1848 



GENESEE FARMER. 



77 



Making Maple Sugar. 



As the manufacture of Maple Sugar is "in 

 order" at this season, we copy from the Trans- 

 actions of our State Ag. Society, the following 

 report of a committee on sugar — including the 

 statements of the two competitors who received 

 premiums, giving their modes of manufacturing, 

 &c. There is much need of improvement in 

 the process of sugar making, at least in some 

 sections — and perhaps the annexed article will 

 be useful to many who do not properly under- 

 stand the business. 



Report on Sugar. — The committee to award premiums 

 on Maple and Corn Stalk sugar would respectfully report : 

 That no corn stalk sugar has been presented to them lor 

 examination. There were nine samples ol" maple sugar of 

 at least 2.5 pounds each, exhibited ; that each is of good 

 quality, and that three of them are of very superior (rec- 

 tified) quality, very nearly equal. The committee were 

 hardly able to deterfniiie which should take the preference; 

 but after examination with a magnifying glass of the re- 

 spective chrystals. they awarded the first premium of $10 

 to Benjamin Gauss, Jr., of East Bloomtied, Ontario county. 



To Moses Eames, of Rutland. Jefferson county, the sec- 

 ond premium of $5. 



BKNJAMIN gauss', JR., STATEMENT. 



In regard to the Manufacture of Maple Sugar. 



The parcel of maple sugar herewith presented, is a part 

 of that manufactured by me the last spring. I tap about 

 ,300 trees annually, and make usually about 800 pounds. 

 Much pains is taken in cleansing the buckets, and in having 

 the whole apparatus perfectly clean. The sap is boiled in 

 sheet-iron pans, placed on an arch ; after it becomes syrup, 

 it is taken to the house and aleansed with milk and the 

 white of eggs. It is then boiled in a kettle until it will 

 grain, and then placed in pans to cool. When cool it is 

 put in boxes to drain. The boxes converge to a point, so 

 so that the molasses settles to the bottom. On the surface 

 of the sugar in the boxes, damp flannel cloths are placed, 

 and these cloths are washed every day in clean cold water, 

 to extract whatever of coloring may be absorbed from the 

 sugar. This process is continued until the coloring matter 

 is extracted, and the sugar becomes as white as the speimcn 

 herewith exhibited. Bknjamin Gauss, Jr. 



East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., iX. Y. 



MR. eames' STATEMKNT. 



First, the plan and manner of tapping the trees in this 

 town is very nearly the same ; that is with a half-inch or 

 five-eighths auger, and a spile inserted in the hole, and a 

 pine tub to catch the sap from each tree. I gather my sap 

 to one large reservoir once in 24 hours ; then it is boiled 

 each day to syrup, which is about half the sweetness of 

 molasses ; it is then taken out and strained through a flan- 

 nel cloth, and put into a tub or barrel to cool and settle for 

 12 hours. (I use a sheet iron pan set in an arch of brink ; 

 the pan is made of Russia iron, eight feet long, four feet 

 wide, and six inches deep.) It is then taken out, and I am 

 careful not to move the bottom where it has settled, and 

 place it in a kettle and heat it to 98 degrees. I then add 

 (for 100 pound.s) the whites of four eggs, uvo quarts of milk, 

 and one ounce of saleratus, (the eggs well beat up, aud the 

 saleratus well dissolved,) and stir the whole well together 

 in the syrup ; and when the scum has all risen, it is to be 

 taken oft", and bo sure it does not boil before you have done 

 skimming it. Then it is boiled until it is done, which you 

 will know bjr dropping some into water ; which, if done, 

 will form a wax It then must be taken from the kettle, 

 and placed in tin pans to cool and form llie grain ; and as 

 soon as the grain is sufficiently formed. I then pour it into 

 tunnel-shaped boxes to drain, and after 24 hours I place a 

 flannel cloth on the top, and take the plug from the bottom, 

 and let it drain. The flannel cloth I keep wet from day to 

 day. Moses Eames. 



Rutland, Jefferson Co., N. Y. 



New York State Agricultunil Society. 



We anne.\ a sketch of the proceedings, at a 

 meeting of the Executive Committee of this So- 

 ciety, held on the 12th of February. 



The following extract from a letter received 

 at rooms, will show the interest that is being ta- 

 ken on the subject of agriculture : 



" It is gratifying to notice the growing demand 

 for the State Society Transactions in this county 

 — and I am pleased to add that in this vicinity 

 our farmers are interested :in a course of lectures 

 now in progress. The lecturer, himself a farmer, _ 

 makes no pretensions to any depth of science, 

 but in a plain way has by experiments analyzed 

 the atmosphere and water, exhibiting them sep- 

 arately and explaining their properties respect- 

 ively, and their valuable agency upon our crops." 



Facts like these show that the attention of the 

 farmers is aroused in some measure to the im- 

 portance of their profession, and if we can con- 

 tinue on with a steady hand, there can be no 

 doubt of our final success in the great work of 

 agricultural improvement. 



Extracts from letters on the subject of Western 

 Butter were read, showing that well made butter 

 from the west will keep as well in hot climates 

 as Goshen butter or any other. 



One letter says: — "The butter made in the 

 county of Chemung is equal to that made in 

 Orange county, and will stand the Southern cli- 

 mate as well ; also butter made in Tompkins 

 county is well suited for shipment south, and 

 stands the salt air as well as any butter received 

 here (New York.) I find the best Western 

 dairies sell as well as the best " Goshen" butter 

 when sent south, and in many cases better, as it 

 has more color." 



The following resolutions were adopted, and 

 the Secretary directed to forward a copy of the 

 same to the Senators and Representatives in 

 Congress from this State : 



Whereas a bill has recently passed the United States Sen- 

 ate, renewing, for the term of seven years, the patent of 

 Jetiiro Wood for improvements in the cast-iron plow, and 

 imposing a tax of fifty cents on every cast-iron plow manu- 

 factured in the United States during that time ; and where- 

 as for the following reasons such an act would be manifest- 

 ly improper and unjust, viz : — 1st. That the patent of 

 Jethro Wood has. as we are informed, almost entirely pass- 

 ed out of the hands of his heirs, and is now mostly held by 

 persons who have conferred no particular benefits and have 

 therefore no special claims on the public ; and 2d. That the 

 improvements originated or formerly claimed by said Wood 

 are now in many instances combined with other and later 

 improvements, which have rend red the plow much more 

 perfect than it could be make on the basis of his invention 

 alone. Therefore 



Reaoloed, That in the opinion this Society, the patent of 

 Jethro Wood ought not lo be renewed ; he having enjoyed, 

 in the period of twenty-eight years, for which his patent 

 has been granted, a full equivalent for every improvement 

 that may have been made by him in the cast-iron plow. 



Resolved, That in the ojiinion of this Society, the passage 

 of such a bill into a law, would be an act of gross injustice 

 to the Farmers and Planters of the United States. 



Resolved, That this Society respectfully but earnestly 

 tenders to the Congress of the United States, its remon- 

 strance against the passage of the bill renewing the patent 

 of Jethro Wood. 



