OLD HOMESTEAD 



Scattering the buckets was play as well as work, as it meant 

 sliding down the hills, of which there were some in the woods, 

 upon the return to the shanty, empty, for another load. 



The old arch in the shanty, which was a home-made affair, 

 was repaired annually. It was built of mortar made of blue clay 

 from the bank of Deer Creek where we crossed it in going to 

 the woods, rather than lime or cement, which would cost money. 

 The storage-tubs were scalded and cleaned, the snow shoveled 

 off the shanty to prevent its breaking down, and off the plat- 

 form on which the storage-tubs were to set, and cleared away 

 from the front of the shanty and off the woodpiles, and every- 

 thing put in shape, so far as could be, for the expected first run. 



The wood for boiling had been cut, drawn and piled under 

 a cover of boards the year before. Sometimes quite a time 

 would elapse between the getting ready and the coming of the 

 sap. In that case the time was spent chopping wood at the 

 sugar-bush, or perhaps in drawing manure to the fields from the 

 great heaps which had accumulated at the cow-stables through 

 the winter. The sawmill, which had been frozen up, had to be 

 ''cut out " and thawed out about the same time, in anticipation 

 of the spring sawing. 



We watched the weather and signs of its changes closely, 

 and were glad when it softened so we could begin tapping the 

 trees. When the weather came right so that the sap began to 

 climb from its frozen winter home in the roots towards the tree- 

 tops, an early start was made for the woods, taking along such 

 implements and outfit for the work as had been stored at the 

 house over summer. A big, red bucket pail of dinner was pro- 

 vided, as we could not be home until dark. Talk about the 

 ''full dinner-pail:" good gracious! you ought to have seen that 

 one filled by Mother Lyman. McKinley's was nowhere beside 



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