Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-14

formation OF this substance was a disa-
greeable necessity, and great pains
were taken to remove il by. strain
ing and precipitation. But it was
found that the .smalate'' was the
main source Of the delicate aroma and
flavor Of the maple products and that
its removal was an injury. By repeated
experiments it was ascertained that if
the temperature was never allowed to
go below 5000 the malate did not CO.
alesce with the lime and the nuisance
could be avoided. In the evaporators
strip alone is made. II. is drawn off
from the last compartment through a
strainer;; and. If the manufacture Is to
end there, is set aside to cool and then
put up, generally in gallon cans. II it
is to be made into sugar it should be
transferred boiling hot into a .ssugar-
ing-of'' pan, III which q heat of nearly
400 ismaintained, and will soon be
transformed into saccharine crystals.
The greatest care Isl taken to prevent,
scorching. The sugar is made into
cakes or packed in tin cans, each hold
ing about fifty pounds.
The sugar-maker's task during the
eason is one of almost ~incessant
labor; but there is ~rollicking smack
Of tho wilderness and camp life about
itthat makes it very attractive. The
sap must be boiled as 0 after its
flow as possible or it will ferment and
sour Consequently it is gathered FREE.
quently, and when the run is large the
boiling is kept up night and day. a.
sugar place in active operation by the
dim light Of an April moon is aweird
sight. The fires are red hot; the furn-
aces stuffed with dry wood. which;
sends streams Of smoke lurid with
great sparks up the chimney; the
farmer and his assistants are dancing
around renewing the fuel, testing the
boiling sap with the saccharometer,
watching the governor which controls
~s.suggaring off, and packing the tooth
some product for market. No place
for idle hands. Every body must be
spry at such times or the enterprise
will be q failure and the farmers high
reputation as q sugar and s~irup-maker,
which he has been years in building
up, will be lost. An ordinary sugar
season lasts between three and four
notwithstanding. say. the last of
March and ending about the 25th Of
April. A tree averages about three
pounds Of sugar. There are many
orchards, however, carefully attended
to-trimmed out so that the sunlight
has free access, and in some cases an
nually fertilized with wood ashes
where five pounds of sugar are made
from each tree. And there are trees
which make much 0 than that. A
famous old tree in Duxbury, has pro-
Iduced thirty pounds of sugar in a
spring and generally makes fifteen.
Its sap is very rich-six quarts making
takes sixteen quarts Of sap to make
q pound Of sugar. The first run of.
sap is considered the best. The ten.
dency nowadays is to bore smaller
holes than formerly; hardly ever more
than half an inch in diameter, and.
sometimes not more than a quarter of
ansinch and penetrating not more than.
two inches and a half. It has been
found that second growth trees pro-
duce more and sweeter sap than the
trees Of the primeval, forest; and the
feasibility Of setting out maple orchards
in selected localities is being strongly
advocated in the farmers meetings.
In fifteen years they would be fit for
tapping. The best spouts are metallic
pipes; the best pals of tin and furn-
ished with covers; the best holders and
watts OF wood, covered and tin-lined.
The coverings prevent the ingress Of
drippings, dust and bark from the
trees, particularly during transforms,
which discolor the sugar and sirup:
The best sugar is a light brown and the
best sirup an amber color.
There are festivities belonging to the
sugar season by which the farmers profit
if their labors in the sugar orchards do.
not allow them to participate. The
young people of the surrounding
villages make parties to the sugar
places and indulge in the luxury of
fresh sugar, either cooked to a waxy
substance on snow or grained hot by
stirring the sirup in saucer Should
there be a butter or cheese factory near
by q dance is generally improvised and
the good time prolonged to the small
hours of the morning. "A large share
of the marriages in the State have their
foundation in the courtingfor which an
opportunity is given by these sugar
parties. a pretty girl never looks
more bewitching than when she is
helping her beau to dish of steaming
sirup just drawn from the e~yaporator,
her face lightened by the furnace fires
of the sugar-house, or when she is coyly
tasting the sap in the bucket which her
swain gallantly raises to her red lips
under The maple trees by the light o.
the sympathetic moon. The churches,
too, have learned to turn an honest
penny vi Of the enticing sweetness
and numerous are the entertainments
in the Sunday-school rooms in which
..new sugar on snow is the great at
traction. Maple-sugar and sirup are
like trout, which neYertaste SO well y.
just after they are caught. There is 1
favor to the sugar and sirup when frs
made which they never have again
And no N appreciates the full extern
of their deliciousness who has not eater
them in q sugar-house almost at thu
instant OF their manufacture.
The manufacture Of sirup Is proper