494 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



formed Mr. Colman, the agricultural commissioner, that in one 

 season he obtained, from one tree, 175 gallons of sap, which, if 

 of average strength, would have made 43 pounds of sugar. 



There are different opinions as to the character of the winters 

 most favorable to the production of sugar. Open winters are 

 thought to cause the sap to be sweetest; and much freezing and 

 thawing to make it most abundant and of the best quality. 

 Michaux's inquiries led him to think a cold and dry winter 

 most favorable. It is probable that the product depends much 

 more on the character of the previous summer. A summer of 

 plentiful rain and sunshine, that is, one which furnishes the 

 trees with abundant nutriment and is at the same time favor- 

 able to the elaboration of the saccharine matter and its deposi- 

 tion in the vessels of the wood of the tree, ought naturally to 

 prepare a plentiful harvest of sugar for the subsequent spring. 



The time at which the sap begins to run freely varies with 

 the season and with the exposure and elevation of the ground. 

 In warm and low situations, it is earlier, in cold and elevated 

 ones, later. It sometimes begins about the middle of February, 

 usually about the second week in March and continues into 

 April. A clear, bright day with a westerly wind, succeeding a 

 frosty night, is most favorable to the flow of sap ; a thawing 

 night is thought to prevent its flow; and it ceases during a south 

 wind, and at the approach of a storm. There are commonly from 

 ten to fifteen " good sap days " in the sap season, which con- 

 tinues about six weeks. After this, in spring, and also in sum- 

 mer and the earlier part of autumn, sap continues to flow, but 

 it is not rich in saccharine matter. 



The sap is obtained by making an incision with a chisel and 

 boring with a small bit, or by boring, with an augur five eighths 

 of an inch in diameter, holes inclining upwards to the depth of 

 from two to six inches, according to the size of the tree, and 

 inserting a spout made of elder, or, most commonly, sumac, the 

 pith of which being removed, leaves a tube large enough for the 

 purpose. Several holes are so bored that their spouts shall lead 

 to the same bucket, and high enough to allow the bucket to 

 hang two or three feet from the ground, to prevent leaves and 

 dirt from being blown in. The openings are usually made on 



