THE PRODUCTION OF MAPLE SIRUP AND SUGAR. 25 



fitted with a funnel as the receptacle; this takes lime to fill and also 

 to empty when the sled is drawn up to the sugar house. Some set 

 the barrel on end, knocking the head in and fixing a faucet at the 

 other end for the sap to run out. Other makers u>e large wooden 

 tanks, either round or square, fitted with an opening at the bottom 

 and a standpipe (fig. 6). 



There is the same objection to the use of these wooden tanks for 

 collection as to the wooden sap buckets; but since the sap does not 

 slay in them any length of time, the objection is not so strong. 

 They should be painted on the inside before the beginning of the 

 season and cleaned often when being used. 



Many forms of metal tanks are made for this purpose. These 

 forms are quite desirable on account of their ease of filling and 

 emptying. The iron pipe at one end is loosely screwed onto the 

 nipple at the bottom of the tank and is held upright by the lock at 

 the top of the tank. To empty, the lock is taken out of the socket 

 and the pipe turned downward. These tanks may be obtained in 

 sizes holding from 2 to 6 barrels of 32 gallons each. 



A flannel or cheese cloth may be stretched over the top of the 

 tanks and the sap poured through this to remove any twigs, leaves, 

 or pieces of dirt. This is of great importance in the production of 

 a good grade of maple product. 



BOILING HOUSES. 



If the sugar bush is small and near the house or farm buildings, 

 the boiling can be clone in the summer kitchen, over the cookstove. 

 or in a shed; but if 200 or more trees are tapped, some kind of a 

 boiling house should be used and some attention paid to its location. 

 In selecting a suitable place, the first point to consider is the distance 

 from the sugar bush; it should be located in the bush or near by 

 where no long hauls of sap are necessary and on a level spot where 

 good drainage can be secured with higher ground near by to allow 

 a drive where the gathering tank may be drawn up and its contents 

 emptied by gravity. It is not a good plan, however, to locate a house 

 close up against a high bank or cliff which would interfere with the 

 draft for the chimney. If no low spot with a slight elevation is 

 available, dirt can be piled up for the driveway. 



A roof is not necessary, but it serves to house the sleds and appa- 

 ratus, and in bad weather to keep snow and rain from the tank. 

 After season this space is also available for the storage of the sap 

 buckets. 



The size and kind of sugar house must be regulated by the size 

 of the camp or number of trees to be tapped. A convenient size is 

 one in which there are at least 3 feet of space on both sides of the 

 evaporator and 5 feet in front. The house should be at least 7 feet 

 and, better, 8 feet high at the sides and covered with a well-slanting 

 gable roof; a quarter pitch for the roof is recommended by many. 

 There should be a ventilator as long as the evaporator in the ridge 

 of the roof, and placed immediately over the evaporator. Many 

 makers claim that a wooden roof is to be preferred to a metal one, 

 as there is less condensation and dropping into the pan. Then, too, 

 a metal roof without paint soon rusts and allows dirt to drop into 



516 



