The San Francisco call., 1910-12-11
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made? You can't have sugar or
chards out here where every other sort
of orchard does so well. and If you
had one you would still lack proper
sugar weather"--clear sunny morn
ings following nights of sharp frost.
The best time in the country I know
about, is in late February; but 1t may
fall much earlier, or come later; all
you can do is to watch out and be
ready.
time Of year quite so beautiful as sugar
making time. The combination of frost
and sunlight makes the air look silver
and the sky is a pale blue. like a
robins egg, and of course 1t is before
the leaf buds swell, so that as you
look up you seem to have above you a
dainty canopy of lacework of exquisite
design wrought by the twigs and
branches
1t is strange how the sap rushes up
after two or three days of such wealth
err When it happens. 1t Is necessary
to work fast and furiously. At such
time Uncle Will would say to Uncle
Hadley, Guess we'd better tackle 1t
tomorrow" and then things began to
hum. Troughs. or buckets. and "spiles"
and the tools they would need had been
put in order those few waiting days.
and early in the morning they would
begin tapping the trees. This is done
by boring two holes side by side, a
few inches apart, just far enough from
the ground to set pail under easily.
The spiles are little tubes about six
inches long; they are driven into the
holes, which are bored only just deep
enough into the wood to hold the spiles
firmly The sap drips through them
into the pals. / think it was an inch
bit they used In tapping-and L am
very sure 1 have made spiles out OF
elder-and l know they aimed to be
careful not to harm the tree. Robbing
them too recklesSly kills them but it
happens seldom: they yield a large
share of the years sap and never seem
to miss it, though. we used to imagine
that the foliage fell earlier in the fall
after sugaring season. Not all years
are sugar years, you know. The right
kind OF days may prevail just about
long enough to start the sap then
cold or cloudy days intervene, and
first thing we knew it would be too
late, for the buds will have swelled.
I can't seem to remember why you
mustn't interfere then but 1 know no
amount of coaxing will prevail
The big kettles had been set one
behind the other over a mud chinked
flue under which the fires would be
kept roaring. The big kettle in front
must have held at least half barrel
of sap and the one back of that was
not quite so large, the next little
smaller. and the fourth a compara-
lively trifiing affair. not much bigger
than a bushel basket Boiling began
over the hottest sort of fire, under
the big kettle, and by degrees the fire
worked backward as fresh wood was
fed in until under the smallest kettle
it wasn't much more than embers, and
as the sap thickened from the boil
ing it was dipped back from first to
second, and so on, until by the time it
reached the last one and was syrup.
which scorches easily. the heat was
just sufficient to keep it simmering
gently. Then once each day the syrup
from this kettle was taken to the
house and put through a process
called stirring off the sugar" 1t has
to be stirred constantly, and is a worse
chore than stirring the apple butter.
We collected the sap twice q day
pouring the contents of the pals into
barrels we hauled on a bobsled drawn
by good team. The sun melted the
top of the ground, which had been
frozen hard so long so the runners
'slicked'' along nicely. I'm not alto
gether real sure you know what q
bobsled Is. but I'll not try to tell you,
for what need have you for knowing
when you live In q country where you
can't do any of the many joyful things
bobsled is good for-taking the COM
rades for straw rides when sleghing
is good. hauling up fodder or cordwood
coasting. 1t maybe couldn't beat an
auto, but know for certain it can go
lots and lots of places nobody would
think of trying to go with an auto, and
come safe out of 'em, too, every time
The horses enjoyed their part of the
work, and 1 believe in giving all the
chances for joyousness that you can in
this world. The team hadn't had much
exercise and they were full of mis-
chief remember one day old Rock
Chow do you like that as a name for a
horseD just reared straight up and
then kicked up his heels and kept at
it, front and rear. until l took up the
lines then he shook his head and gave
a snort and went along just as 1 knew
he would. You thought was going 10