288 RURAL NEW YORK / 



ucts is maple sirup and sugar. The sugar-house, with 

 its ventilating cupola, is usually a small frame struc- 

 ture where the sap is collected and evaporated to sirup 

 or sugar. It is interesting to note that there was a 

 substantial increti-se in the production of maple 

 sirup and sugar in the United States in 1909 over 

 that in 1899. The same statement applies to New 

 York, which also prodiiced more maple sugar and 

 sinip in 1918 than in 1910. In 1918, the produc- 

 tion was 3,732 pounds of sugar and 1,755,000 gal- 

 lons of sirup. New York leads in the production 

 with Vermont a close second, and the two states pro- 

 duce 75 per cent of that made in the United States. 

 Sirup and sugar-making is the first activity on the 

 farm in the spring, beginning when clear warm days 

 and sharp frosty nights set the sap running and the 

 buds begin to spring. 



Cider and vinegar are largely rural manufactures 

 of which the State produced $2,250,000 worth, or 

 over 60 per cent of the total of the country. Vine- 

 gar is becoming more and more a centralized in- 

 stead of a secondary farm product, as was once the 

 case. Cider remains essentially local, made in cus- 

 tom mills scattered wherever apples are grown. As 

 cider for direct consumption, it is not suited to dis.tant 

 transportation. Nearly 5,250,000 gallons of cider 

 are reported from farms in 1909, an increase of 

 nearly 1,000,000 over the preceding decade. Twenty- 

 five per cent of all farms reported cider as a product. 

 Much of the custom-made cider returns to the fann 

 and passes' on into vinegar under the simplest possi- 



