Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-06-30
oLD.TlME SUGAR MAKING.
Scenes In and About an Old-FashiOnct
Sugar Camp.

Sugar Camp.
The regular typical sugar weather.
freezing at night, thawing and slop'
ping by day, recalls the scenes and
fashions of day long past, when
"homc-made sugar"--we never called
way, except by Yankee incubation
was not fancy CONNECTION, luxury be-
yond the ''barber-pole" candy of in
fancy, but necessity, when "Orleans"
sugar was not to be had, or was too eX-
pensive for the poor in pocket rs many
rich man of to-day was in that day,
The free-handed householder laid in his
years stock of sugar by the time the
apple trees are in bloom, ut the latest,
and frequently before the frost was we'll
out of the ground. 1t dctcrioratcd in
the close cheSts-the protection against
ants and tlies-or in cloth-headcd bar
rels, and lost much of the peculiar flavor
of the early product. 1t got musty and
weak to the ''sweet tooth, though pos |
sibly not to the tea. For cooking it |
was never so good as the can product.
1t did not mix well, and left black spots
of undiilused sugar that variegated the
taste Of cake too gaudilv. In molaSseS
it was best, and it is still unmatched for
pancakes and frtters and all table use
No syrup equals it, no honey OF hive or
hand rivals it for these uses. The de-
mand for it has manufactured score
of limitations, but they cant fool the
tongue that has been taught in the era
die the taste of the essence of dew, dis
titled through ten million tubes in the
sugar tree.
When the sugar seaSon-''a movable
feast" like Easter-came on, sometimes
early in February. sometimes early in
March, but usually between the two,
the owner of sugar camp'-Somo
few untutored or overtutored noodles
call it sugar brush he would, with
the customary wastcfulnesS of back
woods habits, 90 out with his aN and
chop fresh cuts in old trees and new
cuts in fresh trees, to collect the water
in. One primitive fashion was to slope
a cut four or five inches into the body
of the tree, foot or more up, and
scooped at the bottom into rude little
trough, from which the water was
dipped as fast As it gathered sufficiently
to be reached. This was waSteful every
way, and sensible farmers, after cutting
little notch, would bore hole
couple of inches or so deep and drive in
a Spite of elder with the pith punched
out In time, though, the notch wa,
abandoned and the hole borel directly
through the bark, and tin tubes substi-
tuted in some cases for the elder Spilcs.
"Sugar troughs' made OF a cut two OF
three feet long, of log foot or more
in diameter, split in half sometimes and
followed out TO hold a couple of gallons
or so, were in general use, but they
were wasteful and those who could If
ford money better than muscle bought
crooks and buckets. These were emp
tied, and sometimes by hand, sometimes
by sledS or wagons carrying tubs the
water was taken to the kettles at round.
made at regular intervals.
The primitive furnace long remained
probably in many places yet remains
in use, and that was a couple of big log,
dozen feet long and foot or two in
diameter, laid parallel and far enough
, apart to make room for fair pile OF
fuel between them. On these the ket.
: tles-sometimes two or three, or more,
owing to the number of trees tapped
! We're set, and the water boiled down,
added to as it went down and still
boiled down till it grew "thick and
slab, and then the fragrance that was
on the passing breeze through the grove
could have discounted ''nard and cas-.
J sia's balmy Smells Pungent, inviting.
! suggestive, it is the "bouquet" of our
backwoods nectar, and commonly sur
rounded by blooming hebes of the cabin
and kitchen. The iitful flashes of fire,
tempered to the bubbling of the kettles
which, unguarded, sometimes boiled
over, lit up the woods about with Il
somber glow that gave the streaks Of
snow, the bare boughs of the trees, the
gray trunks and the brown leaves at
their roots sort of diabolical, CORY
look, as if a CLEAN of Pandcmonium
came through some crack or knot-hole;
and the figures standing over the ket-
ties or seated on the end OF the furnace
logs might have been mistaken by eyes
untaught of the keener perceptions of
the nose, for lazy devils loailng about a
fire they hadn't energy enough to keep
from going out.
The scenes of sugar camp, however,
were anything but sombcr in spirit,
whatever the light upon them. There
wasn't much idling. and there was
always fun. If the camp owners had
,, families, and the backwoodsman with
out one was wonder. the young folks
made frolic of the work of stirring
off, or granting the sugar. The name
was eminently descriptive. TO keep the
sugar from soldifying into mass of
impenetrable candy it had to be inces-
sanity stirred, and the work was too
, hard for anybody to endure long at q
time. But as Shakespeare might have
said, and did nearly say, the fun 'phys-
licked the pain" The manager, man
! or woman, frequently tested the condi-
y y ton of the syrup by pouring spoonful
= nto a "gourd" of cold sugar water and
l noticing its "ropiness,' its rapidty of
=. cooling, its tendency to grain, " and
thereby Judging when it was necessary
! 10 reduce the fire or put it out And
!. all the while the stirring OFF, went
, briskly on with many laugh, and
. giggle and squeal of girlsh glee or
boyish frolic. Egg shells were willed
= with the ungrained denser syrup, to
Z cool into Jumps as hard as "dornicks, "
. Or cast into the mold of teacups CREASED
J., with butter or clean lard to Keep it
: from sticking, Or rudely nodded into
~ some uncouth form or formless chunk.
Hands and hair and sleeves got sticky,
drops of sugar fell on the clothing and
q cooled and stuck like paint.
Most OF the sugar woods anywhere
a near the city have long been gone in
a smoke, and ashes, and heat that has
n mixed with the universe of correlated
i forces, and it needs no long sighted
n prophecy or pesimisms to see that the
}. time is on the wing and will soon b.
here when the sugar tree will be as
completely lost as the dodo, and it,
sugar as impossible as 'potable gold. y
Indianapolis Journal.
-'Main street, about half way up
on the left side, in tall building" wa,