The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-05-02
Niter in Sugar.

have just heard curious idea adj
vanced-at least it is curious to me. A
man, and a farmer at that, says the
inter in sugar is dirt which gets into it
while boiling. He says the sap is clear
and clean when it runs from the tree.
Now my theory is that the inter, or
malate of lime, is held in solution in
the sap and develops as the boiling of
it proceeds. The nearer sugar it gets
the more inter. Some people let the
syrup settle and drain off the top,
thinking the inter is all gone from that,
but only so much as has already formed
is left. Now am going to tell you
how | separate the inter from the
sugar. 1t is great deal of work, and
as the old lady said about making
cheese, cit takes Judgment" but
think the sugar enough better to pay for
the trouble. AS have most of the
sugaring-off to do alone, like to do it
in small batches-from twenty to forty
pounds at time. l put the syrup in
a sugaring-off pan on top of the stove,
without removing the griddles, and add
to the syrup about pint of sweet
skinned milk, stirring until it is
thoroughly mixed with the syrup. The
very finest particles of inter seem to
be taken up by the milk, which is
skinned off when the syrup begins to
boil and put to drain in thin cloth
strainer previously wet and hung upon
frame to support it. After the syrup
has boiled gently for about an hour dip
up spoonful and you can see the inter
settle in it, (This is so usually, but
sometimes at the very first of sugaring,
and again at the last, the inter is not
so plainly visible.) l then take the
sugar out of the pan and strain it in the
same manner 1 do the skimmings.
Right here is the place where judgment
is most needed, for care must be taken
not to have the sugar so thick it will
not strain at all, and still thick enough
so that the inter will not run through
the strainer. l learned this way by
straining the syrup after it had been
skinned to remove the particles of
milk which would not come off by
skimming and found that it removed
the inter also. When the sugar has been
removed from the pan for the purpose
of straining | rinse the pan out with
sap, to save the sugar that adheres to the
sides and bottom of it, and then wash it
with clear water and scrape off with a
knife the spots of inter which have
formed on the bottom of the pan.
After the sugar is strained l put it
back in the pan to finish boiling and it
is smooth and nice. 1t does not feel
rough and gritty. After the sugar is
boiling again | take the sap with which
the pan was rinsed out and put in the
inter, stirring it, so as to rinse off the
sugar which is mixed with it, and strain
it. Then l put in the skimmings and
heat and strain them. BY this time
what drains from them is good syrup
Gf too much water or sap has not been
used) and can be put in with the next
batch to sugar off. Another rinsing of
the inter and skimmings will give some
thing sweeter than sap with which to
rinse the sugar off the pan the next
time. l suppose this is kind of an old
fogyish way of doing things, but the
sugar looks we'll and tastes good
The last time my husband went to
town he took some sugar with him, and
the man to whom he sold his butter
asked him if that was pure maple sugar
On being assured that it was, he offered
him ten cents pound for it, though he
was selling sugar at nine cents pound
for which he paid eight. A. C. W.
REMARKS BY EDIToR.-Our cor
respondent is quite correct in the
theory that the lime is in the sap. Sc
also is potash and all the other ele
ments which are found in plant growth
The man whom you mentioned would
probably laugh at you if you should
take up handful of ashes and tell hin
that all that was in the sap, but mo
ment's thought would convince hin
that it was true. The growth of thu
tree is made up from its sap and tina
must contain whatever is found in tn,
tree. When the amount of lime in tn,
sap is separated and precipitated t.
the bottom no more will be found in tn
sugar, though it be boiled much NOR
after.