164 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



the first warm days of March before commencing prep- 

 arations for the spring campaign. In the larger 

 " buslies " many of the improvements and conveniences 

 are made to be permanent. A stone arch is built, large 

 enongh to support two or three broad but shallow 

 sheet-iron pans and a swinging caldron kettle. A rude 

 but comfortable cabin, fifteen or twenty feet square of 

 boards or split logs, is erected just in front of the arch, 

 and but a few feet from it, to serve as a dwelling for 

 the men during the sugar season, and as a storage house 

 for the buckets the balance of the year. Convenient 

 roads, through which the teams may be driven to draw 

 the sap, are made by cutting out the underbrush and 

 fallen trees. A few cords of wood are cut in the fall 

 and hauled near the camp, as a part of seasoned fuel is 

 almost a necessity. After two or three bright days in 

 March, and while the weather is still crisp, the sap 

 buckets are taken out and scalded, and then distributed 

 through the woods, leaving one near each maple tree — 

 and if the tree be very large, perhaps two. These pre- 

 liminary arrangements completed, further work is 

 deferred until the day is warm enough to set the sap in 

 circulation. A warm south wind is favorable to start 

 it, but a west wind is necessary for a prolonged run. 

 E'ow commences the active work in the woods. The 

 sound of the axe is heard from morning till night, and 

 the clear, metallic ring of the hammer and tapping 

 gouge awaken the woodland echoes ; the men and boys, 

 with whistle and song, join in the chorus, and the pic- 

 ture is one of cheerful industry. 



