SUGAR PLANTS 89 



Now spouts of tin or galvanized iron are used. 

 Drip, drip, falls the sap into the buckets, and every 

 day it is gathered for boiling. The trees may run 

 for some weeks. 



Maple sugar has a peculiarly delicate flavor, 

 that adapts it for use in the making of fancy 

 desserts and confectionery. In the markets it 

 commands a price far higher than cane or beet 

 sugar, even when dark in color and strong in flavor. 

 Constant boiling of the syrup, and faithful skim- 

 ming produces the best quality of sugar, and the 

 lightest color. Much of the year's crop is sold as 

 syrup, canned before it reaches the density re- 

 quired for crystallization. 



A delightful variation from the gritty brick 

 sugar and the syrup is maple cream, a smooth, 

 fine-grained, almost white paste, made by stirring 

 heavy syrup with a wooden paddle. 



The hard or sugar maple, and a closely related 

 species, or variety, called the black maple, are 

 the two principal sources of maple sugar. It is, 

 therefore, an American product, bound to dwindle 

 in amount from year to year by reason of the 

 cutting off of the forests in the northern tier of 

 states. Vermont and Ohio are perhaps the largest 

 producers now. The maintenance of hard maple 

 groves will always interest a few people who supply 



