The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-05
From the New York Sun.

runs from the melting kettles into the
moulds and appears on the store
shelves as new maple sugar.
Some of 1t is good maple sugar of
another season, melted and recast into
new cakes, and some is mixture of
other sugars, with enough old maple
sugar in 1t to give it something of the
maple flavor.
The best maple sugar sold in New
York is produced from the sugar maple
trees of northern central New York
state and New England. The sap be-
gins to flow when the sunshine of the
coming spring on the branches of the
| trees starts it moving.
This is usually while the snow still
lies deep in the woods, when 1t thaws
during the hours of sunshine and
freezes sharply in the night. Allowing
for the time required to make it and
get it to market, the first new maple
| sugar OF the season should be on sale
in New York city shortly after the first
of April.
The term for a wood In which there
are enough sugar maple trees ito make
it worth while to tap tn EN-, and make
sugar in quantities larger than these
needed for the family, is sugar bush.
In the sugar bush are other trees be-
sides the sugar maple-beech, birch,
ash, Eastwood, hickory, butternut,
elms of various varieties and some
times few hemlocks. Tracks that run
largely to pine, cedar and hemlock do
not produce sugar maple trees.
A Good Sugar Bush.
1t is good sugar bush of 80 or 40
acres that has 200 trees fit to be tapped.
A sugar bush that lies on a sidehill
| sloping toward the east or south can
be tapped earlier in the season than
one sloping in another direction, but
l. ri
Old trees yield sweeter sap than new
trees. Trees in their prime will stand
more tapping than young or very old
| trees.
Young trees and old trees are not
| tapped every season by owners who
are careful of their sugar bushes. Such
owners invariably plug up the taps
after the seasons run is over.
The first of the seasons run OF sap
| is the best for sugar and for syrup.
The sugar cakes hard and graduates
readily and the flavor of the syrup Is
perfect
Toward the last of the seasons run
the syrup before sugaring Off mas
buddy taste. Boiled down, it is not
brittle but is sticky in the cake, and
the syrup is stringy. Sugaring off is
| the final boiling down of the thln
| syrup to the consistency for casting II
| into cakes or putting it up for use as
maple syrup.
| Before the days of evaporating pans,
patent spiles, buckets hangers and
| other contrivances the sugar making
season was a time of unique interest,"
| TO the Youngsters on farms that conf
| prised sugar bushes. That was goou
| while ago, for none of the newer APP
| pliances is of recent adoption.
In the old days the sugar making season
4 began with getting out the troughs anu anu
| spiles and seeing how many OF them W. W.,
| suitable for the seasons use. Inc troushs
| were made of sections of a Eastwood log,
| each section about three and halt leet
| long. split in half lengthwise and each
| half followed out with an axe until ].
| would hold about II quarts OF sap.
| The troughs were then placed hollow
| side down over bed of hardwood coals
| until fine inside was charred. This charring
! kept the new sap from souring in the
| trough or tasting of the sap of the bass
| wood.
| How Spies Are Made.
| The spiles were made of the WOOD COM
| monty known as cedar, which Is variety
| of juniper. The cedar blocks were cut INTO
| lengths of about one foot and split into
| sticks somewhat more than an men anu
| a quarter thick each way.
| About three inches from one end the
! stick was sawed a little less than half
| way in two and the stick was split down
| to this saw cut from the farther END:
| hole was then bored in the big end OF
| the stick until 1t came out at the shoulder,
| and from this hole in the shoulder a
| little trough was cut with pocket knlle
to the other end of the stick. The big
| end of the stick was then Whitfield down
| until it would drive tightly into a three
| quarer inch hole, and the sap spite was
| ready for use.
After the farmer had looked over MS
| stock of troughs and spiles and had mace
| new ones in place of those that were
| unfit for further use, the big cauldron ket-
| ties were taken from their housing ana
| cleaned For sugar bush of 200 trees
| two such kettles would be required. They
we're of heavy cast iron, with ears or
! trunnions at the sides of the rims, ana
| of from 80 to 40 gallons capacity each.
! Then a road was broken through the
| snow from the farmhouse to central
point in the sugar bush where the arch
| was located For this purpose a yoke OF
| oxen hitched to heavy sled were usually
| employed A team of horses would nave
| foundered in the deep snow until they
became hopelessly cast and broke the
| harness or injured themselves; but Buck
! and Bright would wallow in the snow up
| to the brass acorns on the tips of their
| horns would not become excited ana
would get to the arch all right
The arch was a rude fireplace of such
| stones could be gathered up III LILO
| woods. walling in the two big cauldroh
! kettles and leaving a fireplace in front,
: fiue beneath and a stubby chimney at
/ the other end. In this, the cauldrons
were set and everything was ready for
| tapping the trees.
The heavy OK sled was piled up with
! sap troughs AID baskets of spiles, and
| an axe and a three quarter inch brace
| bit were taken along. The farmer knew
| the location of most of the 200 trees ne
| was to tap.
| Through two or three feet of snow the
| OK team arrived at maple tree. Inc
| farmer took look at the large branches
and noted the location of the larger roots.
| Then he examined the bark for plugs ana
| scars of previous tappings.
+ Chips Off Bark.
| Having satisfied himself as to the best
| place to insert the tap-if possible close
| to the enlargement of the trunk of the
| tree above a big root-he Clipped off the
| rough outer bark and bored a hole about
| two and one-half inches deep at slightly
| upward slant and high enough above the
| roots to admit of placing the trough be-
| meath the Spite AS his bit came out q
| triclxle of sap followed the shavings. The
run of sap had begun. The Spite was
| driven in and the trough was set beneath,
| often blocked up with sticks of deadwood.
| Thus the outf went from tree to tree
| until the desired number were tapped.
| Then arose the question of getting the
l via