STJOAJR ^ISTD SIRUP. 



HISTORY OF THE MAPLE-SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The art of making maple sugar was first learned by the early set- 

 tlers from the Indians. 



For a hundred years or more the methods of production remained 

 without material change save the substitution of iron or copper 

 kettles for vessels of clay or bark, and the use of better utensils. 

 The sugar was made merely for home use; cane sugar was a luxury 

 and often unobtainable by the pioneer farmer at any cost. The 

 trees were tapped in the Indian way and the sap was carried in 

 buckets from the wooden troughs that stood under the spouts to the 

 boiling kettle, or was temporarily stored in large troughs made by 

 hollowing out logs. 



The boiling was generally done in the open woods, with no pro- 

 tection from sun, rain, snow, and miscellaneous impurities. Green 

 or dead and down timber, cut as fast as it was needed, generally 

 supplied the fuel. After the sap had been boiled down to the 

 consistency of thin sirup it was stored until enough was on hand for 

 " sugaring off." 



The crude product of early days was dark in color and quite vari- 

 able in quality, while in quantity it was wholly inadequate for a 

 large trade. In the course of time, however, the industry assumed 

 commercial importance in the Northern States, with Vermont, New 

 York, and, subsequently, Ohio leading in production. About the 

 middle of the last century a rapid improvement in the methods and 

 machinery employed took place. 



PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



Maple sugar, at first an article of food, has now been almost dis- 

 placed for this purpose by the cheaper and unflavored cane product. 

 Yet the demand for maple sugar and sirup for special purposes, owing 

 to their peculiar flavor, not only keeps the industry alive but calls 

 for a continually increasing supply. Production has not kept pace 

 with this growth in demand, but has been more or less stationary for 



a The Indians boiled the sap down by repeatedly dropping hot stones into it. 

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