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AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK 134, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Figure 25. — Setting the sap spout. 



coated canvas gloves must be worn to protect 

 the hands from the strong bleach. 



Rain^uaixls 



Heavy rains often occur during the sap sea- 

 son. Rainwater running down the tree picks up 

 dirt and leaches tannins from the bark. Both 

 the dirt and the tannins, if permitted to get into 

 the sap bucket, lower the grade of the sirup 

 produced. Most sap spouts are provided with 

 "drip tips" to deflect runoff rainwater from the 

 tree and prevent it from entering the bucket. In 

 heavy downpours, drip tips are often inade- 

 quate. Use of a simple, homemade rubber rain- 

 guard (fig. 26) prevents the heaviest runoff 

 rainwater from entering either a sap bucket or 

 bag. 



To make a rainguard, cut a 2-inch square 

 from a thin sheet of rubber, such as an old 

 inner tube. With a leather punch, cut a ^/le-inch 

 hole in the center of the square. Slip the rain- 



PN-4722 



Figure 26. — Rubber rainguard prevents water from 

 reaching the sap bucket. 



guard over the end of the spout near the tree 

 and set it far enough forward so that when the 

 spout is seated in the taphole there will be a 

 free space of V4 to ^/s inch between the rubber 

 guard and the bark of the tree. 



Sap Buckets and Bags 



Three types of containers have been used to 

 collect the sap from the spout: (1) The wooden 

 bucket; (2) the metal bucket; and (3) the plastic 

 bag. 



The wooden bucket, because of its size and 

 the care required to keep it watertight, has 

 largely disappeared from use. 



Zinc-coated 15-quart buckets are the most 

 commonly used metal buckets. Large 20-gallon 

 galvanized cans that eliminate daily collection 

 of sap are used in some "cold" sugar groves 

 (high altitude, northern exposure). In a cold 

 grove, the buckets often contain ice sap which 

 retards microbial growth. The minute amount 

 of zinc that is dissolved from the galvanized 

 coating by the sap tends to reduce microbial 

 growth, but the germicidal effect is nullified- if 

 the zinc coating is overlayed with a deposit 



