104 
SUGAR MAPLE. 
In the forges of Vermont and the District of Maine, the charcoal of this 
wood is preferred to any other, and it is said to be one-fifth heavier than 
the coal made from the same species in the Middle and Southern States : 
a fact which sufficiently evinces that this Maple acquires its characteristic 
properties in perfection, only in northern climates. 
The wood of the Sugar Maple is easily distinguished, from that of the 
Red-flowering Maple, which it resembles in appearance, by its weight and 
hardness. There is, besides, a very simple and certain test : a few drops 
of sulphate of iron being poured on samples of the different species, the 
Sugar Maple turns greenish, and the White Maple and Red-flowering 
Maple change to a deep blue. 
The extraction of Sugar from the Maple is a valuable resource in a 
country, where all classes of society make daily use of tea and coffee. 
The process by which it is obtained is very simple, and is every where 
nearly the same. Though not essentially defective, it might be improved 
and made more profitable by adopting hints which have been thrown 
out in American publications. 
The work is commonly taken in hand in the month of February, or in 
the beginning of March, while the cold continues intense, and the ground 
is still covered with snow. The sap begins to be in motion at this season, 
two months before the general revival of vegetation. In a central situa- 
tion, lying convenient to the trees from which the sap is drawn, a shed is 
constructed, called a sugar camp, which is destined to shelter the boilers 
and the persons who tend them, from the weather. An auger I of an inch 
in diameter, small troughs to receive the sap, tubes of Elder or Sumac, 8 
or 10 inches long, corresponding in size to the auger, and laid open for a 
part of their length, buckets for emptying the troughs and conveying the 
sap to the camp, boilers of 15 or 18 gallons capacity, moulds to receive 
the sirup when reduced to a proper consistency for being formed into 
cakes, and lastly, axes to cut and split the fuel, are the principal utensils 
employed in the operation. 
The trees are perforated in an obliquely ascending direction, 18 or 20 
inches from the ground, with two holes '4 or 5 inches apart. Care should 
be taken that the augers do not enter more than half an inch within the 
wood, as experience has shown the most abundant flow of sap to take place 
at this depth. It is also recommended to insert the tubes on the south side 
of the tree ; but this useful hint is not always attended to. 
The troughs, which contain 2 or 3 gallons, are made, in the Northern 
States, of White Pine, of White or Black Oak, or of Maple ; on the Ohio, 
