212 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SUGAK MAKING. 

 TAPPING THE TREES. 



The old-fashioned barbarous method of boxing 

 is now mostly disused ; and the custom of using 

 an inch auger, or even one of three-fourths of an 

 inch, should also be discontinued. The practice, 

 too, of fastening a spout under the auger-hole by 

 means of a gouge, is by no means to be recom- 

 mended. A bit, of three-eighths of an inch diam- 

 eter, is large enough. I use no other, though my 

 trees are from one foot to two and a half feet 

 through. As for "spiles," the best when made, 

 and the easiest to make, are made from white 

 pine. Take free sticks eight inches long, and split 

 them up into pieces five-eighths of an inch square. 

 Saw them half in two on opposite sides, about 

 two and a half inches from each end. You can 

 split them with a knife or chisel as easily as you 

 could open an oyster. Every slick will thus fur- 

 nish you two spiles in the rough, five and one- 

 half inches long. Bore holes through the square 

 ends with a bit, and if the timber is soft, a pod- 

 bit will remove the wood so that there will be no 

 need of burning. "Whittle them, not to a point, 

 but so that they will exactly fit your three-eighths 

 bore. Spiles should not be driven hard into a 

 tree, for if they are dry, they will be likely to 

 swell and press the bark on each side so as to kill 

 it, causing a wound that will require a long time 

 to heal. It is very easy to set them perfectly tight 

 with the hancL 



You can box the tree anywhere from one to six 

 feet from the ground, selecting a place where the 

 timber is free and straight-grained. The sunny 

 side of the tree is to be preferred early in the 

 season ; later, the shady side is best. If there is 

 much snow, spike up your tubs ; if not, I would 

 set many of them on the ground, if the roots were 

 not in the way ; this is much better in a windy 

 place, than to hang them up. Spiles can be made 

 of various lengths, up to two and three feet long, 

 to suit the diflerent locations. Bore about an inch 

 deep at first, and about one-fourth of an inch 

 more each subsequent time ; as you will general- 

 ly need to tap over twice during the season ; but 

 never exceed an inch and a half in the wood. 

 Large trees may sometimes be tapped over by 

 transferring the tub from the south side to the 

 north, when the south side ceases to run. 



SPIKES. 

 Wrought nails are not fit to hang up tubs with. 

 I use spikes made expressly for the purpose, (wo 

 and one-half or three inches long, and one-fourth 

 of an inch square, with a heavy brad head, and 

 fiat point so that they may cut their way into the 

 tree without splitting the bark, and also be more 

 easily drawn. Good spikes for the purpose are 

 worth $1,25 per hundred. 



CARE OF SAP. 

 Be especially careful to keep your sap clean 

 both in the storage and the boilers, and thus save 

 the eggs and milk which the Tr/ft^oie recommends 

 to be used. Leaves and other foreign substances 

 will discolor your sugar very badly. The best 

 way is to prevent all need of cleansing. To dip 

 sap from one pan to another, as is advised by the 

 Tribune, would be worse than labor lost. To dip 

 a single barrel would be no great matter, but to 



dip twenty-five barrels per day, or four hundred 

 barrels in the season, (the quantity I boiled last 

 year,) would be an additional labor I should not 

 be willing to incur. Besides, even if it cost noth- 

 ing, I should choose not to have it done. 



TUE SYRUP 



need not be taken out oftener than once a day ; 

 and should not be thicker than will make six 

 pounds to the gallon, since it will not settle clear, 

 if but a little too thick. When it is reduced to 

 the right point, (a thing best learned by experi- 

 ence,) take the pans ofl' and turn it out ; for, if 

 you undertake to draw it off" at one corner by an 

 outlet made for the purpose, you will be likely to 

 burn some, as your arch Avill probably be hot. 

 Two persons can easily remove the pans, if made, 

 as they should be, with two handles on each side. 

 But it will be said that this plan Mill not work, 

 if there is but one person tending the boilers. I 

 will tell you how I can take off" the biggest pan I 

 have described, without help. Near the middle 

 of your arch, upon one side, and at a convenient 

 distance from it, set a post of proper height for 

 the purpose. Fasten a light pole, that you can 

 handle easily, to the top of the post by a pin 

 driven in vertically. To that part of the pole 

 which comes just over the centre of the pan, at- 

 tach a cord that has been doubled, or two cords, 

 if you choose, each being tied in the middle. Y'ou 

 will then have as many cords hanging from the 

 pole as handles to each pan. To each of them 

 fasten a hook made of strong wire, hook them 

 into the handles, and then, if the height of your 

 post and the length of your cords are rightly ad- 

 justed, by lifting at the free end of your pole, you 

 can raise your pan, swing it round, and set it on 

 a platform that you can readily construct. This 

 is easily done, and will obviate the necessity of 

 having two hands in the sugar-place when you 

 "syrup down." 



Strain the syrup through a tolerably fine strain- 

 er into tubs (of a large size, if you prefer,) but 

 not into iron kettles, and let it have time to set- 

 tle perfectly before "sugaring off"." 



About this and a few other things I will say a 

 few words in ihe next paper. E. H. G. 



Hinsdale, March, 1858. 



For the New Ens^iand Farmer. 

 FARMS IKT KUTLAJSTD CO., VEBMONT. 



"L. S.,"of Castleton, Vt., recently said in your 

 columns, "that not one farm in fifty in Rutland 

 county has or can be made to pay four per cent, 

 upon the assessed value thereof." I think he is 

 mistaken. We certainly send large quantities of 

 produce away after reserving enough for all our 

 wants. I understand that the Brighton and Cam- 

 bridge Markets receive their largest supplies of 

 cattle and sheep from Vermont, and I have no 

 doubt that Rutland county supplies her full share 

 of them. 



It is my opinion that Vermont has plenty . . 

 good land that maybe cultivated at a better profit 

 in small farms than can be obtained by farming 

 in the AVest. Large farms are well enough where 

 there is large capital and large skill. The great 

 trouble with us is, that our boys and girls are not 

 educated for farming business ; most of them are 

 looking to something else for a living, partly be- 



