208 



SUGAE. 



quart of new milk, aud a spoonful of saleratus, should be all well 

 mixed with a sufficient amount of syrup, to make 100 lbs. of sugar. 

 The scum which would rise on the top must be skimmed off. Cau- 

 tion is to be observed in not allowing the syrup to boil until the 

 skimming process is completed. To secure a good article, the great- 

 est attention must be bestowed in granulating the sjrrup. The boxes 

 or tubs for draining should be large at the top and small at the 

 bottom. The bottom of the tubs should be bored full of small 

 holes, to let the molasses drain through. After it has nearly done 

 draining, the sugar may be dissolved, and the process of clarifying, 

 granulating, and draining repeated, which will give as pure a 

 quality of sugar as the best refined West India article. 



The greatest objections that are advanced against maple sugar 

 are, that the processes made use of in preparing the sugar for 

 market are so rude and imperfect that it is too generally acid, 

 and besides charged with salts of the oxide of iron, insomuch that 

 it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. These objections may 

 be removed without any comparative difficulty, as it has been 

 proved to demonstration, by the application of one ounce of clear 

 lime-water to a gallon of maple sap, that the acidity will be com- 

 pletely neutralised, and the danger of the syrup adhering to the 

 sides of the boiler totally removed. The acid so peculiar to the 

 maple sugar, when combined with lime in the above proportion, 

 is found to be excessively soluble in alcohol ; so much so, that 

 yellow sugar can be rendered white in a few minutes by placing it 

 iu an inverted cone, open at the top, with small holes at the bottom, 

 and by pouring on the base of the cone a quantity of alcohol. 

 This should filtrate through until the sugar is white ; it should 

 then be dried and redissolved in boiling water, and again evaporated 

 until it becomes dense enough to crystallise. Then pour it into 

 the cones again, and let it harden. By this process a very white 

 sample of sugar may be made, and both the alcohol and acids will 

 be thoroughly dispelled with the vapor. 



The process of making maple sugar it will be seen is very sim- 

 ple and easily performed. The trees must be of suitable size, and 

 within a convenient distance of the place where the operations of 

 boiling, &c., are to be performed. When gathered, the sap should 

 be boiled as early as possible, as the quality of the sugar is in a 

 great degree dependent on the nemiess or freshness of the sap. 

 There is a tendency to acidity in this fluid which produces a quick 

 effect iu preventing the making of sugar ; and which, when the 

 sap is obliged to be kept for many hours in the reservoirs, must 

 be counteracted by throwing into them a few quarts of slaked 

 lime. During the time of sugar making, warm weather, in which 

 the trees will not discharge their sap, sometimes occurs, and the 

 buckets become wliite and slimy, from the souring of the little 

 sap they contain. In this case they should be brought to the 

 boiler and washed out carefully with hot water, and a handful of 

 lime to each. 



In reducing the sap, the great danger to be apprehended is 



