Maple Sugar

MAPLE SUGAR. In the article Sorghum, will be found matter relating to sugar making, from the best data except that of making sugar from the true sugar cane, and making maple sugar. So far as condensing the sap of the maple is concerned and converting it into sugar the ideas expressed in the article Sorghum will apply. The tapping. of the trees and gathering the sap, when there is a considerable sugar orchard, must be carried out systematically, and, when proper implements are to be obtained, it is cheaper that the best quality of these be bought. Yet, in many localities, it is difficult to procure modern uten sils, especially in the settlement of a new coun try. Thus, we will suppose that one of the early settlers, a farmer, is going to engage in making maple sugar, he would commence operations in something like the following raanner: The first thing to he done is to procure something in which to catch the sap, and just before the season for making sugar arrives, he takes his axe, goes into the woods where the work is to be done, and proceeds to make a sufficient quantity of troughs. These are generally made out of soft tirnber, such as will split freely and work easily; trees of about one foot in diameter are selected and cut into lengths of from two and a half to three feet; these are split through the center, and the blocks thus made are dug out with the axe, and made large enough to hold from one to two pails of sap. He next wants some spouts to conduct the sap from the tree to the trough; these are made of some timber that splits well, and are made by cutting or sawing blocks one foot in length, and splitting them into thin, narrow staves. If a crooked frow can be obtained to split them with, they are of the desired form; but if they have to be split with an axe, as is frequently the case, then a shallow groove has to be eut on one side for the sap to run in; oue end of the spout is sharpened to correspond with the shape of the tapping iron. This instrument is about one foot in length, and made of iron in the shape of a carpenter's gouge, the cutting end being about two inches wide and usually made of steel. When the sap will run, the trees are tapped by Making two incisions on the body of the tree, near the pound, or as near as the snow will admit; these incisions are made in the form of the letter V; just below the point of these cuts, another is made with the tapping iron by driving it into the tree with the axe, and into this the sharpened end of the spout is driven, and under this spout a trough is placed to catch the sap. Previous to tapping the trees, a place is prepared to boil the sap; this is done by felling a large hard wood tree; from the• butt end two logs are cut, the length of these depending on the num ber of kettles to be used. If only two are used, they would be about six feet long. These logs are placed on the ground parallel with each other, with a space between them wide enough to bang the kettles. At each end of the logs a crotched stick is set into the ground, and across these a pole is laid ; from this pole the kettles are suspended. These are generally iron, and hold from twelve to fifteen gallons. In boiling the sap, when the logs are burned up, others are eut from the same tree and rolled up to supply their places If the tree did not supply logs enough for the season, and others could not be brought conveniently to the fire, a tree was cut in another place and the boiling place removed. It was usually the custom, however, when it was desirable to have a permanent boiling place, to go in the fall or winter previous and cut and pile logs enough near the boiling place to last through the season; sometimes wood was eut and piled ready for use, but generally the wood used was green, and cut from day to day as it was wanted. The sap was gathered and carried to the boiling place in buckets or pails suspended from the ends of a wooden yoke, made to fit the shoulders of the person who gathered the sap. In gathering sap when the snow was deep, unless paths were made to go in, it was necessary to use snow-shoes to go around on the snow. Gener ally a rude shanty was erected near the boiling place, under which the tools that were used and sometimes a little dry wood were placed, and into which the man himself could also go when occasion required. Our fathers had but limited mgans for storing the sap when gathered; and during a good run mueh of it would be wasted, and during stormy weather mueh snow and rain would get into the sap. In boiling sap in kettles hung between logs, the wood to make the fire With had to be set endwise between the logs and kettles, and as the lower ends burned off, the lops of the small sticks would frequently fall into the kettles; leaves hnd ashes would occa sionally be blown in by the wind, and when the sap was nearly boiled down to syrup it would burn on the sides of the kettles, thus giving the contents of the kettles an additional color. In some instances the syrup was