230 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



^1 



The longer and more vigorously you stir it, how- 

 ever, the whiter your cakes will be. Prepare your 

 iiioulds before you remove the sugar from the 

 fire, by ajiplying fresh cream to them wi h a small 

 brush. Be sure that the cream is always sweet. 



THE SETTLINGS AND SKIMMINGS 



are all to be saved in a tub by themselves, regard 

 being had to the quality of the syrup from which 

 they were taken. The settlings at the bottom of 

 several tubs may be poured together, slightly re- 

 duced with sap, and in a day or two the pure 

 sweet may be poured off. After making 1000 

 pounds, I have had the "settlings" all contained 

 in a four gallon tub, and the "skimmings" in a 

 two quart basin. The best way to deal with these 

 is to take six or eight gallons of them, turn them 

 into a barrel of sap, (in a half hogshead tub, or 

 something similar,) stir them up thoroughly ; 

 then throw about four quarts of dry plaster of 

 Paris upon the surfai;e, and leave it to settle. 

 The pulverized gypsum in its slow descent will 

 precipitate with itself the lighter minute impuri- 

 ties that float in the sap. At the proper time dip 

 or turn this off, and call these settlings finished. 

 Tliis will make a sugar of second quality. 



PAILS FOR GATHERING. 



Let these be made of tin, smaller at top than 

 bottom, with a lulf inch rim on the bottom to 

 prevent their sliding. On the one side should be 

 a tip like that upon a gallon measure, and a han- 

 dle upon tlic other to turn them with. Those for 

 a man should hold about fourteen quarts, for 

 boys, seven to ten quarts. Such pails will not 

 become heavy by water-soaking. 



Sap at a distance from your arch is most easily 

 gathered with the help of horse or oxen. If you 

 use an open cask, it should be largest at the bot- 

 tom. I think barrels preferable, since you can 

 easily unload them into your storage tub. A large 

 cask is not so easily managed, unless you dip the 

 sap, or a part of it ; and this cannot well be done 

 without waste. The barrels should be carried on 

 a rack purposely made for them. Your large tul)s 

 can easily be so arranged, that the sap will run 

 from them directly into the boilers, if you choose 

 it. 



STOPPING UP THE TREES. 



When you gather your tubs at the close of the 

 season, it will be a good thing if you will stop up 

 the holes, at least in your young trees, with close- 

 h' fitting pine plugs. INIake them an inch long, 

 and every one of exactly the right size. To se- 

 cure in all of them a perfect fit, bore two or three 

 holes in a hickory stick, or bit of plank, with the 

 same bit you use to tap your trees, and make all 

 the plugs pass through these, seeing to it that 

 they touch at every point. The boys can easily 

 make as many of these as you will need, on stor- 

 my days, or in the evenings. It is no long job, 

 ifthe boys have sharp knives and free pine. You 

 will saw them off a little obliquely, since you did 

 not tap the trees with a perpendicular bore ; and 

 in stopping up the holes, you will take care to 

 drive them Just inside the hark, so that they will 

 fit smoothly with the outer wood. These will keep 

 out the water and the air, and cause the tree to j 

 heal sooner, and with a less scar, than when left 

 as they usually are. | 



Some like to tell groat stories. I can easilv 



show that sugar-making is profitable, though 

 many think it is not. I have to boil with three 

 fires, on account of my trees being so widely 

 scattered; but one little place of 140 trees of 

 second growth, all upon an acre and a half of 

 land, is tended by a lad of thirteen years. He 

 gathers by hand, and boils the sap for fifty pounds 

 per day, and often more, with time to spare for 

 reading the newspapers. This he does in two 

 copper pans, each three feet square, upon an ox- 

 bow arch like that described in number one. 

 Elijah H. Goodricii. 

 Hinsdale, Mass., March. 18.58. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CONTBIBUTIONS BY THE STATE TO 

 COUNTY SOCIETIES. 



It is now about forty years since organizations 

 of this kind Avere first instituted. Then they 

 were thought so desirable that an offer was made 

 of twenti/-Jive per cent, annually on such fund as 

 should be raised, not exceeding $3000. In this 

 way $600 a year has accrued to each county so- 

 ciety ; and in several of the counties two, three 

 and even four societies have been established ; 

 so that like territory and like population, in some 

 sections, draws four times as much money from 

 the treasury of the State as in others. Instance, 

 while Essex draws only $000, Worcester diaws 

 $2400. This is unequal and unjust, and if not 

 remedied will be a growing cause of dissatisfac- 

 tion. Sooner than have such inequalities remain, I 

 would leave the societies to their own resources 

 for sujjport, and am by no means sure that they 

 are not quite as able to go alone as the State is 

 to lead them. I would not say anything rashly, 

 to the prejudice of any existing society, nor 

 would I wish the State to become bankrupt in 

 support of any ])articular class of citizens, even 

 though they were more to be relied on, in time 

 of need, than any other, as I think the farmers 

 are. Essex. 



March 18, 18j8. 



"WILL BOOTS PAY?" 



I see that two of your correspondents have 

 opened quite strongly on the negative of this 

 question. I take the affirmative — at least, till 

 our markets are better supplied than at present. 



Root culture, like fruit culture, does not keep 

 pace with the demand — so roots bring in market 

 much mors than it costs to raise them — and, per- 

 haps much more than they are worth to feed to 

 stock, unless it be, as one of the gentlemen on the 

 negative has suggested, ^'for medicine!" 



On the basis of nutritive value assumed by 

 "P.," carrots would be more profitable to raise in 

 this region, than corn. We can raise enough 

 more than ten times the quantity, to pay for the 

 extra labor required for the carrots. 



But a writer in a recent Bural, in trying to 

 show that potatoes are a more profitable crop than 

 wheat, ranks the nutritive value of the tuber 

 nearly equal to the grain. Now, I believe car- 

 rots will as nearly equal corn, as potatoes will 

 wheat, in the comparative value of food for man 

 or beast. 



One farmer in our town has taken carrots 

 from my premises before they were housed, at 



