River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-05-15
IN THE SUGAR WOODS.
Farmers of the Northern Woods
Among the Sugar Trees-SocFaI
Features Not Neglected.

The maple sap had again begun
it's annual flow, when all through
the Adirondacks, as well as in the
forests of neighboring northern
states, farmers families were busy
gathering the one crop for which
they neither plant nor till. The
maple product of the United States
has in years gone, by been worth as
prices vary considerably, however,
and no one can predict what will be
the result of the harvest.
Old sugar makers have as many
ideas about ''the run" as crossroads
weather prophet, and some of them
are able to predict to wonderful
certainty just when the flow of sap
will begin and how long it will con-
tinue. ''When the wind blows from
the west get ready to gather sap" is
one of the stock maXins of the
Adirondack sugar belt. IT also holds
good in Maine. In ordinary seasons
''the run" begins about the first week
period in which short thaws and
freezing spells alternate. AS GER
tain amount of preliminary work in
the ST gar forest is necessary, the
value of an accurate prophecy is
great.
A few days before the first March
thaw is expected the farmer goes
int he h
house shanty of rough boards, de-
serted, lonely and uninteresting dur
ing II months of the year. Pans and
kettles are cleaned and a store Of fire
wood, cut during the short, cold days
of winter, is piled about the house.
A search is made for possible leaks
in the roof, and all is ready for sugar
and sirup making.
Then one morning the cry is heard
that the sap is really running, and at
once the farmhouse is deserted for
the sugar house in the woods. 1t is
the center of interest for every one
from grandmother to the babies who
are big enough to walk. Everything
else is neglected until the crop is en-
of sap boiled into syrup. Fortunate
Iy the season comes at time when
little could be done in the way of
farm work.
On farms where the number of
sugar naples is not large the farm
ers of to-day gather their sugar
crops in much the same way their ia
theirs did. They bore the larger trees
and insert wooded spiles, en- which
buckets are hrID~. The ra0 is gath
cred by sturdy boys and men, who
carry two large pals, one on either
end of yoke which fits across their
shoulders. The sap is boiled in great
iron kettles, under which fires are
burning day and night when the run
is heavy.
On the larger sugar farms methods
more modern are in use. Metal spiles
have replaced the wooden ones, and
sore shoulders from carrying the sap
are unknown where the gathering
tank is used. This tank holds hogs
head, and is usually firmly fastened
to sled, to which two horses are
hitched. The modern sugar house has
storage vat, from which the sap is
piped into the evaporating pan. This
is supported by masonry, and does it's
work rapidly. From the evaporating
pan the syrup flows to the settling
vat Thermometers indicate accu-
rately the progress of evaporation.
The social features of the sugar
| season have not been lost with the de-
velopment of the commercial side.
The opening of the season is still an
occasion for festivity. Young men
and women of the<neighboring vii
lagos visit the camps for maple
wax" and even the children have
their "sugar time" games. 1t is a
great occasion for ''sparking," and
many happy country couple owe
their union to the potent influence of
the sugar odor in the crisp air of the
woods, to soft words said in the
Pickering shadows of the camp fires,
and the sleepy drone of the bubbling,
boiling sap. Tt means ready money
for all concerned, especially for the
farmer, who can always drive good
bargains with such a product.