MAPLE SUGAR. 



MR. WOODWORTh's STATEMENT. 



The following is the statement of Joel Woodworth, of Watertown^ 



Jefferson county, relative to his process of manufacturing the maple 



sugar, which drew the first premium of the State Society, of which 



the committee of awards made the following remarks : — " It is much 



superior to all the others — we have never seen any thing of the kind 



at all comparable with this, either in the perfection of the granulation^ 



or in the extent to which the refining process has been carried ; the 



whole coloring matter is extracted, and the peculiar flavor of maple 



sugar is completely eradicated, leaving the sugar fully equal to the 



double refined cane loaf sugar, to be found in our markets." 



In the first place I make my buckets, tubs, and kettles, all perfect- 

 ly clean. I boil the sap in a potash kettle, set in an arch in such a 

 manner that the edge of the kettle is defended all around from the fire. 

 I boil through the day, taking care not to have any thing in the ket- 

 tle that will give color to the sap, and to keep it well skimmed. At 

 night I leave fire enough under the kettle to boil the sap nearly or 

 quite to syrup by the next morning. I then take it out of the kettle 

 and strain it through a flannel cloth into a tub, if it is sweet enough ; 

 if not, I put it in a cauldron kettle, which I have hung on a pole in 

 such a manner that I can swing it on and off the fire at pleasure, and 

 boil it till it is sweet enough, and then strain it into the tub and let it 

 stand till the next morning ; I then take it and the syrup in the kettle 

 and put it altogether in the cauldron and sugar it off. I use to clarify, 

 say 100 lbs. of sugar, the whites of five or six eggs, well beaten, about 

 one quart of new milk and a spoonful of saleratus, all well mixed 

 with the syrup before it is scalding hot. I then make and keep a 

 moderate fire directly under the cauldron until the scum is all raised ; 

 then skim it off clean, taking care not to let it boil so as to rise in the 

 kettle before I ha-ve done skimming it. I then sugar it off, leaving it 

 so damp that it will drain a little. I let it remain in the kettle until 

 it is well granulated. I then put it into boxes, made smallest at the 

 bottom, that will hold from 50 to 70 lbs., having a thin piece of board 

 fitted in two or three inches above the bottom, which is bored full of 

 small holds to let the molassas drain through, which I keep drawn off 

 by a tap through the bottom. I put on the top of the sugar in the 

 box two or three thicknesses of clear damp cloth, and over that a 



