Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-04-13
HOW MAPLE SUGAR rs MADE
[From Rarp.,,. Naaa.in, for AprIll


Sugar-making now and sugar. max
ing as il was are very different things
and what it has gained in facility il
has lost in pioturesqueness. The old
camp with its primitive appliances is
no more; the "kettle" has been super.
seeded by the "pan," and the trough is
become a mass of crumbling decay.
The women and children are kept at
home, and no longer know the old.
time delights of "sugaring off," though
in the Arcadia OF the past their ser.
vices were not despised, 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.
veyed TO the kettles in barrels, from
which it was transferred by scoops.
There were five or moro kettles, from
ten TO thirty gallons in capacity, and
each was filled with sap, which was
kept boiling, the larger kettle being
refilled from the smaller ones as evap.
Grafton reduced the quantity. When
the contents were reduced to desired
consistency, the hot syrup was dipped
out and passed through a flannel strain.
er into covered tubs, from which again
it was poured into large, thick bot.
toned kettle for the process OF "stir.
ring of, some milk and the whites of
several eggs being added to it. Thus
prepared il was placed over q slow
fire, and kept just below boiling point
until the sediment and all foreign mat.
ters in 1t floated TO the top aud were
removed, when it became deliciously
translucent. 1t was now exposed to
greater heat and gently boiled, the
evaporation continuing, and bringing
It nearer to the point Of granulation. |
Now the sugar. maker was all watch.
fulness, and II Jared i'll with these who
him, for If the golden liquid |
seething in the kettle boiled the least
bit too much it would become dry in
quality, while if it boiled too little it
would become "soggy." He tested it
plucking threads of il from
his stick, and trailing them round in
,ups of cold water. While the threads
yielded waxily to the touch, the sugar
vas not yet done, but as soon as one
'roke crisp between his fingers, the
moment had como to take the kettle
,ff the fire. As the sugar began to
'ool, 1t crystalized round the sides, and
gradually the whole mass, under q
'igorous stirring, became granular
In that way sugar was made years
go, and when the sap flowed profusely
he operations were continued through
be night, and the fires cast strange /
hadows in the woods. But instead
f n hut Of logs permanent sugar.
Iouse is now built and furnished with ,
many elaborate devices TO prevent !
waste and deterioration. Formerly, ,
vhen the naples were tapped with an !
uger an "elder quill" was inserted in J
he incision to conduct the sap into
he trough below; that is, small
iece Of elder wood about three inches
ing with the pith bored out of it,
'hich formed tube but in most or. \
hards today a galvanized iron spout \
used, which has the advantage of !
OF souring the sap nor choking many
ores. Everything is "improved."
he collections are made with the un.
arying order OF collections from letter
oxes, and If the grove is on a hill, and y
10 sugarhouse is in a hollow, the sap, n
it is gathered, is emptied into q II
fume," which quickly conducts il to T
large reservoir within the building, l
herein 1t is strained through cloth. a
scoop or ladle is as anachronistic as a
javelln. From the reservoir the sap !
conducted, as required, through tin II
ipes into "heater," whence it passes '
trough series of iron tubes to be de. n
vered, after straining, in a condition o
II "sugarlng off"
Maple sugar, as il reaches the mark n
4, is of clearer color for oil these I'm.
rovements; but there are some who c
,tually say that the flavor has fallen II
J, and that the new patent evapora- u
'rs are snare. One change has Ger. $ $
.ihly not beens for the better, and u
lat is the abandonment of the social II
% of the old camps, which made u
Igar.time in the Green Mountains 1
,during memories with those who d
e now ebbing away. G.