MAPLE SUGAR. 23 



should be ITi.TlS Iba. It is apparent, from this case, that in Indiana the estimate is far be- 

 low the truth ; and if it is half as nmcli so m llio otlicr ^-i^'lit St;ites enumerated,* then 22,- 

 464,799 lbs. is not more" tliaii a fail" expression of tlie maple xvgar alone. 



Louisi;ma is the lirst suirar-growiiig SUite in tlie Union. Her produce, by the statisticB of 

 1840, was 119,947 ,7-2(). or^ncaHy 120,000,000 lbs. The States of .Mi.ssiasippi, Alabama, Gew- 

 gia, Soutli Carolina, and Florida, togctlier, add only G45,281 lbs. more. 



Cane sugar in tlic TTnitod States lbs. 120,593,001 



Maple sugar iu the United States 24.495,652 



Thus about one-si.xtli of the sugar made ainuially iu the United States is made from the 

 maple tree.t It is to be remembered, too, that in Louisiana it is the stji])le, while at the 

 north mai)le sugar has never been manufactured witli iuiy considerable skill, or regarded as 

 a resrular crop, Imt only a temporary device of economy. Now it only needs to be under- 

 stood that majile sugar may be made so as to have the flavor of the best c;me sugar, and that 

 it may, at a trifling e.xpense, be refined to white sugar, and the manufacture of it will be- 

 come more g(!ner<d, more skillful, and may, in a little time, entirely supersede the necessity 

 of importing cane sugar.t Indiana stands fourth in the rank of maple sugar-making States. 

 Her annual product is at least/w^r iniUion potindx, whi('h, at G cenLs a jwimd, amounts Xjd 

 $160,000 per anniun. A little exertion would quickly mn up the ammal value of our home- 

 made sugar to half a million of dollars. 



Maple sugar now oidy brings about two-thirds the price of New Orleans. The fault is hi 

 the manuficturiug of it.]| The saccharine principle of the cane and tree is exactly the 

 same. If the same care were employed in their manufacture, they would be midistingiush- 

 able, and maple sugar would be as salable as New-Orli-aiis, and, if attbi-ded at a less price, 

 might supjibiiit it in the market. The average qu;uitity of STigai* consinnixl in England by 

 each iudividu;il is about thirt)' ll)s. jier annum. Marion county contains about 20,000 in- 

 habitants. At 30 lbs. per head, the .sugar consumed annually is not less than 600,000 lbs., 

 and for the whole State 24,000,000 lbs., reckoning the population at 800,000. There is aji- 

 nually produced in this coimtj' about 17,3,000 lbs. of sugar; leaving about 425,000 lbs. to be 

 purchased, which, at an average of five cents per pound, amounts for this single county to 

 $21,250, a sum wi-U worth saving, and by a little attention to the makuig of domestic sugar, 

 very easily saved. 



Maple Sugar Making. — 1. Greater care mu.st be taken in coUectuig the sap. Old and 

 half-decayed wooden troughs, \\'ith a Uberal inftision of leaves, dirt, &c., impart great impti- 

 rity to the water. Rain-water, decayed vegetable matter, <&c., add chemical ingredients to 

 the sap, are troublesome to extract, iuid injure the qiuilit>- if not removed. The expense of 

 clean vessels may be a little more, l>ut with care it could be more than made up in the qual- 

 ity' of the sugar. Many are now iLsiug earthen crocks. These are cheap, easdy cleaned, 

 and every way desirable, with the single exception of breakage. But if wooden ti'oughsare 

 used, let them be kept scnipulously clean. 



2. The kettles should be scoured thoroughly before use, and kept constantly clesm. If 

 rusty, or foul, or coated with bunit sugar, neither the color nor flavor can be perfect. Vin- 

 egar and sand have bc^en used by experienced sugar-makers to scour the kettles with. It is 

 be.st to have at least three to a range. 



* Dr. J. C. .lackson put.s VeiTnont at 6,000,000 lbs. per annum, while the census only gives about 4,000.(X)0. 



t The data of these cHlculation.^. it must be confessed, are very uncertain ; and cortcfusions drawn from 

 them as to the relative amounts of .susar [(reduced in diU'erent States are to be regarded, at the verj' best, as 

 problematical. We extract the follovvini; remarks from an article in the Western Literary Journal, from 

 the pen of Charles Cist, an able statistical writer: 



" It is not my purpose to go into an extended notice of the ciTOrs in the statistics connected with the cen- 

 sus of 1840. A few examples will serve to show their character and extent. In the article of hemp, Ohio 

 is stated to produce 9,080 tons, and Imliana 8.605 tons, eitlier eq\ial nearly to the j)roduct of Kentucky, which 

 is reported at 9.992 tons, and almost equal, when united, to Missouri, to which 18,010 tons are given as the 

 agsregate. Virginia is stated to raise 2,5,.')94 tons, almost equal to both Kentucky and Missouri, which are 

 given as above at 28.002 tons. Now the indisputable fact is. that Kentucky and Missouri produce more 

 hemp than all the rest of the United States, and ten times as much as eitherOhio, Indiana, or Virginia, which 

 three Stales are made to raise 50 per centum more than those two sreat hemp-producing .•^tates. 



" The sugar of Louisiana is given at 119,947,720 lbs., equal to 120,000 hogsheads ; IfiO per cent, more than 

 has been jiublished in New-Orleans as the highest product of the live consecutive jears, including and pre- 

 ceding 1840. 



" But what is this to the wholesale tijurc-dealing which returns 3,160,949 tons of hay as the product of 

 New-York for that article — a quantity sufficient to winter all the horses and mules in the United States ! 



" Other eiTOrs of ercat magnitude miuht be pointed out : such as making the tobacco product of Virginia 

 11.000 hhds., when her inspection records show .5.5,000 hhds. thrown into market as the crop of that year. — 

 Who believes that 12,233 lbs. of pitch, resin, and tui-pentino. or the tenth part of that quantity, were manu- 

 factured in Louisiana in 1840, or that New-York produced 10.093.991 lbs. of maple sugar in a single year, or 

 twenty such statements equally absurd, which I misht take from the returns 'f 



Mr. Cist will find, in the appendix to Poet. Jackson's Final Report on the Geology of New Hampshire, a 

 statement thai Vermont makes 6 000.000 Ihs. of sugar annually. If this be so, we may, without extrava- 

 gance, suppose that New York reaches 10.000,000 lbs. So far as we have collateral means of judging, the 

 amount of maple sugar is Udrferstated in the census of 1940. 



tCredat Judteas, &c. [Ed. Farm. Lib. 



II Would not self-interest have accomplished before now a result of so much importance, as it leada 

 ■aen to do in all other equally obvious cases. lEd. Farm. Lib. 



(71) 



