Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-04-02
MAKING SYRUP.


Journal. ~
~ have tapped go trees this yelr," ssid
u.,,v Graves of Vienna, Satarlsy, to a
JorasM reporter.
M, Graves has tapped trees and made
u.,l. syrup ever since he was a
.n,Il hoy. His father was engaged
;, the same business. He was in the
o;,v last week disposing of some syrup Of
ri, springs make. Mr.. Graves was born
:, Vienna, but has not any appearance OF
hing foreigner, but rather possesses the
olevsruess of genuine Yankee, such as he
,.,lv il. And speaking of Vienna,
Mime has about rs or more towns
v,ieh bear names the same as cities
and places in Europe. He is Sc years of
.ze and during the many years he has been
engaged in the making of maple syrup has
learned many very interesting facts about
the seasons and trees.
The $50 trees he has tapped this year
x;lI run about IS casks, of 45 gallons each,
# ,ap per day, which will amount to about
one gallon of syrup, to every cask of sap,
xbep boiled down. He sells the syrup
for 90 cents per gallon at his
c.mp. The usual number of trees tapped
!, s4o. Mr.. Graves has tract of land
covering nine acres with handsome growth
of rock maple trees. When the season is a
good one and the demand for syrup large,
he Lenses large number of trees near the
Mace of operation. The trees are tapped
with bit, 1916 Of an inch in size and he
makes the spiles with q machine he in
vented himself. The receptacl.s for
the sap are the common 10 quart
tin pail without any bail. He had
over 800 of these made here at one time,
not v,.'y long ago. The trees are not always
tapped on the south side, as one would nat
urally suppose, but the slant and position
of a tree often determinates the eide to
place the spile and dish. If tee
has not been tapped much, and
II 10 CONVEX lent, the south side is pre-
ferable.
The sap is hauled to the place of boiling
by oxen. It's hauled in these As gallon
casks. They are rolled from the sled along
an nclining piece of timber and
gradually poured into another larger
clsk with strainer over the top. From
this cask the sap oozes into the upper pan
over the furnace. The furnace is of brick
work and the pans ard other arrangements
made for this special purpose. There are
tao pans which the zap passes through
before II becomes syrup. These pans have
partitions and as the sap passes from one to
the other it gradually boils away AMI sim
mers down to honey. When the last little
room Ike place in the bottom pan is
reached the syrup is taken out and
strained into the. syrup vat in
one corner of the room, The process of
boiling is very interesting, but space does
permit giving it in detail.
It generally takes about one hour to boil
Is gallons of sap to honey. The largest num-
Der of barrels of sap Mr.. Graves gathered
in any one day was AZ. The syrup is put up
in IS and Is gallon kegs for shipment. H.
ships it to var ious parts of the State and
New England and also has large sale in
Augusta. Three men are generally en-
ployed in gathering the sap, with extra
help, if needed. Usually the season be-
gins about the 18th of March. This year
the yield will fall shor; about IA the usual
run. The flow is not as free nor the sap
as sweet rs usual Mr.. Graves says be
fails to find any reason for it, except tha'
there is not any frost in the ground. Gath
erng sap is similar to many other things,
more sap can be procured from a large
tree than small one. 1t may
seem strange that some Iof these trees
which have been tapped nearly bali q
century present a fresh spot to place bit.
but in few years new coating will grow
over the place formerly tapped and then
they can be bored anew.
The season is at an end when
there is no frost at night. 1t generally
closes about the latter part of April. "There
is no such thing as the sap running back to
the roots in the fall" says Mr.. Graves.
1.-THE sap is still circulating in the tree then,
but my experience has taught me to believe
there is nothing in such a theory"