8 MAPLE-SAP SIRUP. 



of sucrose, and since this is the principal sugar of maple sap, and 

 hence of the sirup, such a concentrated extract could not be called 

 a maple sirup, nor could the name be properly applied to a product 

 flavored with such an extract. 



It appears from an examination of the maple products collected 

 that the term " maple sirup" should be applied only to the finished 

 product, which should not weigh less than 1 1 pounds to the gallon nor 

 contain more than 35 per cent of water. A sap that is boiled to a 

 half or two-thirds of the consistency prescribed can hardly be called a 

 standard or commercial maple sirup. A product having 40 per cent 

 or more of water does not have the consistency of a sirup, and is 

 nothing more than a partially thickened sap or thin sirup. 



The tree is tapped generally by boring a clean-cut hole from three- 

 eighths to half an inch in diameter and about 1 to 3 inches deep, 

 according to the size of the tree. After cleaning the hole, a suitable 

 "spile" or metal spout is driven in tightly so as to prevent leaking 

 and a bucket is attached to catch the sap. The tapping is done just 

 before the approach of spring so as to obtain the earliest run of sap. 

 The side of the tree to be tapped, the height of the hole above the 

 ground, and the number of holes to a tree are points that have been 

 much discussed. Jones, Edson, and Morse have studied these ques- 

 tions thoroughly as well as the subject of maple-sap flow and have 

 published their results in Bulletin 103 of the Vermont Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. A discussion of the care of a maple grove by Fox 

 and Hubbard is given in Bulletin 59 of the Bureau of Forestry, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



The sugar maple grows over a wide area, but for the production of 

 sugar in commercial quantities its range is limited to western New 

 England, New York, Pennsylvania, the Southern Appalachians, the 

 Ohio Valley, the Lake States, and the adjacent parts of Canada. a 

 All species of the maple have a sw^eet sap, but the most important for 

 the production of sugar and sirup are the sugar maple (Acer sac- 

 cTiarum), and the black maple (Acer saccJiarum nigrum). The red 

 maple (Acer rubrum), the silver maple (Acer saccharinum) , and the 

 Oregon maple (Acer macrophyllum) , varieties thriving in swampy, wet 

 soils, do not produce as high grade sirup or sugar, or yield as 

 heavily, as those growing on dry lands. 



MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. 



In the early days of the manufacture of maple sirup the processes 

 and apparatus were very crude. The sap was collected from the 

 trees in hollow logs or in boxes made from birch bark and transferred 

 to large vessels of the same material. It was then carried to the 



U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Forestry Bui. 59, p. 19. 



