VERMONT MAPLE SUGAR 169 



yield of sugar per tree is from two to three 

 pounds, though in favorable seasons this is in- 

 creased in some groves to five or six pounds. On 

 the other hand there are records of large trees 

 which have yielded as much as forty pounds of 

 sugar in a season, and many have been known to 

 give twenty pounds. Sometimes a certain tree 

 on a farm gets to be known as " the sweet tree," 

 because of the large amount of sugar it yields 

 yearly. 



The sky held a faint violet haze which deepened 

 to royal purple in all distances, a violet which 

 seemed to materialize into innumerable bluebirds 

 which caroled coaxingly as they flew toward the 

 grove. Over on the edge of it song sparrows 

 sang invitingly, but the sugar makers did not 

 move from the cosy doorstep until nearly noon. 

 Then we went toward the grove somewhat warily, 

 as a man tends his traps in the wilderness, rather 

 hoping for luck but doubtful. The sap moves 

 when it gets ready, and no man can surely say 

 when. But a look into a bucket or two told us 

 that the time was at hand for quick action. From 

 every tree a clear, colorless liquid was oozing with 



