58 MAPLE-SAP SIRUP. 



rator so that it will not get into the sirup, invert the sucrose, and 

 change the flavor. For this reason its use can not be recommended. 

 Scraping must be done with care so that the walls or bottom of the 

 evaporator will not be injured. Even a slight flaw in the metal will 

 cause the evaporator to give way at that place very easily. Many 

 makers, in fact nearly all of those using pans, remove the scale by 

 starting the sap into the pan in the opposite direction to that of the 

 day before, as the greatest deposit is in the sirup end of the pans. 

 The movement of the sap tends to loosen the scale and dissolves some 

 of the mineral substance. Other makers find that the scale is easily 

 taken off by simply boiling water in the receptacles. In one way or 

 another the scale should be removed because it lengthens the time 

 of boiling and darkens the sirup. The latter change is brought about 

 partly by the organic matter held by the scale being brought to a 

 higher temperature than that of the liquid and causing decomposition. 

 The scale is of no commercial value but many collect it and use it 

 for scouring. 



CANNING, STORAGE, AND SALE. 



Maple sirup among the small makers is generally stored and 

 shipped in tightly sealed milk cans holding many gallons or it is put 

 up in gallon and half-gallon cans having screw tops. A few of the 

 larger makers ship in barrels or kegs. The sirup coming from the 

 final boiling is allowed to pass through felt bags hung generally in 

 milk cans. The sirup is drawn off from below and usually is canned 

 when it is almost or quite cold. After the cans are filled and the 

 caps tightly adjusted they are stored in cool cellars or sheds and under 

 such conditions the sirup should, and does, keep for many years, 

 especially if the thickening has been carried to the proper point 

 (see p. 60). 



The farmers generally have their own customers, to whom they 

 dispose of their extra sirup, which brings from 80 cents to $2 a gallon, 

 depending on the year's output and the grade of the product. Other 

 farmers combine and sell their sirup to local consumers, grocers, 

 brokers, or maple sugar companies. The price in this case is lower, 

 varying from 50 cents, and sometimes less, to $1.50 a gallon, this 

 maximum figure being rarely reached. These brokers or middlemen 

 in former times had a set price per gallon for sirup, whatever the 

 grade, but now most of them offer more for the lighter-colored sirups, 

 the price decreasing as the color increases. For instance, if $1 is paid 

 for a sirup with a color number of 5, 6, and 7, then Nos. 8, 9, and 10 

 would bring about 90 cents, Nos. 11, 12, and 13 about 80 cents, and 

 Nos. 15 and 16 about 65 or 70 cents. Besides being light in color, the 

 sirup must be as heavy as the darker products as the broker's price 

 is regulated also by the density of the product. A sirup of standard 

 commercial density brings the regular price, which is proportionately 



