MAPLE SIRUP PRODUCERS MANUAL 



15 



Over the years a large number of sap spouts 

 have been designed and used, with special fea- 

 tures claimed for each. The earliest spouts were 

 hollow reeds, often a foot or more in length. 

 Two reeds inserted in adjacent tapholes carried 

 the sap to the same container (fig. 23). There 

 are only a few basic differences in the design of 

 the various sap spouts. Some have a large 

 opening at the delivery end. Others have a hook 

 to support the bucket and a hole for attaching 

 the bucket cover. On others the bucket is sup- 

 ported directly on the spout. All commercial 

 spouts are satisfactory. A few spouts are shown 

 in figure 24. 



Plastic spouts are used with plastic tubing 

 and they have tubulations to which the tubing 

 is attached. 



All spouts have a tapered shoulder so that 

 when they are driven into position in the tap- 



PN-ni9 

 Figure 23.— Reed sap spouts, the forerunner of metal 

 spouts. 



Figure 2U- — Wood and metal sap spouts. 



hole, they form a watertight seal with the bark 

 and outer sapwood but leave a free space be- 

 tween the sapwood and the spout. In setting 

 the spout (fig. 25), care must be exercised not to 

 split the tree at the top and bottom of the 

 taphole. A split results in sap leakage and often 

 all the sap from that hole is lost. To strike the 

 bark a sharp blow damages the tree and often 

 kills an area for several inches. 



Spouts should be cleaned at the end of each 

 season. Metal spouts can be washed by tum- 

 bling in a small concrete mixer containing a 

 solution of a good detergent. Just before the 

 spouts are taken into the sugar grove at the 

 beginning of a sap season, they must be steri- 

 lized by heating them in boiling water for 15 

 minutes or longer. The spouts are then put in a 

 pail and covered with a chlorine solution con- 

 taining 1 cup of a commercial bleach (5.25 per- 

 cent of sodium hypochlorite) in 1 gallon of 

 water. The pail of chlorine-wetted spouts is 

 carried into the sugar grove. Rubber or rubber- 



