the weather signs most attention are often
deceived. Sometimes the sap will run for
several days without freeze, aud at other
times seemingly as favorable, the AOw will
last only few hours but there are certain
conditions of the atmosphere which are gen.
orally considered as signs in regard 10 the
flow of sap. A thorough thaw at the CON-
mencement Of sugaring is regarded a. pro-
pitious for good sugar season. A storm
either Of rain or snow during the season,
succeeded by a freeze, is more likely to be
followed by good run Of sap than if the
freeze occurs without storm. A sky some.
what clouded is better generally than when
perfectly clear. A freeze from the north ia
favorable, but south wind snow dries up
the sap. The flow of sap seems 10 be caused
by alternate freezing and thawing. It is not
the thd'oiag of the ground, or the trees sim
ply that causes it, else the sap would contin-
ue to run as long as the weather was warm
enough, till the ground was completely thAw.
ed. This ID the case with the sap Of the
birch to large extent, but not with the
maple.
Timothy Wheeler, ESQ, of Waterbury
Center, VI, in an article in the Neu En-
gland Farmer, Oct. 9, 1869, gave the In.
dian rule for determining in advance what
will be the yield of maple sap which he says
he learned a few years before, and had "care-
fully noticed thus far without q failure"
"lt the maple leaves ripen and turn yellow,
and the buds perfect themselves 70 that the
leaves fall of naturally, without frost,
then there will be good flow of sap the
following spring; but if there is hard frost
that kills the leaves and they fall of prema-
turely before the bud is perfected, then We
may look out for a poor yield of sap. In
other words, the flow of sap will be more or
less abundant in proportion to the ripenesS
Of the tree before the frosts of the previous
autumn.
The true Vermonter never loses his taste
for the sweet of the maple. Although in
after years his home may be in the great
city, or on the prairies of the West; or he
may search for wealth in the mines of the
Pacific slope, or sojourn in a foreign land,
yet year by year, when he knows that it
must be early spring in the old homestead,
his thoughts go back to former days, and he
torgets the WEAKNESS and toll, the bitter part
of his early life, and remembers the sweet
alone. Prompted by such thoughts as these,
many letter comes back to the old homes
and many package of maple in solid or
liquid form finds its way from the Green
Mountain State to other climes, as q token
that dear ones far away have still place in
the heart
In land where friends aud kindred are
often scattered far and wide, and where in
the whirl of business the claims of those
near to the heart but out of sight are apt to
be neglected, every thing that will keep
alive the memory of early ties, and show to
absent ones that they are not forgotten,
should be highly valued.
May it long be the mission of the naples
thus to sweetsn the cup of life.