The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-09-09
Maple SUGAR Making.

S~ugar-making now and sugarmaking rs
IL was are very different things, and what
it has gained in facility il has lost in pic
turesqucsness. The old camp, with it's
primitive appliances, is no more the "ket-
tie has been superseded by the PAN and
the trough has become u mass of crumb-
ling decay. The women and children are
kept at home, and no longer know the old
time delights of 'SugaTing-Oti,' though in
the Arcadia Of the past their services were
not despiscd, and the whole household set
up its abode in the woods.
FIJI sap was collected then in troughs,
each about three feet long, followed out OF
sections OF poplars, and was conveyed TO
the kettles in barrels, from which it was
transferred by scoops. There were five or
mor?:kcttles, from ten to thirty gallons in
CSpacity,. and each was filled with sap,
which-was kept boiling, the larger kettles
being rciillcd from the smaller ones IA
evaporation reduced the quantity. When
the contents were reduced TO n desired con-
Iistency, the hot syrup was dipped out and
passed through u flannel strlincr into COW
cred tubs, from which again it was poured
into a thick-bottomcd kettle for the pur-
pose of stirring ofl,,' some milk and the
whites of several eggs being added 10 it.
thus prepared it was placed over Il slow fire,
and kept just below boiling point until
the sediment and all foreign matter in it
hoated to the top and were removed, when
it became deliciously translucent. 1t was
now exposed TO n greater heat and gently
boiled, the evaporation continuing, and
bringing it nearer to the point OF granular
ton. Now the sugar-maker is all watch
fulncss, and it Jared i'll with those who
distracted him, for if the golden liquid
scething in the kettle boiled the least bit
| 10. ,.,,,I, 1. ,,..n1l H,,.p,. lee. =, ,,,,r1iI,.
while if il boiled too little it would be
'~soggy." lie tested it constantly, plucking
threads of it from his stirring and trailing
them round in cups of cold water. While
the threads yielded wnXily TO the touch,
the sugar was no yet done, but rs soon as
one broke crisp between his fingers, the
time had come 10 take the kettle off the
fire. As the sugar began to cool, it crystal
lied around the sides, and gradually the
whole mass, under - vigorous stirring he
came granular.
In that way sugar was made years ago,
and when the sap flowed prOiuscly the Upc-
ratiOns were continued through the night,
and the fire cast strange shadows in the
woods. But instead ola hut of logs n per
manent sugar-house is now built, and fur
nished with many elaborate devices to pre-
vent waste and deterioration. Formerly,
when the naples were tapped with IN au-
ger, an elder quill" was inserted in the
~incision to conduct the sap into the trough
below that is a small piece of elderwood
about three inches long with the pith
bored out Of it, which formed a tube; but
in most orchards of to-day a galvanized iron
spout is used, which has the advantage of
not souring the sap nor choking many of
the pores. Everything is improved" The
collections are made with the unvarying
order of collections from letter-boxes, and
if the grove is on the hill, and the sugar
house is in n hollow, the sap, as it is gath
cred, is emptied into n "aume,' which
quickly conducts it to a large reservoir
within the building, where it is strained
through a suitable cloth. From the rcscr-
yoir the sap is conducted, as required,
through tin pipes into II '~'heater,' whence
il passes through "A series of iron tubes, to
be delivered, after straining, in u condition
for "sugaring off,
Maple sugar, as it reaches the market, is
of q clearer color for all these improve
ments but there are some who actually
say that the flavor has fallen OF, and that
the new patent evaporatOrs arc II snare.
One change has certainly not been for the
better, and That is the abandonment of the
social life of the old camps, which made
sugar-timcs in the Green Mountains cndur,
ing memories with those who are now cbtr
ing away npcT's MdgdzjUc.