The sun., 1899-04-23
THE BEST OF MAPLE SUGAR
4 DELrCloY GIVEN TO FEW MoRrAEs
TO TASTE

Old-Fashioned Camp-Process of Boiling
the sap-Bugaring Oh-Tho Result.
The maple sugar crop is now being haryest-
cd up in the woods OF New Ham pshire. yer-
mont. Nev York. Connecticut and wbereyer
there are maple trees. II is a great crop. too.
in It's vay and amounts TO some thousands OF
tons all told, Tho genuine maple sugar. how
aver. IA A difficult article 10 get and COM
mands high prices at a distance from, tn,
sugar bush The kind OF stun found in the
average city grocery labelled maple sugar IL
chiefly made of brown sugar and has only the
faintest flavor OF the pure woods boiled sugar.
The very best sugar can hardly be pur-
,Aased at ali. II comes from some isolated
patch OF maple trees on a big paying farm.
Tho bush has been carefully culleJ out SO that
the trees are far enough apart to give them
leaving room and a chance to harden their
flbre with the swayinS OF the wind There are
fifteen or twenty aorvs OF the wood lot with
little swamp at one end and pasture land ON
three sides OF it and a stream on the fourth
The road Is 40 far away that the dust does not
dim the green Leaves OF summer time. pars
fridge has its nest some whore there and the
orovs conpreeate in the half dozsn hen,looks
or pines in migrating time
= The dead limbs OF the trees sometimes are
trimmed of Ambitious saplne trees make
tho boiling down fire in the spring. In 80
large lot there 10 always dead or fallen tree
or perhaps two 1T for a sugar FIRE. Besides
these .is the pov-disappsaripg split rail fence.
which has given way to the wire fences.
Th. .an.,r.os ar. ,onn.d ,v,th ,h-..s,,h,,
Aho .ap tIees arc 'appeu VIII q 'nFeo-eiRn'n
or halfInoh auger bit. The hole 10 bored
about two feet above the root santing three
tnohoe d.on ond ~. sn,I. M, 4, 30 az. ~.
ueen -. anu te p. Al So 'aS sAe
made:of wood "a branch OF sumach an inch in
diameter ia cut off and sawed 10 about nino
. ous VI, onu '""eu W "uou. nino
Larger
| end the piece Is sawed almost half Ia two and
,he seven inch end Is split OIL. An expert spile
maker ma cuts his ,! branches eleven inches long
and when;he splits them makes two spiles at
out With rsdhnt h,t - ., % wira and ,ha s 'n ,ntoot
oue wr had So Us o, WIRE aha s1H @ n'a0s
.u0er hole ~ the size used IN tho tree. Thsra
auses ,rnu nHu VI , .ne s.o ,s useu III ."e .tee
metal. with pals to hang on hooks under the
nozzIe, with tho bome-made snilss 90 mill
pans and o,. g, logs followed out
vored sugar comes from wooden canoe shaped
s.rr,eo ouuSes' WHY" "a'' seen nan ooNen years
service Thc ,.,, l., ,,,. .,.s
boards or bark BY poles LAID across
ing the spring rains for the boilers I'll. pan
is made Of heavy sheet iron. 1t is eigh. or
ten feet long. and four feet wide. The sides
are four inches high. 1t is all riyeted and has
one e end at the lower edge Is a little fauces
with a turncock The nan is mounted so that
al s,sns ~, STSFa " s & dd IT. II:
rear end The rear end has a chimney of or
d'i1,arv ,a @ s.ove,ape ys5a Of 90 &IsG Ihs pan @
n pile OF wood is gathered from ali corners ~
the ,. ot Dssa a G5sSshss 5 bits q G"aras ss5ts
with two, horse team to the camp aud piled
way The Tis NAV be- S nr eyen tsn fess
high and always contalns:several cords o;
wood it is gathered in the fall because then
When the SAP begins to run freely in the
early days Of the spring. after the sun has
n"9 pan The fuckets and the spes are
all hauled down to the woods, The furnace is
made about The @ csmp by y treaiing e psths ' in S
the snow and the buckets are set to catch the he
Usually the ssp runs for only an 81 hour @ Or t%as tWo
a day. 4 big iron kettleNthe Very one
for suSsrng of and BY eRan rom
the butt-end OF a thirty-ioot sapling pinned
over The top q sold S STUMP to swing side
The second day in a small bush totinS The
sap begins by the two or three men going out
and and bringing the sap to 4 big % hoeshead near
the boiling pan. The third day il there is
hslf Ipll Hnd tie IRE started; ,Ths SAP beils
pan on n sixlinch bed Of redbot Goals and
ishcs More sap is poured in as the water
eyaporates and tho fluid in the nan changes
grows steadily darker. '"N'
When about half boiled down II is n favorite
drink with the young folks. Children who
| drink too much Of the stuff have suffered
spelIs OF serious illness have even died IL the
makers OF Sugnr may be believed When the
syrup is beginning TO thicken and get stickv
the long iron Kettle is swung around under
the faucet o. the nan after the fire is.'draWn
and the syrup is run out for the second or
suRaring on boil
| MeautiIne a. the "a D boiled in tho uncoyered
pan leaves fell into It. the dead twigs from
the trees hnated on its surface and best OF
all the thin blue smoke from the clean fire.
wood switched down on the sap-giying il the
necessary flavor without which maple sap
sugar is not maple sugar
More sap is nut in the pan and the boiling
begun ali over again there Under the ket-
tie is built n very artistic nre Green birch sap
into three. foot lengths. and the kettle. though