The Coolidge examiner., 1934-03-16

Eri tired 81 boots. and wan; 10 come on, and
touch the soil Just soon as the sun has
warmed u a little. The country boy goes bare
foot Just naturally the trees burs; their
buds. which we're packed aud Vanished over in
the fall 10 keep the water and the frost out
Perhaps the boy has been out digging into the
maple trees wiih his Jack knife: at any rate.
he Il pretty sure 20 announce the discovery as
be comes running Into the house In a great
state ~ crcitement-as II be has heard hen
eackle IN the barn-wiih. 'saps runnln'r"
Yes. ~sap's Funnin' in the New England
states. IN New York. Ohio. Indiana Illinois. in
fact. wherever hard naples are native 20 the
soil On hundreds ~ farms In those states blue
smoke. curling up into the air above the trees
IN n sugar bush" tells the pakscrby that the
sugar camp is In operation and that here il
being produced those tao finest % all native
sweets. maple slrup and maple sugar And II
that passeT6y has ever known the Joys OF maple
sugar time. the sight % that smoke and the
smells which drift toward him from the sugar
camp will make memories tug af his heurtstrlugE
and Il viii BE- difficult for hisn 90 pass on By.
F0r as Charles Dudley Warner SAYS. IN nv
day. maple sugar making used 10 be- something
between pcnlcking and being shlpwrecked on
fertile island where one should save from the
wreck tnts and ausers. and great kettles aud
pork. and hens eggs and ryeand- Indian bread
and begin al once 20 lead the sweetest life I'm
the world. am told that Il Is something dif.
fcrcnt nowadays and that there is more desire
Co save the sap. and make good. pure sugar.
and sell u for large price. than there used
10 be. and that the old fun and plcturesqueness
Of the business are pretty much gone. l am told
that IL IN the custom TO carefully collect the
sap and bring Il 10 the house. where there are
built brick arches. over which Il ls evaporated
IN shallow pans and that pains are taken 10 keep
the leaves and sticks and ashes and Goals ou,
of IL: and that the sugar In clarified and that
In short. Il Is money making business In which
there is very little fun and that the boy IL not
allowed TO dip his paddle into the kettle OF
boiling sugar and lick OF the delicious srup
The prohibition may improve the sugar. but IL
Is cruel TO the boy"
Those words written more than half a
century ago t~Being a Boy was FIRST printed
In 1877 and Houghton. Miflin and Company OF
Boston got out a second edition - years later
illustrated with photographs by Clifton John
son. lovingly taken from the real life and heart
OF New England" which aid in preserving the
charm Of those truly good old dayx') II Charles
Dudley Warner were alive today he would nnd
that In some places where maple sugar Is made
the FUN and pIcturesqueneSs" are gone even
more than they when he wrote For In
stance, IN the state with which. more than any
other. we associate thoughts OF maple sugar,
there's a man. known the champion sugar
maker OF Vermont" who has devised an Intricate
system OF iron pipes leading from every one OF
the trees in his maple grove 20 huge evaporAtors
In the sugar house. and this network OF pipes.
more than 1900 feet In length sends a steady
stream Of sap into the place where II is con.
verted into maple strip and maple sugar
But despite this example OF modern efficiency
applied TO n business rich In tradition there stiil
are sugar camps In many places where the sap
drips through "splles" made of sumach or alder
into wooden sap burkets dust Ike the ones
made famous by President Coolidge during his
administrator where Il Is collected into great
wooden tubs barrels on sleds. drawn by a
yoke az oxen or team OF plodding horses
where il is boiled down IN great iron or copper
kettles: where they still hang piece OF fat
salt pork by a string from the pole over the ket-
tie so that IL Is about two inches from the top
edge 70 keep the sap from boiling over; and
where they viii let you dip some OF the bubbling
slrup out OF the kettle and pour Il on the snow
where IL forms almost Immediately that delicacy
OF all delicacIes-maple sugar wax. No, not all
OF the fun and pieturesqueness has been taken
out OF maple sugar time by modern methods and
"new-fangled notions OF efficiency In production.
Like 60 many other items In our national diet,