strained through hemlock boughs, and then boiled down to sugar, if a mixture made by boiling such a compound together could be called by that name. Those who wished to make a nice article would strain the syrup through a linen strainer, then clarify it with milk or eggs, then strain it again and boil it to sugar. In this way a much better article of sugar was made than one would suppose. At the close of the season the troughs were turned bottom upwards hy the tree, or set endwise against it, where they were ready for use next spring. The spouts were taken from the trees, and with the kettles and other tools, carried to the dwelling-house of the owner for future use. After a series of years wooden buckets began to be used in the place of troughs, and instead of tapping the tree with the axe and tapping iron, an auger was used. The trees were tapped by boring a hole into the tree from one to two inches in depth, and short, round spouts driven into the holes; an iron spike was driven into the tree a few inches below the spouts on which the bucket was hung by means of a hole bored through one of the staves near the top. A caul dron kettle was substituted for boiling the sap, and this large kettle was hung up to one end of a long pole resting on a crotched stick set in the ground; this pole was so balanced that when the kettle was filled with sap, the other end of the pole would rise and let the kettle down to the fire; but when the sap was boiled down low, the kettle would rise out of the way of the fire. The advantage of having it hung in this way was, that much less of foreign substances got into the sap while it was boiling; and if the per son who was boiling the sap should be absent from the fire for some time, and the sap get low, it would swing up from the fire, and thus pre vent it from being burned. After this, those who had cauldron kettles began to set them in arches made of stone, and these arches were generally protected from the storm by a shelter of some kind, at the same time the wood for boiling the sap was cut the season before it was wanted for use, so that it would be dry when wanted. Those persons having sugar lots near their dwelling-houses, accessible to a team, and having conveniences at their for boiling sap, drew it and boiled it there; the sap was gath ered and put in barrels, and drawn on sleds to the boiling place. Soon after this, as there began to be a market for maple sugar, those engaged in the business began to build permanent houses and enlarge their accommodations and facilities for manufacturing. These sugar houses are generally built on the sugar lot, and were made large enough to contain not only boiling fixtures, but the storage for sap, the sap buckets when not in use, ana generally the wood to be used These improvements in the manufacture of maple sugar which have been mentioned would bring us down to about thirty years ago, at which time considerable attention had been given to the business, both in the manufacture of the sugar and the preparation of it for market. About this time sheet iron pans began to be used for boiling sap, and from thence a new era seems to have commenced in the business. It was soon ascertained that those who used these pans for makinm sugar obtained a much better article than triose who used iron kettles, and that those who made the best sugar sold it for the highest price; and that while there were generally plenty ,of customers for a good article, it was often diffi cult to dispose of an inferior one at paying prices. These considerations, with the increasing demand for maple sugar have stimulated those engaged in the manufacture to make all the improve ments that were possible, so as to produce a auperior article at the least expense and with the least labor. The most approved way of build ing sugar houses now is to locate them so that the ground on one side of the house will be sev -eral feet higher than on the opposite side. The general plan of the house and fixtures for boil ing and storing the sap is as follows: The house is made larme enough to enclose the arch and store-tubs at6one end, with the wood in the other end, and the sap buckets in the upper part. 'Fhe arch is built near one side of the house, and on the opposite side is built a platform on which the store-tubs are placed. These tubs are so arranged that the sap can be drawn by means of a faucet in the bottom of the tubs into a spout, and run into the heater or pans. On the outside of the building the ground is fitted at such a height that the sap can be drawn from the bot tom of the gathering tubs and run into the tops of the store-tubs. With this arrangement all the labor of lifting the sap after it is placed in the gathering-tubs or buckets and brought to the house is avoided; the only force used after this until the sap is in the pans is that of gravitation. In the sides of the building are doors, so calcu lated as to afford means for the steam from the boilino- sap to pass off. The arches are generally -built of brick, though where suitable stone c he obtained it is sometimes used. The arch is usually made wide enough to set on one pan and long enough to place one or two pans, as may be Tequired, and a heater. The pans to be set first from the mouth of the arch, and the heater between the pan and chimney. The mouth of the arch is fitted with a cast iron frame and door. A.bout eight inches from the bottom of the ardh is a bed on which the fire is made; this floor is generally made of narrow, flat stones, with suffi ;eient space between them for the coals and ashes to fall through into the lower part, and thus pre vent the fire-place from getting clogged up, as it would do in boiling any length of time without .the floor. In this arrangement of the floor, the draft of air passes under and up through the fire, throwing the flame and heat of the fire .against the bottom of the pans. The pans are generally set directly on the top of the arch, which is made level and smooth for that pur pose. The ends of the pans rest on iron castings made for that purpose. On the end of the areh where the heater is placed is fitted a cast iron frame, in which the heater sets. The pans for boiling the sap are made of Russia sheet iron, and are of different sizes, bolding from one to four barrels. The size of a pan holding one barrel is two feet three inches long, and two feet -wide on the bottom; a two-barrel pan, five feet .five inches long and two feet wide: a three-bar rel pan, five feet four inches long, three feet three 'inches wide, a one and a half barrel pan, four tfeet four inches long, and two feet wide. The depth of the pans is seven and a half inches. The sides of the pans usually flare about three inches on a side, which would make the top of the pan six inches wider than the bottom. Handles are placed on the sides of the pans near the top. The cost of the pans will vary with the price of iron and also the quality of the stock. The sap-heater is a modern improve ment. Experience in the process of boiling sap has shown that whatever vessel is used, the larger the surface exposed to the fire the faster will evaporation take place, and that evapora tion will proceed faster in shallow vessels than in deep ones; and on this principle the sheet-iron pan has been constructed. In the construction of the sap-heater the idea was to make a vessel in which a much larger surface of the vessel, and consequently the sap, would be exposed to the fire than was in the pan then in use. To accom plish this it was proposed to incorporate into a sap-pan the principle, and as far as practicable, the form of a high-pressure steam engine. The plan adopted was to make a pan, with a box or pit extending down from the bottom of the pan. Into this box were placed a number of tubes: the ends of tubes made tight to the sides of the the pit, and holes cnt through the sides of the pit against the ends of the tubes. In making the pit the holes are first made in the sides; then the tubes fitted in. When the pan was placed on the arch the pit of tubes would be placed in such a position that the heat and smoke of the tire should pass through these tubes, thus expos ing a very large surface to the action of the tire, and, consequently, when the vacant places between the tubes were filled with sap, a very rapid evaporation must take place. Another consideration in the use of the heater is, that no additional fuel or heat is required; the heater, being placed in the arch behind the pans, receives the heat from the fire after it passes from the pans, so that all that is accomplished in boil ing with the heater is a clear gain in time and fuel. In using the heater it was found necessary to have the top part of it made high, to prevent the sap running over when boiling; for when the fires are hot the heater is tilled with foaming sap. Even with the high top it is necessary to have one or two tulles or spouts in the side near the top, to let the boiling sap into the pan before it, and also to make the system of boiling arrangements complete, which will be examined hereafter. The sap heater is made of the best quality of tin ; the usual size is as follows: The upper part is nineteen and three-quarters by thirteen and one-quarter inches wide on the sides at the bottom, and eighteen inches high; the sides flare about two inches, so that the top is about four inches wider than the bottom. The pit is twelve and one-half inches deep. The tubes are thirteen and one-half inches long, and one and three quarters inches in diameter. A pit of this size will contain thirty-five tubes, placed in five rows, seven tubes in a row. Near the top of the heater, on the side next to the pan, one or two tubes are placed to carry the sap from the heater to the pan. On the sides of the heater, at the top, are handles for taking it off. The cost of the heater is from eight to fourteen dol lars, according to the size. The method of tak ing off the heater is to have a windlass directly over it. When the heater is not in use in boiling sap, a piece of sheet or cast iron, is used to cover the place in which it sets. To remove tbe pans

