St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-06-12
MAPLE-SUGAR MAKING.
"A Profitable Industry to the Green
Mountain State.
How the Toothsome Substance Is Ex
tracted from the Trees and Prepared
for Shipment The Reason Its
Manufacture Is Femi-
nine Blessing.

smiths of Vermont, for the maple-sugal
season is ut hand, and in every shol
the workmen are busy making and re-
pairing evaporators, pans, heaters
buckets, cans, and other sugar stools. y
The best makers are getting to use
tools made only of tin or Russis
iron, wood having been pretty much
discarded. owing to the injury to the
flavor of the product which it alAos
inevitably causes.
Vermont produces more maple-sugal
and sirup in the aggregate Zone gallon
of sirup being equal to eight pounds OF
sugar. than any other State in the
Union. A large run of sap is not ex.
pected this spring, since the weather
last fall was not favorable. 1t is ad-
mitted by all competent judges that
the spring weather of Vermont is the
cause of the flow of the maple sap.
The month or more of warmish davs
and frosty nights in the spring are in
'iispensable. This is proved bv the
failure of the sap-flow in the northern
and southern portions of the sugar
maple belt on this continent This
belt east of the Rocky mountains ex-
tends northerly. as far-as the south
shore of the st. Lawrence Gulf and
river. up to the mouth of the Saguenay
. river. and thence westerly to the head
waters of the Ottawa river and to Thun-
der Bay on Lake Superior. The south
erh limit is i'm the hills of Middle Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and
Northern Texas. On the Pacific coast
the southern limit is the coast range
north of San Francisco. Its north
crn limit has not been accurately
determined. Yet little or no maple
sugar can be made in the northern or
southern end. Even i'm Aroostook
county, Maine, the winter breaks up
so late that there is no transition peri
nd, and summer comes on at once
And in Canada, New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia. where there are plenty of
naples, there is little or no sugar
made for the same reason. Vermont.
from her peculiar soil and climate. is
destined to keep the lead i'm the manu-
facture of maple-sugar, as she is in the
growth of merino sheep. She ALWAYS
has maintained her pre-eminence in
these respects and she always will.
The maple-sugar season is peculiarly
profitable to the Vermont farmers. for
the reason that it comes s.between
times. when there is nothing going
on about the conduct of their farms
except the ''chores." The logging
and wood-cutting are over and the
ground is not ready for cultivation.
The sales of sugar and sirup are for
cash down, and therefore they are en-
abled to acquire ready money with
which to make the spring purchases
and tide over until the sales of crops in
the fall The farmers and their sons.
and the regular '.hired men" do the
work. and there is no expense except
for tools" For an orchard of 1000
trees it is estimated that the sugar
house. the evaporation, the '.sugaring
OIL pan. the vat, the sap-hOlders,
the gatherers. the buckets. the spouts.
the cans for the sirup and the tubs for
the sugar cost about 5000. These.
having once been obtained, will need
slight repairs and requirements from
year to year. OF course the sugar-tubs
and sirup-cans must be replaced every
spring. The profits of such an orchard
average about $500 a year more than
most farmers spend annually for their
household expenses. Orchards of
1000 trees are not at all uncommon,
and several farmers tap $500 and even
5000 trees.
Great improvements in the manu-
facture of maple-sugar have taken
place within the last fifteen years.
Forty years ago the boiling of sap in
iron potash kettles hung between logs
was still common, and in a few be-
nighted localities the trees were tapped
with an axe. Pans set over an arch of
brick. in which the fire burned, sue
ceeded the kettles: and to-day, in most |
of the best managed orchards, evapor-
ators Originally invented for the man.
ufacture of sorghum) have displaced |
the pans. The ideal sugar-place Is one
of vigorous trees, situated upon the |
side Of a hill with southern exposure, |
a brook running at the foot of the hill.
The advantages of such situation are
U that the sap can be easily carried
by means of spouts running from
holders scattered through the orchard,
into which the baskets are emptied. to