The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-07
MAPLE SAP IS FLOWING.
CONNECTICUT FARMERS IRE At
YORK Nv THE SUGAR BUSHES.
They Are Drawing sap All Day and susnrins
ar All Night-tomrade wilcox Explains
How ne Knows All About Making sugar
and syrup without Being Able 20 Tell why.

ana syrup without Being Able TO Tell why.
LITCHF1ELD. Conn. March 8.-The notes of
the bluebird, that beautiful harbinRer Of
spring. are heard here; the Rreen-coned buds
of the skunk cabbage are already sticking out
Of the marshy places. and there has been a sue
ccssion of wal m. sunny DAYS and frosty NIGHTS.
When these signs OF early spring nre observed
aud washinEton's Birthday Is passed the farm
ers In northwestern Connecticut begin as quick
ly as practicable the work of securing the crop
OF maple sugar or syrup. The earlier maple
sap is gathered the sweeter and richer H. IL.
Comradc Wilcox goes by these signs consclcn-
tiously. and he has begun his annual harvest
OF sap In his sugar orchard in the wilds OF Sa-
tame Kingdom. Judged by present Indication,
the flow Of the limpid dclicacy In Connecticut
this season will bo a large oae.
You've got to tap the trees and let the sap
run of or they'll bust said Wilcox to-day.
Amt that n mystery Got To tap the trees to
save EN-. I can show you plenty Of sugar ma
pies In my woods that have busted open clean
to the heart from the accumulation Of sap in
'em because they weren't tapned. Yes. sir.
Why II Is so ! dunno. but IL is. It's tan or bust
every time
Just how genial but Intensely p~ractlca.
Asher Wilcox. the elderly owner OF one Of the
finest farms on Yellow Mountain came to he
called Comradc hc does not know. but he likes
the title, and all his acquaintance use It.
His sugar orchard, which Is live miles from his
house. contains over n thousand trees. and
every Washington's Birthday. II the signs arc
favorable. his oxen draw n load OF sugaring
parapherna.ia to q Q shanty set among the big
rosk maple trees In the Kingdom, and prrpara-
tlons are made for living there through the sap
running sea son. Wilcox makes u business Of
sugari"g. For years he has made more money
out OF It than froin any other branch Of his
farming operations. His camp Is one OF the IA
vorite resorts OF tho Kingdomitesa at this season,
~ dunno WHY | wait for the bluebird and
skunk cabbage signs before | begin suvaring.'
said Wilcox; "never thought NJ II before. but
I do. / do II because my father did, | guess;
| Amt much to study up such matters"
Wilcox's sugs- hunters have already q num-
Der OF odd stories OF animal life a. encoun-
tered bv them during the last week. revealing
the work Of the severe winter. one o. their
first discoveries concerned tn II peculiar hnhit
Of the partridge. which often brings about its
dcath-thc plunging OF the bird into the deep
SHOWS TO pass the night In cold weather. The
partridge does this commonly. and its snowy
blanket affords II a warm but very risky pro-
lection. for II there happens to be n fall of rain
during IT,. nap. followed BY u period OF freez-
Ing the bird IL imprisoned beneath the snow
crust and Is starved TO death. The sap hunt
ors have found fully n score OF cartridges
Shi,h were en'ombed. and the Kingdom people
say that probably huLdreds Of the birds have
been killed In this way. 80 mai ny. In fact. that
there NAV be a scarcity OF them next season.
such n result often ( Flows u winter like the
past one. in which the weather frequently
changed from. rain TO severe cold.
sngnring," said Wilcox. neither too hot nor
too cold. IT'S ,nodera;ing fast now. with
t GriEh mts ,hswi Them. ar,' ih Snd ti@ SieT To- f bssIH tTs To5
want TO get the whole ~ the Juice. The warm
sun lust starts the ssr Adjoining With tie
fnrtc Of II young brook. ch"ck from the roots
OF the tree. pulls IL right up out OF the ground
and sends IL all over the branches with , s'm.