from the arch when they contain hot sap or syrup various ways are used. The simplest and safest way is to have a strip of board nailed to the studs on the side of the house, the top edge of the board level with the top of the arch; then have two strips of board just long enough to reach from the side of the house to the bottom of the pan on the arch; have the upper side of the ends of the hoards next to the pan beveled off to an edge; place these near the ends of the pans. A fter the greater part of the syrup has been dipped out of the pan, stand at the side of the arch between these boards; take hold of the handles of tbe pan and draw it upon tbe boards where it can be emptied of tbe rest of the syrup. Tbe plan for boiling sap in the arrangement just described is, after the sap has commenced boil ing, to have a stream of sap running into the heater, and from the heater into the pan before it, in which it is boiled down to syrup. If two pans are used, the sap is dipped from one to the other. The quantity of sap wbich can be boiled in a given time depends on many circumstances. Sap will boil much faster on a clear day than on a cloudy or stormy one, and weak sap will boil away faster than that which is stronger. With a three-barrel pan and a heater, with good wood and favorable weather, sap enough for eighty pounds of sugar can be boiled in a day as an average day's work. The kind of wood used may be either hard or soft, though it is now thought that equal parts of both kinds, mixed together, are the most economical. With one pan and heater the wood should not be cut over three feet long; some think two feet long enough. If the wood is too long it will clog up the back part of the arch with coals, so that the heater will not work as well. One cord of wood, (running measure,) two feet long, will boil as much sap as a cord four feet long. One cord of wood two or tbree feet long, is calculated to make one hundred pounds of sugar. The buckets used to catch the sap are made both of wood and tin, the wooden ones being generally used. These are made of pine lumber, hooped with iron, and painted with oil paint on both sides; at the top of the bucket, on the outside, is an ear made of sheet iron, through which is a hole large enough for the spike to pass on which it is hung. The spouts used for convey ing the sap from the tree to tbe bucket are principally made of wood, although metallic ones are used to some extent. The wooden spouts are made of hard wood, birch making the best. They are made by taking inch boards, sawing them into strips oue inch wide, then cut into pieces the length of the spout, which is about six inches; these are then put into a lathe and turned round and smooth, one end of which is tapered down to a little less than half an inch in diameter; a hole about one-fourth of an inch is then bored through the entire length, and the spout is ready for use. The spikes for hanging the bucket on the tree are made of wrought iron, and are about two inches in length, with the head on one side of the nail, to prevent the bucket from slipping off. A common half-inch bit is used for tapping the tree, though many use one seven-sixteenths of an inch for that purpose, and a one-half inch bit for boring the second time. In all sugar lots where the surface of the laad will admit of a team being used, the sap is drawn from the different parts of tbe lot to the sugar house, on sleds. For this purpose a gathering-tub, holding three or four barrels, is used. This tub is made with a head in both ends, the diameter of the bottom being much larger than tbe top, to prevent it from tipping- when filled. In tbe top of tbe tub a bole is cut large enough to turn in the sap; a lid is made to fit this hole, so that when the tub is full it can be closed tight, to prevent the sap from being wasted in going to the house. The tub is fastened on tbe sled with stakes or chains. The tubs in the house for storing are usually about the size of the gathering tubs; they have but one head, and the tops of these are the largest. Both the gathering and storing tubs are made of spruce or pine planks, hooped with iron, and usually painted on the outside. The storing tubs should be painted on the inside like the buckets, to prevent them from becoming sour and discolored with mildew. Whenever stor ing tubs or buckets become sour, they should be immediately washed clean before putting more sap in them. In those lots where a team can not be used to draw the sap, a hand sled can be frequently used with advantage. Many of the sugar lots are located on the sides of hills so steep that neither teams nor hand-sleds can be used to draw tbe sap. In these lots leading spouts or pipes can be used in a way to save much severe labor. By having the sugar house located at the lowest part of the lot, lines of leading spouts can be put up from the house to different parts