St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-03-13

'"'AN' VI sop 10 hol SApOoSu W TIC
heat OF the evaporation longer than
twenty minutes.
A lighter colored syrup may be OBJ
tanned by boiling at depth OF half
an inch, than at a depth of one inch,
i. e. syrup'color is regulated largely
as the depth of sap is increased,
or is longer exposed to the heating
surface of the evaporation.
The natural color of maple syrup
is white. 1t is by no means an I'M
common occurrence, and undoubtedly
you have noticed syrup on the top Of
a frozen bucket of sap, which had the
appearance of the finest quality Of
honey; and if you have ever tasted
maple syrup thus produced by con-
gealation, you will recall it's exqui-
site maple flavor. This alone, is
positive proof that color in pure
maple syrup is foreign to it.
The standard color of maple syrup
as adopted by the Vermont Sugar
Makers Association, is light am
Der. To establish a standard color
it was deemed advisable to take the
average OF the two extremes of color
from dark amber to an extremely
light shade of amber, for the reason
that it is almost impossible to make
average syrup without having more
or less color, owing to the fact that
the sap, semi-sweet, and syrup come
in contact with heated metal, during
the progress ofits evaporation. or
course there are other reasons why
dark colored syrup is obtained,
which can almost invariably be at
tributed to the neglect of its manu-
facturer when the sap is in proper
condition.
There are natural causes, Also
which conflict materially in the pro.
duction of the finest grades of maple
syrups. The soil upon which the
naples havegrown sometimes affects
the sap. Then there are occasional
seasons when the sap does not contain
hut slight amount OF saccharine.
The grea ter the saccharine contained
in sap, the less will be the exposure
to heated metal. AS an lllustra ton !:
A better grade of syrup can be OBJ
tanned if only twenty gallons of sap
be required to make gallon of syr-
up, than if forty gallons of sap are
required to make the same quantity {;
as the larger quantity of sap is ex
posed to the same heat twice as long
as the smaller quantity.
If leaves or any fbrous substances,
rain-water or snow, or the dripping
OF water from wet tree boughs are
allowed to come into contact with
sap; or if, as has been stated before.
tree is tapped where the sap touch
es decayed wood; or if the sap is ex-
posed to the air for any length of
time, it will be darker in color. To
obviate all such difficulties. covers
for the sap buckets are well nigh in
dispensable.
Syrup should be drawn from the
evaporation into small vessels of
capacity not exceeding three gallons.
Continual drawing OF syrup from the
evaporation into large cans, such as
ordinarily used, will add color and
hold the silica in suspension. Syrup
in this condition is not marketable;
and it is vitality important that the
silica be eliminated from the syrup
to make it both toothsome and at
tractive to the consumer. The re-
moval of silica from syrup can be
accomplished in two ways. One
method is to bring the syrup to a
boiling point; strain it through a
thick felt strainer in pals, as before
stated; and when the syrup is cool
the silica will have settled to the bot
tom. Should its appearance still be
cloudy the second method may be
employed which is to thoroughly
emulge milk or the white of an egg
with the syrup. When the syrup has
reached the boiling point the scum
which arises to the surface will con-
tain the silica.
The first method ispreferable, how
ever, as very often milk or the white
of an egg will leave peculiar odor,
especially if the ingredients are not
perfectly fresh when used. Whether
the maple product is marketable,
either in syrup or sugar, either COM
modify should be ABSOLUTELY free from
silica.
The standard weight ofmaple syrup
is eleven pounds to the gallon. lift