Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 483 



reason that the dense steam that sometimes cannot be avoided, com- 

 bined with the heat, have a tendency to sour the saj) and dampen 

 the wood to a degree that it will not burn freely. If old wooden 

 buckets and spouts are used, scald and mop them thoroughly, dip 

 into boiling lime-water and rinse in clear water. Treat gathering 

 tubs and reservoirs to the same. I have effectually cleansed sour 

 buckets and spouts in this way. If pans are used to boil in, syrup- 

 off at least twice daily. Sugar cannot be white if made from sap 

 that is boiled in a pan all day long. The quicker sap is boiled down 

 and converted into sugar, the whiter and nicer will be the product. 

 "When the sap has reached a point that it will drop from the edge 

 of a dipper in a sheet an inch broad, the syrup may be removed from 

 the pans and taken to the house. Strain at once through a felt bag, 

 and " sugar-off " immediately, in a pan the size of the top of your 

 cooking-stove. If not convenient to sugar-off, strain into a tall, 

 conical tub, technically a " settler," and leave over night ; in the 

 morning draw off above the settlings. To clarify, some use a quart 

 of milk to each 150 pounds of syrup ; others use eggs, but neither 

 are of any use. The best spouts are Post's ; they are made of iron, 

 galvanized half-inch, and require no nail ; will not sour ; thaw 

 earlier, run later, and do not, like wooden spouts, hermetically seal 

 the outer pores of the tree. Post's indented tin buckets are as good 

 as any. They fit closely to the tree, are deep, with a small diam- 

 eter, and hang from the spout upon two points, by a hole under the 

 rim, and cannot swing or twist. They hang nearly perpendicular, 

 readily pack into each other, and altogether are a long step 

 toward perfection. The advantages of an evaporator are too obvious 

 to enumerate here, its distinguishing characteristic lying in the fact 

 that the sap is over the fire but a bare half-hour, and runs from the 

 discharge-pipe in a clear, amber, honey-like stream. All who have 

 used them in this vicinity, concur in the opinion that this is an 

 improvement, as marked, as the difference between the crotched stick 

 and kettles of our early remembrance and the sheet-iron pans now so 

 common. For a cover, use a square foot of pine or poplar, three-quar- 

 ters or a full inch thick, either planed and painted or not, as you 

 please. The points to always keep in mind in sugar-making are, first, 

 keep out dirt ; second, keep all receptacles and utensils scrupulously 

 clean and sweet ; third, filter, strain and skim ; fourth, boil the sap 

 down as soon as possible. Thorough cleanliness and dispatch at each 

 step are essential, otherwise success in producing a product of the 

 highest quality cannot be perfect. 



