22Q AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



of Maine and the shores of Lake Superior, to the banks of 

 the Ohio. Farther south it is rarely found. The cane and 

 maple approach each other, but scarcely meet ; and never 

 intermingle as rivals in the peculiar region which nature 

 has assigned to each. In some sections of the country, the 

 sugar maple usurps almost the entire soil, standing side by 

 side like thick ranks of corn, yet large and lofty, and among 

 the noblest specimens of the forest. Immense quantities of 

 these are to be found throughout the original forests of our 

 northern, western, and middle States. I have seen them for 

 miles in extent, near the borders of Lake Superior a con- 

 tinuous wilderness of the sugar maple. I have also seen 

 them in Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan, as they are found 

 in the natural sugar orchards of that beautiful State. In 

 these, they grow in open land among the rich native grasses, 

 their tops graceful and bushy, like the cultivated tree ; and 

 but for their greater numbers and extent, and their more 

 picturesque grouping, one would think the hand of taste and 

 civilization had directed, what nature alone has there ac- 

 complished. Amidst those beautiful orchards, or in the 

 depths of those dense dark woods, the Indian wigwam and 

 the settler's rude cabin may be seen, filled with the solid 

 cakes and mo-koks,* each of which contain from 30 to 60 

 Ibs., of their coarse-grained, luscious sugar. 



The season for drawing and crystalizing the sap is in 

 early spring, when the bright sunny days and clear frosty 

 nights give it a full and rapid circulation. The larger 

 trees should be selected, and tapped by an inch augur, to the 

 depth of an inch and a half, the hole inclining downward to 

 hold the sap. At the base of this, another should be made 

 from three eighths to half an inch diameter, in which a tube 

 of elder or sumach should be closely fitted to lead it off. A 

 rude contrivance for catching the sap is by troughs, gen- 

 erally made of the easily-wrought poplar ; but it is better to 

 use vessels which admit of thorough cleaning, and these 

 may be suspended by a bail or handle from a peg driven 

 into the tree above. When the sugar season is over, the 

 holes ought to be closely plugged, and the head cutoff 



* Mo-kok An Indian sack or basket, with flatfish sides and rounded 

 ends, similar in fashion to a lady's travelling satchel. They are 

 made perfectly tight, from strips of white birch bark, sowed with 

 thongs of elm. Many of the sap bucjtets are made of the same 

 material, but different in form The small mo-koks, tastefully orna- 

 mented with various-colored porcupine quills and filled with maple 

 sugar, are sold as toys. 



