43 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
Maple Sugar. 
The maple sugar season is just upon us. 
Always important as it is, this year it is more 
so than ever. The high price of cane-sugar 
makes it a costly luxury, to be indulged in spar¬ 
ingly. Moreover, it will do us northerners no 
harm to be thrown a little more upon our own 
resources. With the maple-trees and the sorghum 
plant, we shall get along quite comfortably. 
The “ sugar-busli ” should always be securely 
fenced in; it is a great annoyance to have 
one’s buckets visited by roving cattle during the 
night. The apparatus used may be of the rudest 
kind—the “ buckets ” mere blocks of wood dug 
out with an ax, the sap boiled down in ket¬ 
tles hung on a cross-bar in the open woods— 
but then, the molasses and sugar will be rude, 
too. We can easily do better than that. 
First—the conveniences for boiling down. 
Build an “ arch ”* of brick and mortar, in size 
corresponding to the extent of the bush. On 
this, large pans are to be set for evaporating. 
Two or three cross-bars of iron are to be laid 
across the opening, to prevent the pans from 
sagging down. The pans should stand exactly 
level. Any tinner can make the pans, using 
Russia iron, two sheets riveted together witli 
sides 5 or 6 inches deep turned over 1 wire, and 
provided with handles. When more than one 
pan is used they should be set on the same arch, 
each as much as its own depth higher than the 
other, so that the sap can be drawn, if desired, 
through faucets, from the highest into the low¬ 
est. If this arch is under a large shed, it will 
contribute much to the comfort and cleanliness 
of the work. Provide good dry wood. 
For tapping the trees, use an auger |to 4 inch 
size, and bore holes from an inch to one and a 
half inches deep, merely cutting through the 
bark and sap-wood. A deeper hole strikes 
into the heart-wood and begets decay.- By tap¬ 
ping three or four feet above the ground, the sap 
is kept quite free from flying leaves and dirt. 
Various kinds of spouts are used. Those 
made of tin or sheet iron are in high favor with 
some. They are about two inches wide and six 
inches long, rounded up eaves-trough fashion, 
and one end sharpened with a file, or on a grind¬ 
stone. It is then driven into the bark just be¬ 
low the auger-hole, using a wooden mallet for 
driving, to avoid battering it. Others prefer 
wooden spouts, made of pine or hard wood. 
Buckets are sometimes made of tin, others of 
pine, and others of cedar, the wooden ones 
being hooped with iron or ash, and painted. 
These are suspended either on the end of the 
spout (bad practice), or upon a large nail or hook 
driven into the tree. 
. For collecting sap, some still practice carry¬ 
ing the buckets by hand to the kettles or pans ; 
some conduct it by shallow troughs to a large 
reservoir at the center of the bush. Others col¬ 
lect the sap by pailfuls; in a cask or vat drawn 
upon a sled or stone-boat. 
Sugaring Off .—This is an easy process. When 
the sap is boiled down to a syrup, strain it 
through a clean flannel strainer into a medium 
sized cauldron, and boil it until it granulates. 
If leaves, pieces of bark, ashes, flies, or dirt of 
any kind has fallen into the sap, it must be clar¬ 
ified. This can be done by using milk, or saler- 
atus and the whites of eggs. A good recipe is 
a half tea-cup of new milk to every pailful of 
syrup. Then boil slowly and stir well together, 
skimming off the scum which will soon rise to 
*An “ arch ” in sugar-boiler’s phrase means simply brick 
©>■ stone-work to support boilers, kettles or pans. 
the surface. This done, , and the syrup being 
found “ dry ” enough (by testing a little in a 
saucer) to make into forms, pour it into tin molds 
of any convenient size or form, and when solid, 
lay the cakes upside down to prevent premature 
draining. At the first leisure moment, lay the 
cakes on their edges with dishes underneath to 
catch the drainings. The cakes will soon harden. 
A practice of tapping maples with the ax, 
hatchet and gouge, is in some sections alarm¬ 
ingly prevalent. It is certain ruin to any maple 
grove, and the price of sugar at the present 
time should convince farmers of the great value 
of a good sugar bush. In a recent letter to the 
Agriculturist , a farmer of Florence, Ohio, writes, 
deploring this waste, and describes the common 
“ tap ” used by himself and others. Here is a 
drawing of the simple implement, Avith his de¬ 
scription : “ Take first quality, straight grained, 
inch pine boards, cut them in foot lengths, and 
split them up into one inch square pieces. Two 
inches from one end suav half-way through, and 
split off the ten-inch piece. Bore a quarter inch 
hole into the larger end, lengthways of the tap, 
and cut a groove from the hole to the other end. 
