The Red Cloud chief., 1881-05-12
Maple Sugar Making.

Sugar-making now and >~uTar-making
as il was are very different things, and
what it has gained in facility it has los,
in picturcSqueness. The Old camp with
lis primitive appliances Is no more; the
kettle has been superseded by the
pam" and the trough is become a
mass of crumhliHg decay. The women
and children are kept N home, and no
LONGER know the old-timc delights of
~..Sugaring OIL" though in the Arcadia
of the past their services were not de-
spised. and the whole household set up
its abode in the woods.
The sap was collected then in troughs,
each about three feet long, followed
out of sections of poplars, and WAS con
ve} ed To the kettles IN barrels. from
which it was transferred b. scoops.
There were five or more kettles, IRON
ten to thirty gallons in capacity. and
each vas filed with sap, which was
kept boiling. the larger kettles being
relilled from the smaller ones a evap
Grafton reduced the quantity. When
the contents were reduced to a desired
consistency, the hot strip was dipped
out and passed through a uannel strain
er into covered tubs, from which again
it was poured into a large, ~thick-bOt-
toned kettle for the process of stirring
OIL" some milk and the whites OF
several eggs being added To- Il. Thus
prepared it was placed over a slow fire,
and kept just below boiling point until
the sediment and all foreign matters in
it iioated TO the top and were removed,
~. :. ..~~n l.l..,,.l,- ....t,,. -.
Ii was now exposed 10 a greater heat
and gently boiled. the evaporation con-
tinIing. and bringing it nearer TO the
point OF g%ranulation. Now the sugar-
maker was all watchfulne>s. and il Jared
ill with those who distracted him. for
if the golden LIQUID seething in the
kettle boiled the least bit too much i,
would become dry in quality, while if il
boiled too little, it would become
..soggv." He tested it constantly.
plucGing threads Of it from his stirring
stick, and trailing them round in cups
of cold water. While the threads
Yielded waxily to the touch, the sugar
was not vet done, but as soon as one
broke crisp between his fingers. the
moment had come TO take the kettle of
the fire. As the sugar began 10 cool. it
crvst illized round the sides, and grad
u ,lly the whole mass. under a vigorous
stirring. became granular.
In that way sugar was made years
AGO, and when the sap flowed profusely
the operations were continued through
the night, and the fires cast strange
shadows in the woods But instead of
a hut of logs a permanent sugar-hoUse Is
is now built, and furnished with MANY
elaborate devices TO prevent waste and
deterioration. Formerly, when the
maples were tapped with an auger. an
..elder quilr' was inserted in the in
cision to conduct the sapintO the trough
below; that is, a small piece of elder
wood about three inches long with the
pith bored out of if. which formed q
tube: but in most orchards to-day a
galvanized iron spout is used. which
has the advantage of not souring the
sap nor choking many pores. Every
thing is improved" The collections
are made with the unvarying order
Of collections from letter boxes. and
f the grove is on a hill and the
sugar-house is in q hollow, the sap. as
it is gathered. Is emptied intoa .'iume."
which quickly conducts it to a large
reservoirwithin the builiing, wherein
it is strained through cloth. A scoop
or n ladIe Is as a~nachronistic as a Jaw
elm. From the reservoir the sap is
conducted, as required. through tin
pipes into s heater" whence il passes
through a series of iron tubes TO be de-
livered. after straining, in 3 condition
for .sugaring off,
Maple sugar as il reaches the market
is of n clearer color for all these i'm
provemeuts: but there are some who
actually say that the flavor has fallen
of. and that the new patent eyapors-
tors are a snare. One change has GER
tainly not been for the better, aud that
is the abandonment of the soeial life
of the old camps. which made sugar
tine in the Green Mountains enduring
msmeT;es with those who are cow ebb-
ing AWAY. Il. kidsiB9. ~ Rarp<rs
0aGazis<