Canadian Forestry Journal, March, ip^o 



III 



labor is l^eing met by the ing-enious 

 inventor, who has provided faciHties 

 for taking full advantage of the law 

 of gravitation in handling the fluid 

 which in a well equipped plant flows 

 of its own accord from the collecting 

 tank to the storage vat, from thence 

 to the evaporator and, when boiled 

 to a proper consistency, into the re- 

 ceiving can. Indeed where the profile 

 of the sugar orchard will permit of 

 it, pipe lines are laid to conduct the 

 sap from outlying collecting centres 

 to the camps where evaporation takes 

 place. 



With all the advance that have 

 taken place in manipulation, sugar 

 making has not lost its romantic 

 side. "Sugaring Ofif" at the sugar 

 camps in the woods is still looked 



forward to by young and old. who re- 

 gard the event as a social feature af- 

 fording rare enjoyment. The tramp 

 to the woods on a spring day. the 

 aroma of the escaping steam, the 

 partaking from a Avooden paddle by 

 means of a chip-like scoop, the hot 

 syrup just on the verge of solidifying 

 into sugar, or the tasting of the 

 "wax" that has been allowed to hard- 

 en on the clean snow, all serve to in- 

 spire the reminiscent story teller and 

 to awaken the am.orous instincts of 

 the budding youths. Such was the 

 sugaring ofif of decades ago and such 

 it is today, where sugar orchards are 

 operated for from two to four weeks 

 in the spring in certain sections year 

 after year. 



— T. B. SPENXER. 



Extent and Importance of Maple Sugar Industry 



The imjjortance of the maple sugar 

 industry is scarcely realized in many 

 parts of Canada where it has long 

 since ceased to be carried on. From 

 1850 to 1890, according to Dominion 

 statistics, the production of nnple 

 sugar together with its equivalent in 

 syrup , increased year by year. The 

 average yearly production from 1851 

 to i86r was al)out 13,500,000 ll)s. ; 

 from 1861 to 1871 alwut 17,500.000 

 lbs.; from 1871 to 1881, 19,000.000 

 lbs.; from 1881 to 1891, an average 

 of 22.500.000 lbs. was reached. Dur- 

 ing the next decade the yearly aver- 

 age fell to some 21,200,000 lbs. 



In i<)M), however, Quebec Province 

 alone produced about 30,000.000 lbs., 

 valued at 25 cents a ])Ound, making a 

 total of $7,500,000. Tn 1911, Quebec's 

 maple crop was about 10.000.000 lbs. 



'I'he industry is confined in Canada 

 to Quebec, Ontario. New P>runswick 

 and Nova Scotia. Tn the M.aritime 

 Provinces the yearly output has 

 rarely exceeded half a million 

 pounds, and Ontario, 3.ooo.o;)Ot) lbs. 

 per year. 



It is estimated that this vast indus- 

 try is carried on by about 55.OOO 

 growers. While many of these ope- 

 rate their larger or smaller woodlots 

 preserved upon their good farms, a 

 vastly larger number take their sap 

 from rough and stony areas that 

 would have comparatively little value 

 if the trees were removed. The in- 

 creasing value of ma|)le wood and 

 the comparati\-ely low jirice of maple 

 sugar and syrup, clue to former un- 

 fair conditions in the trade ed to the 

 remcnal of many fine sugar orchards 

 that had jiroduced crops of delicious- 

 ness yearly for most of a century. It 

 is regettable that the sturdy kings of 

 llic maple forest have been cleared 

 off in this way as ;in important vi-ar- 

 1\- rexenue ;it a seasi^n when b.'idly 

 needed, has bern cut o[i. and one 

 which is secured by the labor of a 

 f'.w weeks when it cm best be spared 

 from ser\ ice on the farm. The con- 

 srr\atioii i'>\ the mapK- grrwes will. 

 tlierrfore. ;ippe;il to exery one inter- 

 ested in tlu- forest and the farm. 



