22 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



MAPLE SUGAR. 



[From a great mass of newspaper scraps and other trash strung tosjether in that enormous Ag- 

 ricultural Annual put out by the United States, called " Report of the Commissioner of Patents," 

 we select for this Number what follows on the subject oi Maple Sugar. 



Who the " wc" is who gives the profound advice about keeping the vessels clean and not using 

 "half-decayed troughs with a liberal infusion of rain-water, dirt, &c." — as if comniou sense would 

 not teach that — we don't know: neither can we help "we" to tell how much, or rather how 

 little deduction is to be made from the aggregate Sugar crop of the United States, for the Corn- 

 stalk Sugar ! It would probably require the use of the most powerful magnifier !] 



MAPLE SUGAR .... A NEW ELEMENT. 



To the Editor of the New- York Tribune : Windsor Co., Vermont, April, 1845. 



We are jti.st through our annual sugar season, and all feel .satisfied. The crop is large, 

 very large — more than in any year for some time. Every faiTuer has enough, and many 

 have made one, two, or three tons. 



Arranirements have been made to give more particular statistics of the amount. It is be- 

 coming of great importance to the Stale, and more interest is taken in improving the quality. 

 But my object at this time is merely to call the attention of scientific men to the nature of a sub- 

 stance foiind in the sugar. The sugar-makers have always noticed that a kind of grit settles 

 in the sugar and molasses after it is made. Tliis vaiies greatly in cpumtit>- in ditlerent years. 

 The present year the quantity is large. When the sugar was manutitctured chiefly in the 

 'woods, it was supposed to be ashes or dirt, deposited during the process of evaporation ; but 

 the quantity is the same when the sap is evaporated ui the house, and cleansed with tlie 

 greatest care. From a small quantity (perhaps 50 lbs.) I obtained nearly a gill of this sul>- 

 stance. 'AVheu tasted with tlie sugar, it suuply appears like sand; but upon dissolving tlie 

 sugar, and repeatedly washing it with water, I obtained a substance nearly white, and with 

 a very p^mgent, allcaline taste. 



The presence of ammonia in sugar is mentioned by Liebig antl Johnston, in their woi-ks 

 upon agricultural chemistry ; but, if I understand their remarks upon the subject, they refer 

 •only to a gas which arises durmg the process of evaporation. But here is a tangible salt, and 

 of sufficient quantity to be of some interest. 



WiU some one, through your paper, give an accoimt of tlie nature of the substance, and 

 thus satisfy the curiosity of many of yom- readers, and perhaps add a new fact to the re- 

 searches of science ?* 



As most pei-sons who have not infomied themselves on the subject imagine that we are in- 

 debted to cane sugar for our main su]>ply, and that maple sugar is a petty neighborhood mat- 

 ter, not woi-th the figiurs employed to represent it, we propose to spend some sj)ace in sta- 

 ting the truth on this matter. We will exhil)it, 1st, the amount produced ; 2d, the proper 

 %vay of manufacturing it; 3d, the proper treatment of the sugar-ti-ee groves. 



We shall confine our statistics to die most important northern and western Slates. 



1. New-York produces aunually...lbs. 10,048,109 



2. Ohio 6,3fi3,38e 



3. Vermont 4,647.9:34 



4. Indiana :i,727,79.5 



,"5. Pcnnsvlvania 2,26.'i,7.').') 



■6. New-Hampshire I,l(;2.3(i8 



•7. Virginia I..n41,8:!;i 



«. Kentucky 1,377,835 



9. Michigan - 1,3-J9,784 



Total of nine States 22,464,799 



Residue thus : Add for Maine, Massa- 

 chusetts, Connecticut. Maryland 

 Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, 



and Wisconsin 2,030.853 



24,495,652 



Something shoidd be sublracted for boet-r.iot and rom-stnlk sugar.\ Rut, on the other 

 hand, the statistics are so much below the tnith on maple sugar, that tlie deficiency may be 

 «et off against beet-ioot and com-stalk stigar. That the figm-es do not more than represent 

 the amount oi' maple sugar pi-oduced in these States, may be jiresumed i.om one ca.se. In- 

 diana is set down at 3.7'J7,7!i:"i lbs. ; but in the four comities of Washinglon, \N'arnck, Posey, 

 and Harrison, no account seems to have been taken of this article. Iti .M;iiion comity, tour 

 of the first sugar-making townships, Warren, Lawrence, Centre, and Franklin, are not reck- 

 oned. If we suppo.si? these foiii- townsliips tx) average as much a.s tlie others in Marion coun- 

 ty, they produced 77,G48 lbs. ; and instead of putthig Marion countj- down at J)7,()til lbs., it 



* Professor Mapes could probiibly do it ofl-hand. l^'^- ^'"rm. Lib. 



t We thoiiglit tliis humbug bcjonijca to ihu tribe of unimiUs— that it bad served its pui-pose, lived out its 

 Aue, and expired. t^**" ■*''»'^ ■^•*- 



(70) 