And then at night the frost drives it bacS
until the buds begin TO swell. and when the
While the pumping Is going on I'm tapping
my trees md getting In my work. WHY don't
make sugar all summer 'Canse the SAP
| dunno. That. q mystery. Never looked
into that: don't bother with causes. Results
Wilcox's men visited every maple IN the or
chard and tapped II with an inch auger TO the
depth OF about two inches: tho hole inclining
readily the much priced sap. Under the mouth
or the hole a ,haro goug shaped piece OF gal.
yaniled sheet iron a few inches long, called u
''spile.' was driven into tie bark TO conduct
the sap into the bucket below. aud straight.
way came the familiar drip. dri. drip.
Tap EN- all on tn. north side of the trunk.
boys; that's the richest side directed Wilcox.
~ dunno why 1t is 80 " said he: never studied
~ wv. u ~ =. " % ia Va " NiAo "
quality and on the south side for quantity.
That's mysterious. amt ~ | suppose the sun
ms much sap from the south side OF a tree. I
guess. but It's poorer. Deep tapping will give
you more SAP than shallow lappinT. and you'll
branches. The richest sap comes from tha
biggest trees, the earliest sap makes the best
sugar. and tho swamp maple syrup amt so
good rs that from these rock III. pies. Why
this is so, ! dunno. ! don't bother my head
about such things, but it's true"
There il one large rock mamie In thp nrpharI
which has yielded 'wenty-three gallons Of zap
in one dey. making over seven pounds OF sugar.
and. In one sca~on, II made thirty-two pounds
of sugar. Wilcox calls It Old Faithful. after
q, Western Eeys-r he once travelled to see.
Most OF his trees. however. average from three
To Ave and onc-halt pounds OF spLar IA season.
The sugar makers removed the sap In barrels
". where Il is stored in large tanks until want.
ed for boiling down IN the lis kettles and
tic structure was successfully attacked by u
mob Of famished, crows. In a, manner which
persistence OF these. pests. Til" arr val of
Comradc W,ilcoX's ,caiGp outfit in the King
dom started M the, black multitude. Tho
birds rose until the sky WAS fairly darkened
with them and then swung away to the NEARBY
banks of the FarmlnVton River.
IA no food in sight for them They have killed
of the woodland birds, within reach; have
stolen grain from the BARNARD fowls all
through the Pennington valley. and although
many Of them have been poisoned with stryrh-
nine, the plague continues undated. Lately
this crows have been seen working along the
edges OF the open brooks. reaching down INTO
the water and pcckinu at the heads Of the
fresh water clans. They can dislodge tho
clam with their strong heaks. and tear out
the meat with their claws. Wilcox's men left
the remnants o" their MONDAY meal in the
shant1 with tlc door standing opcn. Il AZ
crows entered md began gorging Themselves
with the five large lolvcs OF homemade bread,
the hi pail ~ hREcG pork and beans. aud tho
generous slices ~ COrncd beef. There we're
hundreds ~ crows In mud about Ito place,
grabbing Hereby at something pntah'c. TheV
ate with all the nCrCrucss OF nppctitc which
starvation can give. and when Wilcox walked
toward the shRuty some time aftCrward lie
was almost deafrned by the harsh aud defiant
Jaw cav cav. of the birds as they rose around
him In screaming clouds. In the shanty there
was not food enough left to feed a man A day.
and q messenger was despatched to the farm
for u fresh. upply. Wilcox sent for his long
barrelled shotgun also. There. wa-a white
crow in the flock. IL has been hanging about
the Kingdom all winter. and Wilcox will try
to get u shot Mt it.
Grows are uncommonly Thick and awfully
hungry this year" said lc. why this is 50 |
dunno, for I'm no student Of crows. But IL IL
so. II ! get that alhinO crow they say IL will
he u sign OF good .nck, hut | don't care for
sirns, Alpheus Winter Of Hartford has a
standing offer OF $40 for a white crow. Scarce?
You bet, You won't see one In a dogs age.
Dunno why. I'm no crow scholar"
There Ia a deal OF work necessary In boil.
Ing down maple sap. Birch log nres are kent