Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1902-04-17
MAKING MAPLESUGAR
INDUSTRY THAT FLOURiSHES IN
EARLY SPRING.
PRODUCTION Not as Great Now as II
Was Thirty Years AgO-Esthetic
Side of the Business Appeals to
Many People.


There is no surer and scarcely any
earlier sign of the reviving activity of
nature after her winters sleep than
the upward movement of the sap in
sugar trees. 1t comes with the first
mild days of February or March. The
frost is scarcely yet out OF the ground
and the snow often is not yet melted
before the machinery begins to work
that is soon to clothe the sugar trees
with buds and leaves. That is the
time when the maple sugar maker
compels the trees to part with a share
of their sap. Other naples, the birches,
hickOries and some other trees yield
Il small amount of sugar, but none
nearly as much as the sugar maple.
The tree Is not found, for sugar
ing purposes, outside of North Amer
lea. being confined to the northern
parts of the United States and the Brit
ish posse sions.
The secret of making sugar from its
sap was probably obtained Ivy the early
white settlers of America from the
Indians, and formerly it was an in
dustry of no small Importance. Ac-
cordng to the census of 1870 the to-
tai production of maple syrup in the
United States the preceding year was
%, 443.643 pounds in twenty eight diff
ferent States, of which Vermont con-
tributed the most-S.S 04 ,3U2 pounds.
lndiana's record that year was 3D.,
3D. pounds. The total quantity Of ma
pie molasses returned was 921 ,057 gal
factor in national wealth, but enough
to sweeten Il great many buckwheat
cakes. The production is not as great
now rs it was then, though the ma
chnery and facilities for the manu-
facture have been greatly improved.
Fol some reason or other Vermont has
always led all the other States in the
production of maple syrup-perhaps be-
cause the thrifty farmers of that State
had foresight enough to preserve their
trees aid perhaps because they found
it convenient way to exc out small
incomes. In 1892 congress passed Il
law giving bounty on sugar of any
kind manufactured in the United
States that reached a specified stand
ard of excellence, and out of 1000
sugar makers in the entire country
who complied with the law. filling out
blanks and taking preliminary steps
to secure the bounty. 1900 were IN
Vermont.
But to great majority of people
what may be called the esthetic side
than the commercial side. The num-
Der of persons who have, probably in
early life, experienced the pleasure of
visit to Il sugar camp is vastly
greater than the number of those
who profit by it's manufacture, and the
engendcred by these visits outweighs
that of any years product. Most of
the dwellers in American cities have
in early life either lived on farms or
visited them. and if they were brought
up in the North the chances are they
have been privileged to visit sugar
camp during the few days Of activity
in spring when the process of making
sugar and molasses was going on. If
so. they have never forgotten the eX-
perience, and as long as they live the
taste of maple sugar or sirup. like the
odor of some flowers or the melody OF
some songs. recalls sensations long dor
mant and starts n train of thought
that makes them, for Il brief period of
forgetfuncss, imagine they are young
again. journal.