The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-05-01
THE SUGAR CAMP.
What Il Done To-Day with the san of tins
Maple.

Maple.
In 1850 the maple sugar production
OF Vermont was 6,S49, 357 pounds. and
5,997 gallons of strip. The production
steadily increased, until in 1889 it
amounted to Il, 123, e21 pounds and u.s.
252galons of strip, valued at 81 24s.-
$50 The improvement in quality has
been most marked also, for, though
there rs a great deal of aduIterated
maple sugar, the makers stoutIy main
tain that it is adulterated BY dealers
The maple sugar bounty was especially
designed to stimulate the production;
but owing to various causes. many of
the makers have not taken advantage
of its provisions. There are nearly IS
600 sugar makers in Vermont alone,
and there are probably as many in the
other states in which maple sugar is
made The industry, therefore, is one
of very respectable dimensions
A properly conducted maple sugar
camp in Vermont is well worth seeing
Many improvements have been intro
duced during the last few years In
the center of the Orchard, . or .-bush,''
as it used to be called, is a commodious
and well-equipped sugar-house, in
which all the utensils are stored when
not in use. The process of sugar-mal-
ing, as now conducted, is practically
as follows: First, two or three
men tap the trees One goes
ahead, and with three-eighths-inch
bit makes an incision about an inch
deep on the lee<side of the tree. A
second man inserts round, double tin
Spite, or spout, about three inches long,
in the aperture. The spout not only
conducts the sap, but has an arrange
ment for suspending the bucket be-
meath it. Lastly a man hangs the
buckets, which are either of wood or
tin.
Gathering the sap has been much
simplifed. The old way was to hitch
a team of stout horses to a short sled
carrying the ssho1der,'' a large wooden
tub, holding several barrels. in which
the sap in the buckets was poured.
Now leaders or wooden cutters are run
all through the orchard, emptying into
a large storage tank at the sugar-house.
In a brick frame work in the sugar
house is set an iron arch with square
iron chimney. For a large orchard of
1000 trees the arch is about feet by
20 feet in area, 215 feet deep in front
and 10 inches deep at the chimney end
In this arch are set the evaporators, a
deep boiling pan in front and four
smaller and shallower pans further
back. The bottoms of the evaporators
are deeply corrugated, nearly doubling
the surface exposed to the heat.
The boiling is done rapidly, as
rapid boiling improves the quail
ity of the sugar. The sap flows
from the tank through a hose with a
strainer attached into a regulator,
which allows only a certain quantity
to flow into the evaporator. At a GER
tain point the sap is drawn by a syphon
from the large evaporator into one of
the small ones, the scum and settings
being left behind In the last pan the
liquid is evaporated to the strip of
commerce. weighing eleven pounds to
the gallon.
The most interesting process is ''sug-
airing off - The strip is slowly boiled
in the large pan until the experienced
sugar-mazer knows it is done" The
pan is then lifted off, and the mass is
turned into tubs, holding from ten to
hundred pounds If it is to be made
into cakes, it is stirred longer, till it
becomes dry enough to retain it's
shape. The whiteness of maple sugar
does not determine its price. It is due
somewhat to the difference of soil and
the amount of rain that has fallen into
the sap. Pure maple sugar is a brown
ISL amber in color, with a fine grain.
| If the grain is not fine, and if there are
air holes in it, it has probably been
adu1terated by cane sugar, glucose or
| cIay-by some wicked dealer, says the
| maker.
The average yield per tree is about
two hundred pounds per season. the
season lasting from four to six weeks,
until frosty nights cease and the buds
begin to swell. when the sap tastes
strong and ceases to flown. 7. Trib-
une.