MAPLE SIRUP PRODUCERS MANUAL 



By C. O. WILUTS" and CLAUDE H. HILLS, Eastern Regional Research Center, Northeastern Region, Agricultural Research 



Service 



No one knows who first discovered how to 

 make sirup and sugar from the sap of the 

 maple tree. Both were well-estabhshed items of 

 barter among the Indians Hving in the area of 

 the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, 

 even before the arrival of the white man {36, 

 10 IV 



The maple crop, one of oui- oldest agricultural 

 commodities, is one of the few crops that is 

 solely American. Until only a few years ago, it 

 was both produced and processed entirely on 

 the farm. 



The last 20 years have witnessed some vast 

 changes in the maple sirup industry. For the 

 first half of this century, maple sap was col- 

 lected and converted to sirup in much the same 

 way as it was in 1900, when atmospheric evapo- 

 ration equipment was developed by Yankee 

 ingenuity (56). Many of the more recent 

 changes have been the result of scientific and 

 engineering studies carried out by the Eastern 

 Regional Research Center in Philadelphia, Pa., 

 and by the experiment stations and agricul- 

 tural colleges of Michigan, New Hampshire, 

 New York, Ohio, and Vermont. Recently the 

 Forest Service has established a facility for 

 research on maple sirup production at the 

 Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in 

 Burlington, Vt. 



Maple sirup is a woodland crop. Since the 

 trees grow best at altitudes of 600 feet and 

 higher, maple sirup is usually produced in hilly 

 country. Its production is a vital part of the 

 local economy in dozens of communities from 

 Maine westward into Minnesota, and south to 

 Indiana and West Virginia (chart 1). The same 

 type and quality of maple products are pro- 

 duced throughout the area. 



' Retired February 1969. 



- Italic numbers in parentheses refer to References 

 Cited, p. 128. 



Chart l.^A and B , range of hard maple trees; A, range of 

 commercial production of maple sirup. 



Maple sirup, like other crops, is subject to 

 yearly fluctuations in production because of 

 climatic and economic conditions. Production in 

 the past has been affected by the cost or supply 

 of white sugar and by the supply of farm labor. 

 In 1860, a record crop of 4,132,000 gallons of 

 maple sirup was produced. For the next decade 

 the price of cane sugar declined. Production of 

 maple sirup also declined to a low of 921,000 

 gallons in 1869. As cane sugar became scarce 

 during World War I, production of maple sirup 

 again rose, slightly exceeding the 1860 record. 

 Production also increased during World War II. 

 Since then, production has decreased (table 1) 

 (125, 126). 



The decreased production since World War II 

 is a reflection of the shortage of farm labor 



