MEMORIES OF THE 



had no bits in early days, and their augers were clumsy things 

 and what is known as pod augers, having no center directing 

 screw. Boxing consisted in cutting a great gash or hole into 

 the side of the tree with an ax, the lower part of the box 

 or cut being made at an obtuse angle with the heart of the 

 tree, and the cut made slanting towards one side, so that the 

 sap ran to the lower corner for an outlet. A semi-circular 

 chisel called a gouge was then driven underneath the outlet 

 corner of the box and a flat spile, whittled to fit the incision or 

 cut of the gouge, inserted. Boxing was early death to the 

 trees, but no one cared for that as trees were plenty. In fact, 

 their removal was considered a benefit rather than damage. 



Troughs to catch the sap were made by splitting butternut 

 or basswood trees of from about ten to fourteen inches in diam- 

 eter and cutting the halves in lengths of about three feet and 

 then hollowing or digging them out with an ax. They were 

 clumsy and heavy, and, instead of being gathered up and 

 sheltered, were stood on end beside the tree through the year, 

 when not in use, and soon became mouldy and dirty. They dis- 

 colored the sugar and gave it a basswood or butternut flavor. 



Old settlers of the country who loved to brag of their hard- 

 ships and of the rude methods of living in early times, used to 

 glory in telling the story of how they were in infancy rocked in 

 sap-troughs instead of cradles, which indeed did sometimes hap- 

 pen where babies came earlier than sawmills. With a decent 

 pair of rockers they made quite a respectable cradle. 



Storage troughs were made by using twenty or thirty feet of 

 the butt of a large basswood tree, flattened on one side and dug 

 out with an ax. The sap was gathered by hand — that is, car- 

 ried to the boiling place in buckets by men with neckyokes on 

 their shoulders, or in pails without the use of neckyokes. 



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