The Portland daily press., 1877-04-09
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Maple Sugar.

The season for manufacturing maple sugar
is usually 80 short with us that but little prof
1t can be obtained.from it unless all the con.
ditions are favorable. 1t is our impression
that less enterprise has been displayed in this
department of manufacturing than in almost
any other in the state, and that we are con-
siderably behind other states in the introduc-
tion of essential inventions and improve
ments connected with it. Some of the rea-
sons why the primitive methods still remain
in use here, are that around the larger towns
and settlements land has become too ealua-
BILE to allow the retention of the original
growth of forest trees, and sugar making is
therefore mainly confined to the frontier, or
those places remote from the highway OF
travel where land is still low priced, 1t is
generally the case that the owners of such
lands are compelled to devote all the means
they have to the cultivation of the soil, and if
they give any. attention to sugar-making it
must be in a simple and economical way.
Another reason why well-todo farmers are
frequently obliged to give up or suspend su
gar operations already commenced is that tie
best locations are often on intervales and ex-
posed to spring freshets at just the time when
the sap begins to run. Add to these the
facts that sugar-making is hard work, that
the seasons are often short and unfavorable,
and that good degree of courage is required
to enable a man to invest the necessary
amount of skill and capital for successful re-
suits, and we can understand why it is that
there is general reluctance to conduct the
business in any other than careless and
slipshod way.
Believing that every branch of business
that is worth doing at all should be well done,
We are disposed to recommend our sugar
makers to introduce the modern and i'm
proved methods of manufacturing as meas.
ures of both economy and profit. The use Of
the augur in tapping, instead of the axe OF
Ratchet; substituting metal spouts and re-
ceivers for those of wood and bark; boiling
the sap under cover rather than in the open
air, and by the aid OF dry wood instead Of
green; and exchanging the clumsy potash
kettle for the modern pan or evaporator, are
all necessary parts of the most approved sys
tenn of manufacture.
The use of good implements however is not
all that is necessary for success; it is abso-
lutely essential when the quality of an article
and its consequent sale are largely dependent
upon its flavor and color, that strict regard
should be paid to cleanliness in all the stages
of the operation. The difference in the
market prices of butter depends not so much
upon the richness of the raw material as
upon the modes employed in manufacturing
and marketing the product. So in this do
nestle specially care and skill will always
commend the highest returns, and neatness
must be regarded as the first and last requi-
site.
We doubt IL it is advisable to make the
sugar for the market or home consumption,
unless it may be for the latter purpose when
the transportation to distance would be
expensive or perhaps impracticable. The
public evidently prefer to buy the syrup or
the hard sugar in moulds, and thus manu-
featured it can be most conveniently trans
ported and sold, and also return the greatest
profit. For domestic use maple sugar will 60
no farther than other kinds, and when sold
in the above mentioned forms, it will bring
back in exchange nearly double the number
of pounds. Any one who is favorably stu
ated, and who aims at excellence in work
and material, by putting up maple syrup in
cans or jars, or maple sugar in dry cakes can
always obtain remunerative returns in a
home or foreign market.