The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-03-18

to a heavy wooden sled, Oh which
barrel was chained. was browsing nearby.
I'VE have about 80 trees. said Richard
Compton. the owner of the sugar camp.
Most Of them are tapped I'm two places.
and a few of the largest In four places.
The sap Is gathered four times day;
early i'm the morning. just before noon
in the middle of the afternoon and late
at night. To tap tree hole an men
deep is bored near the bottom. and a
'spie' or piece OF sumac q foot long
with a hole bored through the pith. Is
the spout. 4 crock OF bucket Is placed
under tho spout TO catch the sap or
sugar-water as IL drips.
This warm weather IS hard on us
sugar manufacturers because it makes
the sap flow so fast. In cold weather
the sap doesn't flow at night, but now
it flows day and night and we have TO
watch it all the time. IT requires twelve
hours 10 boil the sap down TO syrup.
Then the syrup is allowed to settle
day. when il is boiled again for three
hours 10 refine it. after which the refined
syrup must be boiled an hour or an hour
and half to sugar on
Maple sugar time has no definite
limits he continued. Sometimes It 10
in February. sometimes I'm March and
then again not until April when the
run IS a very short one This year the
season began the middle OF February
and will probably last until next week.
When noon came the farmer cooked
dinner for the entire party in some wood
ashes raked from the furnace Potatoes
were roasted. bacon was fried at the
ends Of long sharp pointed sticks, and
eggs were boiled in the sap itself
Ha.a Ill.
marked this farmer, and my old mule
General Jackson. is very fond of II.
Every spring for twenty years he has
worked. here at the sugar camp. and he
always expects a drink Of sap at noon
All afternoon the boiling sap was care
fully watched; now stirred. row skim
med until toward evening IL had thicken-
ed into a heavy brown syrup. Then
some OF it was put into another kettle
and boiled for several hours longer until
1t turned TO sugar.
IT was dark before the visitors left the
sugar camp and then they left reluctant
IT, For after nightfall "A maple sugar
camp is a most delightful place to visit.
Then tho sugar makers sit huddled to-
gether in the flare OF the furnace; the
big logs under the iron kettles blaze and
sputter ana shoot red fiery sparks In the
air. and the glow from the wood ire
makes the pickering shadows play among
the trees The dead leaves scattered
thick on the ground rustic noisily under
foot: and lone owl. perched high in
some leafless tree boots mournfully.
What a place and what a time for
stories: thrilling blood-crding ghost
and Indian stories.
II was from the Indians that the carly
Puritans learned the secret of tapping
the hard maple trees. and Of boiling the
sap. But the Indians and later the white
men used a crude. primitive way OF
making the sugar. They had a process Of
tapping called boxing" 4 deep cash
was cut I'm a tree to let the sap run, and
a tub or wooden trough was put close 10
the opening 10 catch as much Of II as
possible Then when the boiling sap had
nearly thickened 10 syrup the old settler
put in piece OF York or tallow 10 keep
II from boiling over. The modern syrup
maker. however, has learned that a little
elbow grease will keep the sap from
running over quite as we'll as the pork
or tallow: and at the same time Will
not spoil the flavor OF the syrup.