The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-03-15
Making Maple Sugar.

ST -'&ANouSJ O/ -nt0cH-
Making Maple Sugar.
Winter has been whistling around
with his hands in his pockets good
three months and more but the violets
and daisies, tucked under thick blanket
of snow, had been kept from freezing.
People call Winter very cold, severe
fellow; still there must be a tender spot
in his heart somewhere, so kindly does
he protect all the delicate plants
But now the great warm-hearted old
Sun was coming back, and Winter, afraid
of his long bright days, ran off to the
North pole. A flock of bluebirds came
to welcome their old friend, and one
rObin-redbreast ventured out early to
sing him a song. A little warm breeze
crept through Farmer Cheery's maple
forest, awoke the trees from their long,
long sleep, and they all began to shake
hands and nod toward each other, whis-
pering Good Good Here comes
the Spring l'
Soon the warm air made them feel
thirsty and faint the tiny twigs COM
planned to the branches the branches
told the trunks, and the trunks carried
the news down to the roots Maple
trees keep all their provisions in an I'M
foreground cellar so the roots, finding
that, sure enough, the ground was no
longer frozen and hard, began to feel
about, and sent out little rootlets that
gathered up good things-just the kinds
they knew maple twigs loved best
Doesn't it seem funny that they can tell :?
The naples take one kind of food, the
pines another, the birches another, and
for each the rootlets pick out just the
right kind from the same ground. AS
fast as the rootlets gathered the food,
they sent it up to the branches-a very
delicate, sweet drink; and still they sent
more and more, the little twigs always
taking the freshest, and sending back
what was left over The branches felt
very much revived as they were fed,
grew very social and began to tell of the
pretty red dresses they would put on be-
fore long; red for the cool spring days,
and afterward green for hot summer.
They were merry planning their new
wardrobes, I assure you; you could
have heard it if you had the right kind
of ears
Farmer CHEEKY came in from his barn
chores
Shouldn't wonder if the sap would run
such weather as this guess I will tap
one tree and see"
So Farmer CHEEKY took his auger and
went out into the maple orchard. 1t
didn't take him long to make little hole
IN one of the tree-trunks, and put in a
little spout; nor was it many minutes
before drop by drop came the sap.
"Ah that's fine - said Farmer
CHEEKY, and he went home in haste.
The next we saw of him, he was driving
out into the orchard with load of $50
clean, bright, tin sap-buckets and $50
fresh little troughs. Then, in each one
of his $50 maple trees he bored a hole
and put trough in, and bucket be-
meath to catch the sap as it came drop
ping out.
Didn't it starve the poor little
branches waiting for their food %
Oh, no. There was enough for them
left-an they needed to keep them very
fresh and make them grow. So many,
many pailfuls ran up and down every
day that the one Farmer CHEEKY took
would hardly be missed
Every morning and night for two or
three weeks, the good farmer might be
seen with his great tank, clean as clean
could be, driving around to collect the
sap that had run out. He knew that one
reason why maple sugar is sometimes
dark-colored is because the pals and
tanks that hold the sap are not washed
thoroughly; so he took great pains with
his. tie knew, too, that if any water
gets III, the sap must be boiled longer to
make sugar of it, ana the longer it is
boiled the darker it grows; SO, if he saw
storm coming, he collected all the sap,
the rain was over
Farmer CHEEKY had n great iron pan.
which would hold-oh, I don't dare to
tell you how many pailfuls-a great.
great many; and this very large pan
rested On some stone posts about two
feet from the ground. Under this he
built fire, and into it he poured his sap.
stirring it while it boiled almost all day
long. When he drew it of, such beauti-
full clear sirup / don't believe you ever
saw. This he did two or three times
each week for nearly month after
that the sap was not as good for
people to use, though just what the little
twigs needed as they grew older.
Some of his sirup the farmer put up
III cans to send to the cities some of it
he boiled more andmore, SO that it would
be sugar when cooled Then he poured
1t into pretty scolloped tins, to harden
into the round cakes you like SO much
and some of it his little grandchildren
waxed on snow.
You don't know how that is
Well, May packed painful of snow,
just as hard as she could crowd it in
then she smoothed of the top as even as
marble table, and she and Sally carried