of tbe lot, and in these spouts. the sap can be run from those places to the house. Spouts can not be used when it snows, as the snow that falls into them will choke up the passage of the sap, "so that it will run over and waste. In rainy weather considerable water will collect in the spouts if the line of spouts ie. a long one. At the upper end of the line a. store-tub is placed; by means of a faucet the sap is drawn into the spouts, and the size of the stream gauged to their capacity. Pipes are a. great improvement on the wooden spout. It can be used as well in stormy as in pleasant weather. The size of the tube generally made is one-balf inch; one end of these spouts is made a little larger than the other, so that the ends will fit tight in putting them up. The quantity of sap which different trees produce varies largely; some will produce as many pailsful as others do quarts. As a general rule, second-growth trees that have the most top will produce tbe most sap; with first-growth trees the difference is not as great. Trees standing in open land -will pro duce much more sap than those growing where the timber is thick. Sap varies much in sac charine strength. Trees growing in open fields, or in exposed places produce a sweeter sap than. those growing in the forest. Some years tbe sap will produce much more sugar than in others. Taking one year with another, eight pounds of sugar to a barrel of sap is a good average yield. Sap requires to be reduced to about one-twentieth of its bulk, to form good syrup. In making maple sugar or molasses, one thing is indispensably necessary in order to make a good article; that is, cleanliness in every pro cess from the time the sap is collected till it is made into sugar. Great care should be taken that all the implements used to hold the sap or syrup should be kept clean and sweet. The same care should be taken to prevent all foreign pb stances, such as bark, leaves and dirt, from get ting into the sap, and also to remove them as soon as possihle, wheneyer they do get in, as everything of this nature has a tendency to impart a dark color and also an unpleasant flavor to the sugar. Sap usually runs best in pleasant weather, when the air is clear and wind west—an easterly wind dries up the sap—but at this season of the year, changes of weather and storms are frequent, and if it can be avoided, sap should not remain out to be exposed to the storm, as water from any source injures the quality of the sugar. Experi ence has shown that the sooner the sap is con verted into sugar after it leaves the tree, the bet ter; and especially is this the ease when the weather grows warm; for the sap is liable to sour in the buckets, and also in the store-tubs. When the weather is quite warm—as it sometimes is for a day or two—sap will sour in twenty-four hours. At such times the boiling should be forced to the utmost extent, night and day, if necessary. At no time should much sap be allowed to accumulate on hand, if it can possibly be avoided. After the sap has been gathered, if there is dirt in it without ice, it may be strained as it runs into the pans. After the boiling has commenced, it should be kept up without cessa tion until it is reduced to syrup. Twelve hours is long enough to boil at one time for syruping off. The syrup should be b died down as thick as it can be strained when taken from the fire. Whatever dirt and scum arises on the surface of the sap when hoiling should be removed with a skimmer. As soon as the syrup is taken from the fire, it should be strained into a tub used for that purpose, and allowed to settle. The best strainers are made of home-made flannel—one thickness of cloth answering for a strainer. After the syrup has settled, it should be made into sugar. Pour off that part which is clear into the pan or kettle to be used in boiling it, leaving the sedi ment in the tub. By turning some hot sap into this it can be settled again, and either boiled down by itself or with the next lot of syrup. It was formerly the practice to clarify the syrup with milk or eggs, to Temove the impurities; but if the syrup be well settled it needs none, for the simple reason that there are no impurities to remove. After the syrup is placed on the fire it should be kept boiling with a steady fire until it is done. Sometimes, while boiling, it Is inclined to run over. To prevent this, put a piece of but ter the size of a marble into it, and sometimes it may be necessary to put in a second or third piece before it will settle. A very good way is to take a stick long enough to reach across the vessel; lay this stick across the top of it, and from the stick suspend a piece of fat pork ; when the syrup rises against the pork, it has the same effect as the butter. If neither of these methods will prevent the syrup from running over, the heat of the fire must be reduced until it boils steadily. The degree of hardness to which the sugar needs to he boiled depends on the subse quent treatment. If it is to be put into