24 
RURAL HOURS. 
they rarely attain to such a growth earlier ; from '^his period they 
continue to yield their sap freely until they decay. It is really 
surprising that any tree should afford to lose so much of its nat- 
ural nourishment without injury ; but maples that have been tap- 
ped for fifty years or more, are just as luxuriant in their foliage and 
flowers, as those that are untouched. The amount of sap yielded 
by difi'erent trees varies — some w^ill give nearly three times as 
much as others ; the fluid taken from one tree is also much 
sweeter and richer than that of another, as there seems to be a 
constitutional diff'erence between them. 
From two to five pounds of sugar are made from each tree, 
and four or five gallons of sap are required to every pound. The 
fluid begins to run with the first mild weather in March ; its 
course, however, is checked by a hard frost, until a thaw again 
sets it in motion ; some years it continues to flow at intervals 
until the last of April, so that a regular early spring gives less 
time for the work than a backward season, when the sap runs 
later ; the usual period, however, for sugar-making, is about two 
weeks — one year more, another less. 
This sugar is made more easily than any other ; both the beet 
and the cane require much more expense and labor. The process 
with the maple is very simple, and consists merely in collecti^ng 
the sap and boiling it ; neatness and attention are alone neces- 
sary to make the sugar of the best quality. A hole is first bored 
into the trunk, from one to three feet from the ground ; a hatchet 
or chisel is sometimes used for this purpose, but neat farmers pre- 
fer a small auger, less than half an inch in diameter, by which 
means the bark is not injured, closing again over the opening 
in two or three years. After the hole has been bored, a small 
