The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1949-03-10

was in making maple syrup. But
he followed both trades at differ
cnt seasons of the year
Thorla worked near Hiram in
Portage county to learn the busi-
ness Of making syrup.
He recalls that the old timers
used to say that it took hard
freezing and thaWing to make
sweet sap. He says that the mild
weather Of this winter has not
been ideal for the industry and
that sap will not be as sweet this
year. However, if he offers you a
spoonful to taste, you will say it
is sWeeter than most the maple
syrup you have tasted.
When the winter freezing and
thaWing have started the sap to
running, Thorla taps the trees.
The season usually lasts about
three weeks.
ThOrla works in the slab cabin
he built 33 years ago. 1t is IA by
"a feet in size The smooth sides
of the slabs are outward and the
rounded bark sides face inWards.
The cabin is built on a gradual
slope to take advantage of gra-
witty in feeding the sap into the
cVaporating tanks. An escape
tower for the steam was built
above the roof. At the higher end
of the cabin ThOrla built a stone
chimney to carry off smoke from
the fires. The metal eVapOrating
pans stand on a stone furnace
built up about three feet from
the ground floor of the cabin. The
fire wood is placed in the furnace
through a small iron door.
Uses Horse and Sled
ThOrla's son drives a One-hOrSe
sled carrying a 45-gallon barrel
! from tree to tree and pOurS the
accumulated sap into the barrel.
Then he drives to the sugar camp
and pOurS the sap into a trough
so that half its length is outside
the higher end of the cabin and
+ the other part extends inside.
/ From that trough the sap is
siphoned to a storage pan in the
cabin. AS it is needed the sap is
run by gravity to a long eVapor
ating pan on the end Of the cab
in near the door and at the Op-
I posite end from the brick Chin
ney
There arc many partitions in
the CVapOrating pans. Each partl-
tiOn contains a small gate that IS
regulated by hand. AS the sap
is boiled by the wood fire to
thicker and thicker consistency,
/ it is allowed to flow by gravity
to the "syruping OFF, compart-
ment.
During the boiling, the operat-
or Skins the sap at the proper
time He regulates the speed Of
! the gravity flow by judgment.
Thorla says that the best syrup
is made by keeping the sap at a
shallow depth in the pans and
feeding it through the evaporator
as rapidly as possible The fuel
should be hard wood to make
hot fires. The faster the sap is
brought from the tree to the eV-
aporator and processed, the bet
ter the quality Of the syrup will
be.
Thorla stands on a board laid
on the dirt floor. When a pan
full of sap is approaching the
consistency required for syrup,
he has to give his full attention
to his work. Other syrup makers
use hydrometers. None of these
new tangled instruments for
ThOrla. He doesn't need them. He
uses judgment developed by a
life time of experience.
He dips a long wooden paddle
into the liquid and watches the
syrup drip off into the pan.
when he judges the syrup to be
just perfect, he opens a valve
and forces it quickly into a can.
Then, just as quickly, he pours
thinner syrup from the adjoining
pan to the finishing pan.
Thorla says that the sap has to
boil for an average of two hours
to reach the right thickness for
syrup.
A Barrel of Sap
On a good day one maple tree
will produce a two and one-halt
gallon bucket full of sap. In a
season of about three weeks, a
tree will yield 45-gallon barrel