PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 365 



ties of the sap, till the close of the sugar harvest, when we find it less 

 sweet, and so changed in composition, that it neither makes good sugar (i. 

 e., not so liglit colored) nor sixiisi'iictory stick jaw. This last is a favorite 

 article among sugar makers, and to be appreciated, it must be eaten while 

 new, as it unfortunately changes to sugar in a few days. It is really a 

 sweet and pleasant article, and first best to place before loquacious visitors. 

 We tapped our trees this year March 1st, reamed out a few hundred 

 of the holes about the first of April, and pulled out the spiles April 16th. 

 During this time we gathered 618 barrels of sap, or 19,176 gallons, which 

 has made not far from 4,000 pounds of sugar. We generally use a -^ bit 

 and make a hole 2| or 3 inches deep. This year we have made our spiles of 

 Eed oak (Quercus rubra), and colored them black in Logwood dye. The trees 

 are tapped about two feet from the ground and the buckets hung up. In 

 our maple groves we have mostly the Rock and Red maple (acer sacchari- 

 num and acer rubrum). The Rock maple takes the preference for sweet- 

 ness of sap; still there is a great difference in the quality of Rock maples, 

 one noble specimen near the village has long been designated for the sweet- 

 ness of its sap as the sugai' loaf. 



As our camps are differently arranged, wo will make a note of each: 

 One has four cast-iron pans, all placed at one height, and connected by a 

 pipe near the bottom; this makes it a self-regulating boiler, as the sweetest 

 part of the sap passes out at the bottom of the pans as fast as the fresh 

 runs in. The second camp has, in connection with the casl-iron, one pan, 

 the sides of which are made of wood and the bottom of sheet-iron; this is 

 a rapid evaporator, and in careful hands does good service. 



The camp belonging to the largest orchard having been i-ebuilt the past 

 season, we have laid aside the heaters and cast iron pans and substituted 

 copper. We have four pans — three of them are eight feet long, two feet wide 

 and eight inches deep; the other, or syrup pan, is four feet long, two feet wide 

 and eight inches deep. They are placed above and at the side of each other, 

 so that the sap runs from the bottom of the first into the tf)p of the second, 

 and so on through the whole. Each pan is governed by a faucet. Our 

 experience this season has proved it to be very satisfactory. With them 

 we can boil thirty barrels per day, of fourteen hours, into syrup, or about 

 two barrels per hour. 



The sap is all drawn in barrels, from the trees to the camp on sleds. 

 The situation of the camp is such that the barrels can be rolled from the 

 sled into the boiling house; they are emptied into a large trough; passing 

 from this it is filtered through sand before entering the boiling pan. When 

 about two-thirds boiled down, it is taken from the kettle and strained 

 through a flannel poke into a holder and allowed to remain a number of 

 hours to settle and cool; it is then carefully drawn off and carried to an- 

 other building to be converted into molasses or sugar. To sixteen gallons 

 we now add two eggs and one quart of skim milk. The whole is now 

 gradually heated, and as the scum arises it should be carefully taken off 

 before the syrup is allowed to boil. After being well skimmed it is again 

 strained through the poke into a holder, and the kettle thoroughly washed 

 to remove all the refuse matter which might adhere to the sides. The 

 eyrup is then returned to the kettle and boiled to any desired consistency. 



