The History of Maple Sugar 209 



better way to evaporate the sap was by boiling; 

 but this also was slow and troublesome. For the 

 Indian, having no iron pots, could boil the sugar 

 water only by dropping hot stones into it. 



From the days when maple sugar was a neces- 

 sity, down to the time when its making became a 

 business and its use a luxury, many changes and 

 improvements have been made in the methods of 

 its manufacture. This industry is one peculiarly 

 American, and one that is to-day, as it has been 

 in fact for many years, largely conducted by 

 American farmers. 



The early settlers also sometimes tapped their 

 trees by means of deep ax cuts. The sap was 

 stored in great tree-trunks hollowed into rough 

 troughs. It was afterwards boiled down in large 

 kettles in the open woods. Green timber, as well 

 as wood already dead and down, supplied all the 

 fuel that was needed. The old-fashioned iron 

 kettle was hung over the fire from the end of a 

 long, stout pole, which was weighted at the other 

 end so that the kettle might be easily swung on 

 or off the fire. Sometimes a number of kettles 

 were hung from a single horizontal pole, or were 

 set into a rude furnace constructed of clay and 



STORY OF THE FOREST -14 



