St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-06-05
The Destruction of the Sugar Maple
From the Concord Patriot. !

One of the leading magic All epffSSG GaE }RBallk
-. me entire system of New England
agriculture, realize to the farmer Sc
large profit as the manufacture OF
that commodity. As prices have aver
aged for the last ten Years, it Is certain
ly IL feature of home industry we'll
worthy of consideration. Many of the
farmers on the hills who own and util-
izc large sugar orchards have become
convinced 10y practical experience that
it is one of their very best paving har-
vests, tobacco alone yielding, perhaps Il
greater net profit. Nature has appoint
ell this harvest at IA season when the
farmer can accomplish but little labor
to advantage, and unless he is engaged
i'll this occupation. his time and efforts
will yield him but little remuneration
yet without taking this point into ac-
count, even did the work come ut any
other time i'll the year, ii would pay
grandly. Maple syrup and sugar hold
Il high price i'll the market, and without
Il doubt will sustain their present rates.
with probabilities of advance in the flu
tire. In the face of these facts. it is
certainly somewhat of IL mystery why Il
large proportion of farmers should man
ifcSt such an utter indifference to the
preservation and perpetunity of the ST.
gar maple. In no other part of the
country does it flourish so naturally and
vigorous as among the eastern noun
tains; and whenever its delicious sweets
are extracted, it repayS the owner
three-tOld for the labor. Still our ma
pie groves and forests are rapidly dis
appearing, and, at the present rate of
decrease. another half century will wit
ness their almost utter humiliation.
The process of making maple sugar is
evidently destined to become one of the
lost arts" unless some special interpo-
sition STAYS this work of destruction
The demand for broom handles and
other articles of utility, into which this
wood is converted, is Unsuitable. Thou
sands of our grand old emerald-crown-
ed monarchS of the forest are sacrificed
to this demand annually, and of course
the aggregate amount of sugar mama
featured must decrease in ratio with
the decrease of the material from which
it is derived. 1t will soon become a
luxury in the market, commanding a
price that must teach every shrewd and
sensible owner of maple orchards the
eXpediency, even in IL pecuniary sense,
of preserving this beautiful feature of
our New England landscape. BY all
means, then, let our maple forests es-
cape the invasion of that dire energy
and cupidity which are so rapidly and
recklessly dismantling our lovely hills
and valleys of their primitive grandeur
and luxllriance. The maple grove once
destroyed cannot easily be replaced.
Its reproduction is the slow, lingering
work of time and it behoOvcs the lum-
herman to remember this important
fact when he puts the axe to its root
The perpetuity of the delicious luxury
obtained from the sugar-maple is not
the only incentive to the preservation
of that tree. In pictorial sense alone
with its wealth of unparalleled green
ness and verdure in summer, and its
marvellous mosaic of leafy glory in au-
tumn, it is worthy of a woodland i'm
mortality.