News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1909-03-31
TIVE OLD SUGAR HOUSE
THardwick Gazette

1t may be a touch of spring fever or
may be a memory of those old days S
long gone into the past, but the war;
days and rosty nights of early sprin
bring back to me through any intervenin
distance of time and space he aromati
breath of the old camp. 1t is not tn
theory of an enthusiast who never wa
there. for the writer served his appren
ticeship most thoroughly. Forty year
ago there was more snow during tn,
winter on an average than there is il
these later years, and when the late Feb
ruary days came the sugar place was
pretty we'll buried in from three to fou,
feet of snow. Then came the paternal
suggestion that it would be time most
probably spent to "yoke up those steers
and break out the roads in readiness for
scattering the buckets" Then what
days of wallowing by the diminutivp
steers and their small driver! But at
last the hauling roads were cleared, later
the buckets were washed, and everything
put in readiness for the propitious day.
By thousand signs father knew when
that day had at last arrived, and by the
sun was an hour high stacks of buckets
were being taken from the camp and
distributed through the woods in every
direction. Frequently there was a"crust"
and this made the labor comparatively
easy for the boy. By shutdown there was
bucket alongside every maple, and the
next day the tapping process was per-
formed and every tree was ready for
duty.
Whatever father and the steers may
have thought of it, all this was fun for
the boy. A long winter at the little dis
trict school house and choring around
the barn made the opening of the great
world of the sugar bush most welcome
relief, and the new activities infused
fresh physical and mental life. The
crows, absent during the winter, were
back and watching the proceedings with
mingled curiosity and ridi-
Guile, the squirrels whose territory had
been so suddenly invaded scampered
across the snow from tree to tree and
chartered and scolded among the |
branches and the animate life of the for |
est was manifest on every side.
Soon the warm sun brought the sap, |
md the real work was on. Then fol- |
owed long days of hauling to the camp |
md boiling in. In the event of long
'un it became necessary to boil nights.
md here is where the romance of the
work came in--for the boy. Sometimes
With the father or the "hired man" and
occasionally alone the boy passed many
ong night before and around the old
riches, feeding in wood, Swimming the
,ans and closely attending to the many
letails of that careful work which re-
Iuired such constant supervision. Boun-
iful sections of apple pie and unlimited
numbers of those fat "riz doughnuts, )"
uch as mother used to make, supplied
food for the stomach, while
he shadows and the occ 3sional boot of an
wi in tree near the camp fed the i'm
Igination to repletiou. 1t was much like
camping out, and the unusual experience
Kept the mind alert with a thousand
thoughts. The voice of the wind, the |,
lote of a night bird, the near wandering
If some little animal of the forest, all |
combined to fill the mind with countless
strange Impressions.
Beyond the steam of the seething pans |
many a minute was used in more or less |
artistic portrait work on the rough walls |
Of the camp with a coal, and many an old |
camp within the knowledge of the writer |
yet carries the work of hands long gone |
into the outer world or the world beyond. |
Rough. thoughtless and inconsequent.
yet they are remembrances of some boy |
of other days. And thus the days and |
nights of sugaring" wore away. Soon
the swelling buds proclaimed the end of |
the season, the buckets were gathered |
and washed, the old camp closed and |
and barred for another year and the |
squirrels and birds left to their own. Out |
in the open the boy sought fresh activi-
ties, or they were pointed out to him if |
he didn't seek them, and the seasons on
the farm flowed on.
Undoubtedly sugaring is hard work,
but can be made pleasant and profitable
in many ways. 1t is the season of bodily
when the sluggish blood of
season is quickened by the re-
newed activities of out-Of-door life. Su-
CARING is the Easter of the farm, the in
of the months of seed time
and harvest, the key of the months to
come. It is blessing as a stimulating
tonic, the first fruits of the risen year.
Make the most and best of it.