The times., 1901-06-23
QUEEN AMONG THE SUGARS
Product of the Maple Roots in
Vermont Forests.
Discovered and Utilized First by the
Indians of New England - Print
tive Methods of Accommodating the
pracious saccbarine Product.


Precious saccbarine Product
Everyone knows what good thing ma
ple sugar is. ana people have come to re-
gard il as somethis4g peculiar TO Ne"
England. especially Vermont vermont
maple sugar is almost guarantee OF eN-
cellence The winter home life OF North
ern New York and New England IS so
closely associated with maple sugar ana
maple syrup that it is difficult to dis
sociate one from the other. New England
poetry and literature have much to say of
the iovs to be had around the steaming
kettles in the woods. when the March
winds temper the frosty air of winter and
sends the sap "a-kiting' up from the
maple roots and invites the New Eng
lander. man. woman, boy. and girl, to the
s'sugarin' OFF, in the groves, where the
young folks gather clean snow in shining
broad tin pans and pour the thick syrup
over the snow and withdraw it in the form
of wax" Little did these New England
folk know that they were celebrating an
annual occurrence which their American
ancestors learned from the Indiars, VINO
used TO live in those same woods, and who
used to celebrate in the spring the same
sweet festival and in the same way that
the white man has been doing ever since.
Yet that is the truth. The little p6poose
had no shining tin pan, but he made the
wax just the same. To be sure. it was
made on snow held on a piece of birch
bark. but it was just the same sweet,
toothsome wax that We all know so well.
For a long time it was the popular ldea
that the Indian was a savage with all the
traits that pertain to savage life and
with few or none Of the instincts that are
supposed to inhere in civilized man. This
supposition has gradually given way to
a clearer apprehension Of the true status
of the American Indian, as his achieve
ments in one direction and another have
been recognized and studied. FaEfrem
being wandering savage, dependent
wholly upon his skill as hunter and
fisher, it has been ascertained that over
nearly all of the United States he was
practically sedentary, md that east OF the
Mississippi and not a few tribes west OF
that river, depended for livelihood more
upon the results of agriculture than upon
any other one source. The Indian DIS
covered and cultivated corn, which feeds
at the present day millions upon millions
of people He knew what a good thing
the ordinary yellow pumpkin is. and cul-
tivated it and lived and thrived on it. 1t
was from the redskin that we Americans
got the pumpkin. from which we make
our delicious pumpkin pie" He had also
discovered that the pea and bean were
good to eat, and planted and harvested
his crop lust as we do today. He baked
mis- beans, and souped his peas, just as
we do, and, furthermore, he discovered
the good qualities Of maple sugar and
handed over the blessings of his discoV-
cries TO mis- white conqueror. The Indians
used to teach the Pilgrims how 10 culti-
vate the corn. They taught him how to
make the hole in the ground surrounded
by little hill OF dirt to put the seed in,
and how many seeds to plant in the NIL,
and how TO fertilize each hill with a dead
menhaden fish, and how TO take care OF
the crop when once it had sprouted-
When the maple sap began to flow,
about March or February, the Indians
would gather in numbers in the woods
and first make large troughs by hollow
ing out the trunks of trees These were
their boilers They had no metal ket-
ties, as we have. and had TO resort TO
these primitive kettles to boil their sap
in. Being of wood, il was obvious TO them
that no fire could be built under them,
as the troughs themselves would burn.
They had long known the use of hot
stones, as it was by such means that
they followed out from tree trunks their
larger canoes The Indians, therefore,
after filling the wooden troughs with
maple sap, would throw into chem stones
heated to high temperature in bon
fire close TO the boilers. This would cause
the sap to boil and the water TO leave
the sap in steam. This was repeated
time and again until the syrup became
thick enough to be made into sugar, which
was afterward dried and caked- II was,
OF course. q tedious method, but never
theless effective.
The Indian method Of tapping the trees
was by making a number of cross cut
tings through the bark with their toma-
hawks When this had been done, buck
ets-made OF birch bark and holding
gallon or Iess-were attached TO the tree
into which the sap would drip. Similar
bark buckets, holding from three TO four
gallons were used for carrying the sap
from the trees 10 the boilers or to larger
tubs, also made of bark. into which the
sap would be poured when the boilers
were already full These tubs held about
100 gallons each.
TIE maple sap did not always flow
continuously. for as is common to
day, a cold snap was likely to inter
vene in which case the naples ceased for
the time being to draw the sap up from
the roots. These 1D-gallOn tubs, there
fore would freeze, and the Indian squaws
would break the ice and throw It away,
well knowing that only the watery part
OF the sap would freeze and that that
part which remained would be, there
fore, stronger in sugar. and that the
freezing did the same work as the boil
ing, that is, removed a considerable pOr-
tion OF the water from the sugar. 1t, of
course, did not, therefore, require so
much heating to boil down the sugar.
In the spriDgtime the lroquois and
Ojlbways celebrated annually their sugar
or maple dance. This was always pre-
paratory TO tapping the maple trees, and
was a festival OF JOY and thsnk1ulness for
the return Of the sugar season. The
Ojibways have been known to live at
times wholly upon maple sugar, and
grow fat on it. AT other times they would
make q paste Of powdered dry corn,
mixed with maple sugar. This would be
moistened sufficiently 10 permit the mix
fure to be nodded into a brick or cake
which the Indians would carry with them
when travelling. 1t was very palatable
and nutritious, and when soaked IN
spring water made for them a fine meal
il was also customary for them 70 soak
q piece Of fat in sugar. and eat it in that
form.
NnnY AT CuEc DEAUE nEaC1r