tubs and drained, it should be boiled only- enough to have it granulate readily; if it is to be put into cakes, it should be done so hard that it will not drain at all; it is necessary to boil it as long as it can and not burn. There are various ways of telling when the sugar is hoiled enough. A convenient and good way is, when snow can be obtained, to have a dish of snow, and when some of the hot sugar is put on the snow, if it does not run into the snow, but cools in the form of wax on the surface of the snow, it is done enough to put into tubs to drain. But when it is to be caked or stirred, it should he boiled until, when it is cooled on the snow. it will break like ice or glass. When SDOW can not be obtained, stir some of the sugar in a dish, and as soon as it will granulate, it is done enough to drain; when it will form bubbles, feathers, or ribbons, on being blown, it is done enough to cake or stir. To try it in this way, take a small wire or stick and form one end into a loop; dip this loop into the sugar and blow through it to produce the forms described. When the sugar is done it should be taken from the fire immediately, and cooled. It is then ready to be put up in any way that may be wanted. In large places, or where large quantities of sugar are made and the syrup is sugared off at the sugar house, a one-barrel pan fitted to a small arch is used to make the sugar in ; but when the sugar ing-off is done on the stoves of the dwelling houses, as large quantities of it are, smaller pans or hrass kettles are used. These pans are made of sheet iron, tin and copper; a convenient size is one of twenty-two inches long by thirteen wide on the bottom, and thirteen inches high, with handles on the ends. From forty to fifty pounds of sugar can be made in a pan of this description. The general method of putting up maple sugar for family use is to place it in tubs and drain it. When put up in this way, the sugar should stand long enough after it is taken from the fire to become well crystallized before it is put into the tubs. The hest tubs for this purpose are those holding from one to two hun dred pounds, made flaring, largest at the top, and having two bottoms. There should be a space of several inches between the bottoms, to contain the molasses which drains from the sugar. The upper bottom should be fitted loose, so that it can be taken out when the tub is empty. In this hottom one or rnore holes should be made for the molasses to drain through. "vVhen the tubs are to be filled with sugar this hole should be stopped with a stick long enough to reaeh above the top of the tub. After the first batch of sugar put into the tub has become hard, the stick should be loosened and raised a little, and this process continued until the tub is filled. The molasses will drain through this hole into the receptacle below the sugar, where it is secure from dust and insects, and when wanted for use it can be drawn out by means of a faucet in the side of the tuh. Many families are in the habit of stirring a portion of their sugar, as in this form it retains its flavor better than when it is drained, and is in a rnore convenient form for use. When the sugar is to be stirred it should be boiled bard enough to cake. When it is done, take it froni the tire, set the pan in a cool place, and with a wooden paddle commence stirring it briskly, and continue to do so until the sugar is grained and dry, or of the consistency of the brown cane sugars. If it is then put into tight hoxes or tubs and thus kept, it will retain the fresh maple flavor for some length of time. When the sugar is to be caked, it should he allowed to stand after it is taken from the fire until it is partially grained, when it should be run into the moulds. Care should be taken not to let it get too cold before it is put into the moulds, for it hardens so fast at this stage that it must be handled quickly in order to cake in good form. If it is desirable to have the sugar of a coarse grain, it should not be stirred while it is crystallizing; but if a finer grain is wanted by stirring it moderately, while cooling, any desired grain can be obtained. Both wooden and tin Inoulds are used to cake sugar in, and these are made of different forms and sizes—the weight of the cakes varying from two ounces to several pounds, The general form of the cake is a square, as this is the most convenient one for packing in boxes, in which form it is put up for market. Previous to putting the sugar into moulds, they should be wet with water as this prevents the cakes from sticking. After the sugar is removed from the moulds, they should be washed before they are filled again. In drain ing sugar most of the coloring matter can be taken out and a white sugar obtained; but in this pro cess much of the maple flavor is lost. The method is to cover the top of the sugar with wet cloths, flannel generally being used. These cloths should be wet and also washed daily in cold water until they are removed from the sugar.