SUGAR MAPLE. 
289 
twelve inches from the tree. The spout is gene- 
rally made of the shumach *, or elder -j~, which 
generally grow in the neighbourhood of the sugar 
trees. The tree is first tapped on the south side ; 
when the discharge of its sap begins to lessen, an 
opening is made on its north side, from which an 
increased discharge takes place. The sap flows 
from four to six weeks, according to the tempera- 
ture of the weather. Troughs large enough to con- 
tain three or four gallons, made of white pine, or 
white ash, or of dried water-ash, aspen, linden, 
poplar or common maple, are placed under the 
spout, to receive the sap, which is carried every 
day to a large receiver, made of either of the trees 
before mentioned.” 
The maple tree continues to yield a thin sap 
during the whole of the summer and part of the 
autumn ; but what flows after April is not fit for 
the manufactory of sugar. It is not, however, with- 
out its use, as it affords a wholesome drink in har- 
vest, which, according to the Baron La Hontan, is 
more grateful to the taste than the best lemonade or 
cherry water. 
The sugar is made from the sap either by freez- 
ing, by spontaneous evaporation, or by boiling ; but 
the last is the method most commonly practised of 
the three ; and the Americans have found from ex- 
perience, that the sap should never be kept longer 
than twenty-four hours, after it is collected, before 
* Rhus. | Sambucus canadensis. + Liriodendron tulipifera. 
VOL. III. U 
