Cleveland County herald., 1921-03-03
MAPLE SUGAR
 TIME IS HERE
Only United States and Canada Produce This Much-Prized
 Product on Large Scale.
EARLY TAPpING IS FAVORED
First Runs Are Usually the Sweetest and Therefore the Best Producers Ten to Fifteen Trees Enough
 for Family.

Washington.-Reme the days when you went to the maple sugar parties? Well. maple sugar time is here. The sugar and sirup industry is American and offers good conner cial opportunities. Only the United States and Canada produce this much prized product on a commercial scale, which is at once a delicacy and a highly nutritious article of diet.
 Warm days and cold nights are es- sential to a satisfactory flow, and the sugar content may vary considerably from day to day. Tapping of sugar trees if done properly in no way in- jures the tree. Trees have been tapped for more than 100 years and are still in good condition.
 The maple is well up among the leaders in the American Forestry asso- ciation's vote for national tree.
 Early Tapping Is Favored.
 Tap early in the season, says gen. eral bulletin, to obtain the earlier runs, which are generally the sweet est, and therefore the best producers. Makers have lost half and even more of their crops by not being prepared for the first run.
 In general, the association points out, the season is ready to open dur ing the first or middle of February in the southern section and later in the northern regions when days are becoming warm-when the tempera- ture goes above freezing during the day and at night below freezing If the days are very bright, warm, and sunny the sap will start with a rush, but soon slacken, or if a high wind starts the flow is checked.
 A thirteen thirty-seconds of an inch (13-32 inch) bit is often used It's di- rection should be slightly upward in to the tree, the slant allowing the hole to drain readily. With an or dinary tree the hole should not be over one and a half to two inches deep at the best.
 Apparatus for sirup and sugar making does not necessarily repre- sent large outlay. A number of sap spouts, either wooden or metal, are needed. The sirup is usually gather ed in buckets.
 From ten to fifteen trees usually will yield enough sirup for family use to make tapping worth while, and in many cases will afford a surplus which can be sold at a remunerative price. The flow of sap depends upon the age, condition and habit of growth of the trees, also upon the character of the weather and con dtion of the soil during the sap-fow- ing season.
 Figures as to Yields
 Tn a good season a tree fifteen inches in diameter will yield suffi- cient sap to make from one to six quarts of sirup which in turn can be concentrated into two to ten pounds of sugar Larger trees under the same condition will produce core spondingly large yields of sirup and sugar. All hard maple trees eight inches or more in diameter, may be safely and proftably tapped for sirup and sugar production.
 This industry is not confined to cir cumscribed areas in New England and New York. There are many "sug- ar bushes" throughout eastern and northeastern United States and south to include North Carolina and Tennes- see; west to northern Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.
 A considerable number of maple found in Washington and Oregon.