Micro-organisms of Maple Sap 1 1 5 



TABLE 14. OBDEB 01 AVERAGE DEPRECIATION l\ SCOB1 



DISCUSSION Hi- LAST RUN SIRUPS 



Examination of the statistical tables shows that the dark 

 color of late run sirup is to be attributed to the action of micro- 

 organisms, since the sirups made from last run material gathered 

 without infection were always of a light hue. The average de- 

 preciation in color as calculated upon the first run controls was 

 0.8 point. At first sight it would appear that the results as ap- 

 plied to flavors lack uniformity. The sirups of the first sea- m 

 suffered no depreciation in flavor while those of the last two 

 seasons uniformly fell off three points; but, as has been already 

 suggested, this result is accounted for by the meteorological di- 

 vergencies of the several seasons (pages 328 and 380). 



IXFLUKXCE OF INERT EXTRANEOUS MATERIAL 



Before formulating answers to the questions propounded at 

 the outset, attention is called to the fact that in these studies no 

 attention has been paid to the influence upon the color and flavor 

 of sirup of inert extraneous matter, such as colored rain water, 

 bark, insects, caramel and the like. Everyone recognizes the 

 importance of eliminating such material, but the following para- 

 graph showing the intluence of caramel may be worthy of record. 



The commercial supply of sap from the sugar place where 

 the inoculation experiments were carried out was concentrated 



