FARMERS' REGISTER— MAPLE SUGAR. 



739 



which should (each the hands useful labor, and 

 imbue the heart with the love of virtue? The 

 adage teaches, that " an ounce of prevention is 

 worth a pound of cure." If ig-norance be one of 

 the chief causes of vice, and indolence the parent 

 of want; and if knowledge be one of the main- 

 springs of virtuous conduct, and competence the 

 sure reward of industry, — then the more know- 

 ledge is diffused, and the more that industry is 

 encouraged, the less we shall be called upon to 

 expend upon poor-houses and penitentiaries. It 

 no longer admits of doubt, that knowledge and 

 industry are the great conservators of public mo- 

 rals, as well as the great instruments of public 

 wealth. 



It has been remarked, that the more we provide 

 for any one class, the more it Avill increase. This 

 would seem to hold good in regard to the vicious 

 propensities of our nature, and v.'hy not in regard 

 to habits that are commendable and praiseworthy.'' 



To speak practically. Our agriculture is greatly 

 defective. It is susceptible of much improvement. 

 How shall we effect this impi'ovement.' The old 

 are too old to learn, or rather, to unlearn what have 

 been the habits of their lives. The young cannot 

 learn as they ought to learn, and as the public in- 

 terests require, because we have no suitable school 

 for their instruction. We have no place where 

 they can learn the principles upon which the prac- 

 tice of agriculture is based — none v/here they can 

 be instructed in all the modern improvements 

 of the art. It is devoutly to be hoped, that our 

 fathers in council, justly appreciating the impor- 

 tance of the subject, will add another to the proud 

 trophies which New York has already won in the 

 noble march of improvement, by properly respond- 

 ing to the correct views of this su1)ject expressed 

 in the message of our chief magistrate. 



Our periodical publications, devoted to the in- 

 terests of the agricultural and mechanical classes, 

 have proved highly beneficial, and are daily enlar- 

 ging the sphere of their influence. These bene- 

 fits, however, may be greatly multiplied by a cheap 

 work, adapted to the means of persons ni humble 

 circumstances, and to the economy of those who 

 are able but unwilling to expend two or three dol- 

 lars a year for an agricultural paper. It is believ- 

 ed there are more than 200,000 farmers in the stale 

 who read little or nothing calculated to improve 

 their knowledge in the business by which they live. 

 With the view of bringing this subject before the 

 society, I have made inquiries as to the price at 

 which a respectable publication of this character 

 can be printed. The estimates have been predi- 

 cated upon tlie supposition, that the editorial labors 

 will be gratuitous, — that the subscriptions will 

 uniformly be paid in advance, — that arrangements 

 will be made to give it an extensive circulation, 

 and that an edition of at least ten thousand copies 

 will be disposed of The result of my inquiries is, 

 that a monthly publication of 10 cpiarto pages to 

 each number, making 192 pages in a year, can be 

 furnished in parcels of twenty or more, at twenty- 

 five cents per annum. The postage to any jilace 

 within the state will swell the cost to the subscri- 

 ber to thirty-seven and a half cents per annum. 

 An amount so trivial, as to win indilfercnce, and 

 to silence the objections of avarice. 1 submit to 

 you, gentlemen, whether a more efficient mode of 

 furthering one of the objects of our association,— 

 the diffusion of useful knowledge — can be devised, 



than the one here presented. Through the libe- 

 rality of two public-spirited and highly respected 

 gentlemen, a specimen sheet of the proposed pub- 

 lication has been published, and has been submit- 

 ted (or public examination. Under the auspices 

 of this society the Cultivator may be rendered a ve- 

 hicle of useful knowledge, and a means of effecting 

 great public good. I commend it to your guardian 

 care. 



MAPLE SVGAR. 



From the Cultivator. 



As the season for its manufacture is at hand, we 

 venture to offer some suggestions upon the subject, 

 having been somewhat of a sugar boiler in our 

 younger days. 



The first care should be to preserve the trees. It 

 is not safe, in j)rimitive woods, to cut away all the 

 other timber, and to leave only the maples stand- 

 ing, in (his way they are robbed of their protec- 

 tion, and are very liable to be prostrated by the 

 wind. But trees growing in open situations adapt 

 their forms to withstand the winds; and hence 

 those v.hich are termed second growth ought to be 

 carefully preserved. Trees are often destroyed, in 

 a few years, by injudicious tapping. We have 

 seen them half girdled in a season, in order to in- 

 crease the sap. The consequence is, that the 

 wounds do not heal ; the water lodges in the boxes 

 and rots the wood; and the tree dies, or is broken 

 off by the wind. A chisel and mallet are better 

 than the axe to tap with, and a screw augur, two 

 to five quarters in diameter, according to the size 

 of the tree, is better than either — as the wound 

 then soon closes, and little or no injury is inflicted 

 on the tree. One or two holes may be bored on 

 (he south, and the like on the north side of the tree, 

 if the size will warrant it. The holes at first 

 should not exceed three quarters of an inch, and 

 the slope upwards should be so much that the sap 

 will run freely in frosty weather, and not, by a slow 

 motion, be liable to freeze in the mouth of the ori- 

 fice. When the flow of sap begins to slacken, the 

 holes may be increased to the depth of two and a 

 half inches, or the depth of the sap or white wood, 

 and with an augur a quarter larger than was first 

 used. Tlie spout should not enter the whole more 

 than half an inch ; as the farther it enters the more 

 the running saj) is obstructed. In ordinary seasons 

 the best time for making maple sugar is the last 

 twelve days in March and the first twelve days in 

 April. It must freeze at night and thaw in the 

 day to constitute good sap-weather. A west wind 

 is most favorable. 



The next object is, to preserve the sap clean, and 

 to do this, it is necessary to have clean vessels for 

 its reception. The old way was to use troughs 

 roughly cut from timber previously split through 

 the centre. These answered tolerable well the 

 first year. But being suffered to remain under the 

 trees, they were often found when wanted the next 

 year, filled with leaves, ice and filth, which una- 

 voidably mingled with the sap. The best vessels 

 for this purpose are wooden buckets, made broader 

 at the top tiian at bottom, that they may be packed 

 away in nests under cover when the sugar season 

 is over, and thus preserved clean. We have seen 

 them sold at $S per hundred. They will last 

 many years. 



It is found beneficial to put into each half barrel 



