MAPLE SYRUP AND SUGAR 



399 



twenty years ago in Vermont is now produced in that state. It is 

 likely that about 75 per cent of all the sap that is harvested is turned 

 into sugar. 



Comparing prices, it is very evident that sugar must be worth more 

 than 16 cents a pound, with 7I lb. of sugar equivalent to a gallon of syrup, 

 to compete with syrup at $1.25 a gallon. Then, too, the added cost of 

 manufacturing sugar must be oflset by still higher prices. 



Fig. 107. — A maple tree on the Spalding farm, Amsden, Vermont with 32 buckets hung at 

 one time. Excessive tapping is injurious to the tree. 



As noted before, probably seven-eighths of all syrup and sugar 

 sold on the market is adulterated and sold under another name resembling 

 or implying the pure product. Most of it is used as a table luxury and 

 for use in flavoring preparations, confections, etc. The inferior sugar 

 and poorest syrup, sometimes called "black-strap," is utilized for sweet- 

 ening chewing tobacco. 



Since the war, the value of maple sugar and syrup has advanced 



