SUGAR. 



211 



MAPLE SUGAR. 



The sugar maple (Acer saccharinum) flourishes throughout most of 

 North America. Its height is often upwards of one hundred feet. 

 It is a highly ornamental tree, loves a cold climate, and makes ex- 

 cellent fuel. In the production of sugar an orchard of maple trees 

 is equal to a field of sugar-cane of the same area. An open winter, 

 constantly freezing and thawing, is the forerunner of a bountiful crop 

 of sugar. 



In the older States of the Union the great demand for timber and 

 fuel and the increased cutting tend yearly to lessen the amount 

 of sugar produced. In the more recently settled States of the north- 

 west, maple sugar is on the increase. 



The maj^le sugar crop of the year 1855 was officially estimated at 

 "Washington at about 550,000Z. Maple sugar being a product of the 

 forest, is chiefly confined to those regions of the interior where it is 

 a cheap and ready substitute for the more costly product of the cane. 

 The sugar-cane can only be raised in the extreme southern latitudes 

 of the United States, whereas the sugar maple flom'ishes in the 

 greater part of the inhabited sections, and though the sugar produced 

 from it is inferior to that of the cane, yet, as it requires but little 

 care, it is much cheaper. 



In 1850 the production in the States was officially given at 15,520 

 tons, in 1855 at 14,500 tons, in 1858 at 24,000 tons, in 1860 and 

 1861 at an average of 27,000 tons, and in 1872 it was only 16,000 tons. 



Maple sugar as an article of merchandise seems, however, in a fair 

 way of extinction. The maple forests of New jEngiand are being 

 yearly cut down and converted into broom handles. Thousands of 

 splendid trees are annually felled. At the present rate of destruction, 

 maple sugar will before long be unknown in the trade. The whole 

 amount of maple sugar reported in the States was, according to the 

 latest official agricultural statistics, about forty million pounds annu- 

 ally, but this was considered to be one-third below the actual quantity 

 made. According to the last census returns, Vermont reported a yield 

 of almost ten million pounds. The production of New York is some- 

 what larger, but nothing compared with the difference in area. The 

 only other States which return more than one million pounds are 

 Michigan four million, Ohio thi'ee and a quarter million, Pennsyl- 

 vania nearly three million. New Hampshire two and a quarter million, 

 Indiana one and a half million, Massachusetts a few pounds more than 

 a million. The total production of maple molasses is one and a half 

 million gallons, of which Ohio retui'ns nearly four hundred thousand 

 gallons, Indiana nearly three hundred thousand, Kentucky one 

 hundred and forty thousand, and Vermont only sixteen thousand 

 gallons. In addition to the large production of maple sugar in the 

 States, the estimated quantity manufactured by the Indians living 

 east of the Mississippi is ten million pounds per annum, and the 

 quantity manufactured by those living west of the river is set down 

 at twenty million pounds, but is probably much greater. Of the 

 American States, Vermont makes by far the largest quantity in pro- 



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