180 LITERARY PILGRIMAGES 



chemical analysis show it, the ash from dried and 

 burned maple sugar being greater than that from 

 dried and burned cane sugar in that it, having 

 not been recrystallized, still contains other chemi- 

 cal constituents of the sap. These no doubt 

 contain the ingredients which go to make up the 

 delectable flavor, and those not yet isolated 

 elements which help make the Vermonters the 

 big-hearted, big-souled people that they are. Yet 

 the rich golden brown color which most maple 

 sugar has is not a quality of the sugar itself, but 

 due to impurities, harmless but unnecessary. 

 They come from tiny flecks of bark which fall 

 into the sap or from careless boiling. Before the 

 sap gets to the can in the Grimes sugar house it 

 has been strained seven times. The iron kettle 

 sugar of the old days was sometimes almost black. 

 Care in the handling will give a syrup that is 

 almost as colorless as water and a sugar that is 

 nearly white. Hence color in the final product 

 by no means indicates purity, though it may in no 

 sense indicate adulteration. The best syrup is a 

 clear, viscous, pale straw-colored liquor, and the 

 sugar itself need not be much if any darker. 



