Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-04-24
For the VERMONT FARHEE
MAPLE SUGAR MAKING.

Good maple sugar is one Of the most deli
cious of luxuries, but more disgusting COM
pound than is sometimes produced under the
name can hardly be imagined The black,
ungrained substance which l have often seen
made, resembling tar much more than sugar,
is an article which there can be no reasona-
bic excuse for making Any one can make
a fair article of maple sugar though he have
no better accommodations than troughs aud
kettles, by using care aud attending closely
to his business, while with all the most ap-
proved modern apparatus a slack, sloveqly
man will be certain to make a poor article.
The greater part of the poor sugar made
is due to the sap having been allowed to
stand too long before boiling, either in the
buckets or the holders. Sap begius 10 sour
very quickly in the warm spring weather,
aud no one ought ever to neglect to gather
the sugar-place over every day, even though
there be but a pint IN each bucket. When
the sap runs fast it is necessary to 60 over
the orchard every day, and if the amount Of
injury sustained by allowing sap to stand
were as we'll appreciated as is the loss when
buckets run over, We should see more scru-
pulous care taken that it be not allowed to
stand Sour sap makes Sirup which far
more readily begins to acdify, aud by the
time the slow, easy going farmer is ready to
sugar of the possibility of having good su-
gar is as hopelessly distant from him as
Dives from Abraham's bosom,
Then the wooden tubs which most Of us
use very quickly absorb acidity to an extent
which has an unfavorable effect on all sugar
made with them afterwards. | once sugar.
ed IN an orchard which had been let out on
shares for several years; the buckets the
season before had been put away without
washing. When l began 1 gave them all a
good soaking and washed them faithfully.
The first part Of the season made some
pretty fair sugar but soou the sourness which
remained in the buckets began to soak out,
and a quantity of Shiny, milky-lookiug
substance familiar to every sugar maker was
time gathered | carried a cloth around
with me and wiped the buckets out thorough
When l gathered the buckets at the close oi
the season | soaked them thoroughly in
lime.water, after washing, and put them
away, and think the next man must have
found them with looser hoops but sweeter
wood than did By all means keep your
buckets empty as much as possible, especial
ly when the sun is hot, and neper, on any
account, put away the apparatus at the close
of the season without thoroughly cleansing
every wooden utensil used in the business
Better be week later in getting your wheat
into the ground than either to wait and lei
the buckets dry a week before washing or put
them away to be washed the next season.
One thing more l would speak of: Nc
one cause except sourness Injuries more sugar
than burning When kettles without arches
were generally used nearly all the sugar
made was more or less damaged ip this way
and it was impossible to prevent some discol
oratiOn, though some of the best maple su
gar have ever seen was made in kettles
by a careful man who never allowed tn,
blaze to rise on the sides Of the kettle abov,
a level with the sap. When this is allowed
the kettle becomes hot, the boiling sap spat
ters upon the side and is burned, and agaiI
the sap splashes up and washes the color in
to the sirup. When this is kept up all day
is it any wonder that the resulting sugar il
bitter in taste and dark in color2 On arch
es l have frequently seen the blaze allOweC
to come up through crevicss around tn
sides aud ends of the pan, heating the pal
and coloring the sugar in the same way
Care, and scrupulous, even sold maidish
devotion to neatness in everything pertaining
to the sugar orchard are indispensable t.
success. ZoLLIKoFPER.