Omaha daily bee., 1883-07-02
Maple Sugar Making.


S~ugar-making now and sugar-mGking as
1t was are very different things, and what
it has gained in facility it has lost in pic
t~urcsqucsncss. The old camp, with its
primitive appliances, is no more; the "kct-
tlc' has been superseded by the 'pan," and
the trough has become Il mass of crumb-
ling decay. The women and children are
kept at home, and no longer know the old
time delights of "su9aring-off,n though in
the Arcadia of the past their services 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 conveyed to
the kettles in barrels, from which il was
transferred by scoops. There were five or
more kettles, from ten to thirty gallons in
capacity, and each was filled with SAP,
which was kept boiling, the larger kettles
being rctillcd from the smaller ones us
evaporation reduced the quantity. When
the contents were reduced TO n desired con-
sistency, the hot syrup was dipped out and
passed through u flannel straiucr into COW
cred tubs, from which again it was poured
into u ick-bottomcd kettle for the pur-
pose of stirring OIL" some milk and the
whites of several eggs being added to it.
Thus prepared il was placed over u slow fire,
and kept just below boiling point until
the sediment and all foreign matter in it
tloated to the top and were removed, when
it became deliciously translucent. 1t was
now exposed to Il greater heat II gently
boiled, the evaporation continuing, and
bringing it nearer to the point of g%rnnula-
ton. Now the sugar-maker is all watch
fitness, and it Jared ill with those who
distracted him, for if the golden liquid
seething in the kettle boiled the least bit
too much it would became dry in quality,
while if it boiled too little it would be
"soggy." He tested it constantly, plucking
threads of it from his stirring and trailing
them round in cups of cold water. While
the threads yielded waxily To the touch,
the sugar was not yet done, but us soon as
me broke crisp between his fingers, the
time had come to take the kettle of the
fire. As the sugar began 10 cool, it crystal
lied around the sides, and gradually the
whole mass, under II vigorous stirring be-
came granular.
In that way sugar was made years ago,
and when the sap flowed proilselv the ope-
rations were continued through the night,
and the fire cast strange shadows in the
woods. But instead of u hut of logs u per-
manent sugar-housc is now built, and fur
nishcd with many elaborate devices to pre-
vent waste and deterioration. Formerly,
when the naples were tapped with an au-
ger, an elder quill' was inserted in the
i~ncision 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 Il tube; but
in most richards of to-day n 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 lettcr-boxes, and
If the grove is on the hill, and the sugar
house is in II hollow, the sap, us ii is gath
cred, is emptied into Il "ilume,' which
quickly conducts it to u large reservoir
within the building, where it is strained
through u suitable cloth. From the reser-
voir the sap is conducted, us required
through tin pipes into a "hcater,' whence
it passes through n series of iron tubes, to
be delivered, after straining, in a condition
for "sugaring Off"
Maple sugar, rs ii reaches the market, is
of a clearer color for all these improve.
mcnts; but there are some who actually
say that the flavor has fallen of, and that
the new patent evaporatOrs are u snare
One change has certainly not been for the
better, and that is the abandonment of The
social life of the old camps, which mad,
sugar-times in the Green Mountains endur
ing memories with those who are now cbb
ing away.-Hnper's Magasiue.