30 



THE PRODUCTION OF MAPLE SIRUP AND SUGAR. 



14 inches deep. The metal is usually heavy tin or in some cases gal- 

 vanized iron, but never sheet iron. The sides slant toward the bot- 

 tom and the edges are reenforced well with heavy wire. The illus- 

 tration shows a faucet in the pan for drawing off the thickened 

 sirup. The arch is made of brick with a fire box and ash pit. Where 



, . there is no means of 



drawing off the sirup 

 the pan should be easily 

 removed from the fire 

 so that when the 

 proper concentration 

 has been reached the 

 contents of the pan 

 can be immediately 

 poured out into molds. 

 It is well to have the 

 sugaring-off pan in a 

 separate room in the 

 sugar house and lo- 

 cated so that there are 

 at least two rafters or 

 stringers holding the 

 sides of the house above 

 the pan. By attaching 

 block and tackle to 

 these and then having 

 four hooks on a ring 

 and the ring attached 

 to the block and tackle, 

 the hooks can be in- 

 serted into the handles 

 of the pan and one 

 man can easily lift the 

 pan from the arch and 

 swing it to the part of 

 the room where it is to 

 be emptied. This is 

 found extremely con- 

 venient. 



Sugaring - off pans 

 with metal arches can 

 be obtained. They pos- 

 sess numerous points of advantage over the homemade pans, the 

 main one being the absolute control of the heat by means of dampers. 



MAPLE SAP. 



The discussion up to this point has been altogether along the line 

 of apparatus used in this industry. The sap and the methods of 

 manufacturing it into sirup and sugar will now be considered. 



The flow of sap is not continuous; that is, when the tree is tapped 

 the sap does not start to run and continue until the season closes. 



516 



FIG. 10. Sugaring-off outfit. 



