Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-23

DROP NY DROP.
| As soon as the sap starts in the trees th
naples are tapped, iron spiles driven in tn,
| holes and covered bucket hung to eacn one
in the old days the spile was an elder witt
the pith punched out, and the receptacle foi
the sap was either a trough hewn out of
birch block or an ordinary pail The saI
falls from the spiies drop by drop, and 81
slowly that it seems as If pailful would
never be obtained; but on the contrary the
trees have to be watched very closely, as the
pals fill in a remarkably short time, and the
little drops of liquid sugar will be running
over the rim of the pail before the stranger
would think it possible As soon as a pail is
filed it is lifted from the spile and emptied
into large barrel with a top like big fun
mel. This barrel is securely attached to a
rude sled or wagon, and is drawn about tho
bush from tree to tree by mild hammered
and easy going horse, driven by youth es-
peciaily selected for his patience and careful
ness, Tor tho rounds of tho camp must be
ula5o la se-L'-- .s.i ts va 80 "a sap ABOARD
lowers driver in the estimation of his fe-
lows, and it is a great feather in his cap if he
comes out when the season is over with a
clean record on that score.
When the rounds of the trees are made,
the big barrel is filed with sap and is taken
is emptied into watts, beneath which a steady
fire is kept burning, AS the sap boils in the
watts it is kept constantly agitated by those
having charge of chat part of the work, who
use long handled ladies and rakes. This is
the most interesting part of maple sugar
making, but it is at the same time the most
distressing. The damp wood smoldering
beneath the boiling watts, acted upon by the
riotous March wind, sends up dense clouds of
suffocating smoke. The stirrer chokes,
freezes and burns by turns, according to the
whim and the temperature of the wind and
the combustible qualities of the wood in the
fire These discomforts, however, never
attend sap boiling in the northeastern coun-
ties of the state, wheIFo the sugar houses are
lnclosed and well appointed.
"sUGARING OFF"
After boiling in one vat until certain con-
ditions are brought about, which the sugar
makers skill detects at the proper time, the
sap is run into another vat through a strainer
and then the boiling is continued. When a
proper consistency is reached in the second
vat the sap is ready for sugaring off. A few
farmers in western Pennsylvania have their
boiling houses SO equipped that the last pro-
cess may be gone through with on the prem
ises, but generally the awaiting syrup is
loaded in barrels and conveyed to the farm
houses, where the farm wives and their
daughters take charge of it and sugar off. "
1t is placed in huge boilers, on stoves ar-
ranged for the purpose, where it boils and
bubbles and reduces itself, under the skillful
manipulation and superlntendence of the
housewife.
The tests of the different stages of the
syrup as it is slowly transformed into sugar
are the same today as they were the first day
maple sugar was made-a spoonful of syrup
on a plate of snow, or dropped into a bowl of
cold spring or well water. The work of su-
CARING of requires the greatest skill and the
most constant attention. II syrup is wanted
the quick eye of the farmers wife detects the
stage known as the ''buckwbeat"--when little
three cornered grains form under this test.
The syrup is then turned into earthen jugs,
When the boiling shows the advance of the
hardening stage, the hard work begins. The
hot, sticky mass must be beaten and stirred
and stirred and beaten, until the grains sep
arate and the sugar assumes a fine, smooth
and whitened appearance. While the syrup
is still in liquid form it is run into molds
and forms of all descriptions, to suit the
fancy or convenience of the maker, and set
away to cool.-Cor. New York Tribune.