Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-04-01
Agricultural.
Questions About Maple Trees and SUI
gar Making Answered.

Questions About Maple Trees and SUI
gar Making Answered.
Timothy Wheeler of Waterbury Centre,
Vermont mentions few of the curiosities Of
the sugar orchard established by observation
and experience. 1. A rock maple will make
more sugar than a water or white maple, but
it will not be so white 2. A second-growth
maple will make whittier sugar than others
3. The whittier the wood the whittier tho su-
gar the darker the wood the darker the su-
gar. 4. The thinner or more sparse the
trees the better the sugar the thicker stand
the trees the poorer the sugar. 8. The
smaller the tree the sweeter the sap the dark
or the bark the more and sweeter the sap. o.
We're l to pick out tree to see how much
sugar could make from IL, would take one
standing near a cold spring A tree standing
near the surface will be the poorest Wet
land gives us much sap, but it is poor rocky
and dry land gives little but sweet sap. z.
If you should tap tree directly below where
II has been tapped, even il as long as fifteen
years ago, do not bore It nearer than one foot
of the old hole, and il you tap it above q
mean directly above) be sure and not tap
nearer than two feet 8. The lower you tap
the more sap you will get but 1t will be of
an inferior quality the higher you tap the
sweeter is the sap, but the less you will get.
8. The shallower you tap the sweeter the
sap, and the whittier the sugar and the better
the grain, with the least molasses (in tub
sugar. the deeper you tap the darker the su-
gar, with larger per cent. that will not
grain. 10. The more spouts you put in a
tree tho more sap you will get. IL. The
larger the bore the more sap you will get,
and the greater the injury to the tree. -.
If you wish to do the tree as little harm as
possible, then plug the hole air tight after
pulling the spout. ID. A tree will run more
and sweeter sap in the daytime and less aud
poorer in the night Sap runs the best when
fires burn the best. Sap will run the best
when the atmosphere is the most heavily
charged with oxygen. H. Sap on the south
side of a tree is the sweetest. 10. Sap starts
the earliest on the south side of tree but IL
will run the latest on the north side 16
The top of a tree contains more water than
any other part Of the same, but if tapped will
produce the least sap. II. The slower you
boil the more sugar you will make, but it will
not be so good.
The observation of old sugar makers will
confirm some of the above statements clipped
from the American Cultivator, but, we Judge,
not all of them. There has been question
whether there was any substantial difference
in the quality of sugar from different sugar
places not caused by difference in the meth
dds of manufacturing. 1t is certain that if no
care is used to exclude dirt or coloring matter
from the sap, the sugar from any trees will be
dark colored and poor in quality but it is
now pretty well understood that with the
same attention to cleanliness, and with the
same methods Of manufacture, there is a con-
siderable variation in the color and quality OF
sugar from different trees. 1t is said some
sugar places will not produce the very best
quality even with the greatest care cleanli-
ness and nicely in every process of manu-
fGcture. The cause may be a difference in
the condition of the soil, or it may be diff.
ference in the variety or condition of the
trees. That the sap is affected by the char.
acter of the soil, is indicated by the case
which has been stated, where a cssk of brine
was emptied near the roots of a maple, and
the following spring the tree yielded SAP
tasting of salt. We believe that some scien
fist has questioned the truth of this salt story
but that the sap of the plant invariably takes
up the same material in the same proportion
whatever the character of the SOIL is disprover
| by numerous facts, one of which is the depo
i olblOu vi VI ulut, bOLutllIltS III uuIN
crusts adhering to the surface of evaporators
which accumulates abundantly in boiling sal
from trees standing on a limestone soil, while
| it is hardly deposited at all from the sap o.
other sugar orchards
| Another cause of difference in the quality
of sugar from different orchards may be il
the variety of the trees. Trees of the sam,
| snaaiag in ahoraatar Ernif NIT
their great variety of fruit, are o good illus
tration of this fact. That the sap of differ
emit naples of the same species should max
sugar varying in quality, is hardly more i'm
probable than that apple trees should bea
different kinds of fruit. There is kind o.
maple not easily distinguishable from the su.
gar maple, the Acer nigrum, or black maple
formerly described as & distinct species bu
now considered a variety of the deer sGochdr
mum, or sugar maple, that is said to yield al
abundance of very sweet sap.
What is called above, the water, or whit,
maple probably includes two distinct species
the red maple, deer rubruna, sometimes call
ed swamp maple, from its being frequent,
found growing in swamps or damp woods
though it also grows on dry land, and tn
white or silver maple, Acer dasycdrpum
These two species are commonly called her
without distinction white, or soft maple
They may be distinguished by the color o
the twgs, which in the white maple are green
ish and in the other species red, and by tn,
leaves, the white maple having leaf of sill
very wilderness on the under surface. Tht
flowers of both the white and red maple ap
pear in early spring before the leaves. TIL,
flowers of the white maple are greenish vel
low. The flowers of the red maple vary il
different trees from brilliant crimson to
very pale color. The red maple is usually il
bloom in the river towns of this county be
fore the middle of April. The flowers of tn
sugar maple appear with the leaves few
weeks later.
1t has been stated that sugar made from tn
sap of soft naples is whittier than that mad
from the sugar maple, but as the bark of tn
soft naples contains an inky coloring matter
little of which would be likely to get int
the sap, it may be questioned whether suga
from these naples is generally whittier. W
have no facts or theories TO offer on the point
numbered above, s. 8, -, 10 and II, but W
think they are all questionable.
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A Report on TrichInse.
The report on trichin@, completed by tn
late Passed Assistant Surgeon Glazier of tn
marine hospital service, forwarded to tn