Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-13

this city Wednesday, closed Thursday at.
ternuon after one of the most successful
gatherings in its history. There was
large attendance. the sessions were full OF
interest and the exhibits. although few IL
number, were of high order Thursday
morning was devoted to addresses and dis.
cussions at the Williams Science hall
while the afternoon was devoted to the
election of officers, awarding of premiums
ana other routine business.
= THE MORNING SESSION.
The morning session was called to order
by President Spear, who introduced as the
hrst speaker, Prof. l.. r. Jones, botanisl
OF the Vermont Experiment Station, who
took for his subject Results of Four Sea-
sons Experimental Work on the Flow OF
Maple Sap He said in part:
These studies were begun by the Yer
mont Experiment Station In 1897 at South
Burlington. The next year they were con-
tinued in Waterbury and for the past three
years they have been conducted in Jeffer-
sonville. At the same time laboratory stu
dies upon the structure of maple wood and
the composition of sap and sugar have
been pursued In Burlington. The problems
have involved operations upon the rea-
lions of season, weather depth of tap hole
and location Of trees to fluctuations in
pressure, flow and quality of the sap. They
have also involved the study of the fund.-
mental structure of the tree.
Special apparatus has been devised and
used. including self recording and otler
forms of steam pressure gauges. SPECIAL
kinds of thermometers and special forms
of tubing.
Following are some of the conclusions
reached: Sugar comes from starch and
starch is manufactured in the green leaf
under the influence of sunlight, therefore
the first factor for sugar makers to con-
slider is the expanse OF healthy green leaves
on the trees. Measurements upon some
trees have shown variation of A. per cent
in the area of leaves during two successive
seasons. The destruction of foliage by
worms is also disastrous and the long perl
DDS of cloudy weather decrease the starch.
Starch Is deposited during the summer and
autumn in the outer cells of the wood, the
deposit beginning nearest the surface and
progressing inward. In the latter part If
the winter the starch is converted into SILL
gar, the conversion likewise beginning near
the surface and working inward. This cN-
plains why the quality of the sap Is better
nearer the surface layers of the wood.
Root pressure and the ascent of sap IN
tees are distinct phenor ena from the SAP
pressure and flow. To understand the
reasons of sap flow one must undorstaHi
the structure Of the stem and contents Of
the cells. The stem consists of clos'l
cells, the vessels each being completely IN
vcstt d with Il wall saturated with water.
In the cells is imprisoned sugar contain
ing sap and gas The gas content is fairly
constant but the water Col tent is variahl' 70.
AS the water increases the gas IL nee
sariy compressed and slight changes n
temperature leads to extreme fdctuations
of pressure in this compressed gas
A chart was shown by the speaker on
which fluctuations in temperature for i
week We're compared with those of pres
sure and the coincidence of thrse fuctui-
tions was striking
Continuing the speaker said: ''When
tutcs are inserted to different depth: u.c
Ir, ssure shows earliest in the morning
fro The outer tules and it is only later
as the heat penetrate to the interior tia.
sap flows from the inner tissues As tho
temperature falls the outer Tissues dry
up quickest and even shcw suction while
the inner tissues continue to eXudc sap
for a longer period. These and other oh
servations are all in common with the
conclusions cited above"
Pref c. II. Jones. chemist at the En-
pertinent station, took up tho subject at
this point and pres ented the res ults of the
work in detail. The first subject discuss
WAS that Of boring the tai hole. 1t was
recommended that n sharp hit be used in
Surfing clean cut hole. which should be
freed from chips before the spout is in
serted.
1t was shown that in poor seasons thin
coating of Shiny albuminous material form
ed on the bottom and sides of the sap pals
rms in many cases Is scarcely noticeable
to the eye but Is easily DISTINGUISHED when
the fingers are passed over the bucket.
This produces a cloudy sap which is OBJ
jectionable when fancy syrup or sugar ia
wanted. Thorough securing of the pals
removed the difficulty and bright clear sap
can be obtained throughout the season.
This slime has also been known to clog a
certain make of spouts so that no sap
would be obtained even on good day.
In the selection of a sap spout it should
be noted that the spout should come in
contact with as little of the wood tissue as
possible so that the natural channels Of
the tree are not INSTRUCTED The spout
should be substantial, easily inserted and
removed and capable OF sustaining the
weight of full pail of sap. The outer
bark of the tree should be made to contri-
butte to the firm holding of the spout as
largely as possible.
A series of slides were shown at this
point which illustrated the experiments
conducted by the Experiment Station.
The FIRST experiment was to determine
the quality and quantity of sap obtained
from different depths. The results show, d
that the quality and quantity Of sap de-
creases the deeper into the tree one goes.
sap. The results of Ave trials made to as
certain the sugar content in frozen sap
showed the ice to contain from IL to %
OF all the sugar originally present in tho
sap. The disc lrdng of ice is a wasteful
process Its formation should be guarded
against by never leaving quantity of sap
In the buckets over night.
Regarding the val ations during the day
OF the quantity ard quality of the sap it
was shown that the greatest amount of
sugar was obtained previous to o'clock
IN the afternoon. In most cases the max
imum amount was obtained before noon.
Among the findings are some that throw
light on the question, which side OF a tire
gives the most sap?
In the seaso n of 1!Ol four trees were Sc
lectcd for this work ard tapped mt the
Usual height on the north, south, east AMI
west sides. The trees represented as
nj arly as possible all conditions of ex-
posure tho difference In favor of the south
and east sides Of a tree Is quite pronounc-
ed, amounting to three-terths of Mound
Similar trials comparing Lorth and south
tapping made in 1888 and 1900 also give re-
suits that favor the south side
ON typical sap days II seems unoues-
tic nably true that a south exposure will
yield the most sep. On a cloudy day when
all sides of tree warm ur equally fast it
is more nearly an even thing
A review of the fg'res also calls atten-
tion to a remarkable difference between
trees. Number 4. from which the greatest
large vigorous tree standing in the open
As Is well known such trees give large
mounts.
direction nf