In the absence of a vise, to hold the stick to 
prevent splitting, burn the hole out with a hot 
iron. To fit them, bore a 4 inch hole in a hard 
wood block, and Avliittle down the square ends 
of the taps, just to fit, but not to enter it. 
When driven into the trees, they should hold 
fast when inserted an eighth to a quarter inch 
only; if driven in deeper, they cut off, in part, 
the flow of sap. 
It is a good practice to deepen the holes in the 
trees by several successive borings during the 
sap season, in order thus to clear out the mold, 
and keep the holes sweet and pure; but never 
sink a hole deeper than two inches; no in¬ 
creased flow of sap is gained. A three-quarter 
inch hole will often close up almost entirely in 
one season. 
A Talk About Sorghum, or Chinese Sugar 
Cane—Interesting and Instructive 
Details of Experience. 
The present high price of sugar, with the 
prospect of a further advance, very naturally 
awakens increasing interest in the cultivation of 
the Sorghum, or Chinese Sugar Cane plant, in 
the North. Very many letters of inquiry are 
continually coming to this office, and we shall 
gladly give any information we can gather aud 
communicate. Thousands of acres were grown 
during 1861, and manufactured into good pala¬ 
table sweetening. The crop will doubtless be 
increased to tens, if not hundreds of thousands 
of acres, the present year. It seems to be settled 
beyond doubt, that this plant can be profitably 
grown in the United States below 41° north 
latitude, and probably even north of 42° or 
43°, in favorable situations. We shall be 
glad to hear from all who have tried it thor¬ 
oughly (whether successfully or not,) north of 
43°. Perhaps we can not do better in this num¬ 
ber than to print some memoranda or' notes 
taken down by one of the Editors of the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist , during a recent lengthy con¬ 
versation with Mr. E. A. VanMeter, Avho has 
had considerable experience, both as a cultiva- 
tor, and in working it up in large quantities, 
for his neighbors, in Washington, Tazewell 
County, Ill., (lat. 40° 30'.) We have samples of 
the syrup produced, which are of excellent qual¬ 
ity, and which need no purifying for ordinary 
table or culinary use. It is indeed free from the 
green or sharp taste which is so common. 
MR. VAN METER’S EXPERIENCE AND OPINIONS. 
The plant does ivell upon any good corn land, 
and the expense of cultivating the two crops, 
aside from the cost of the seed, which is incon¬ 
siderable, is the same. A rather light soil- 
sandy loam—other things being equal, produces 
juice of the greatest richness. In regard to seed, 
it is of the utmost importance to have pure Chi¬ 
nese Sugar Cane. The Imphee, in his expedience, 
is three weeks later, and produces syrup of by 
no means so good quality, and less in quantity. 
The admixture of broom corn seed is not infre¬ 
quent, and is fatal to a good crop, there being 
little or no sweetness in the stalks. Sorghum 
may be planted in hills three and a-half feet 
apart each way, or in drills the same distance 
apart—the plants standing singly eighteen 
inches to two feet apart, and the suckers al¬ 
lowed to grow. If planted in hills, five stalks 
are left in each, and the suckers thoroughly re¬ 
moved. He decidedly prefers planting in drills, 
and thinks that this has much to do with the 
good results of the crop. The seed should be 
planted as early as the ground can be prepared, 
and is fit for its reception—earlier than corn. 
The practice of a neighbor is to sow in an early 
seed bed, and transplant to the field, setting the 
plants two feet'apart in rows, and the rows three 
and a-half to four feet apart. This man’s syrup 
crystalized so readily that he was obliged to 
make it all into sugar, and was unable to take 
even a sample of his molasses to the County 
Fair. It is the largest, best grown, and best 
matured stalks that yield the most and best 
syrup. Some juice yields seventeen per cent, of 
good thick syrup, and others only ten per cent. 
The crop is treated like corn until it begins to 
ripen, which may be known by the cane turning 
yellow upon the joints towards the buts, and 
by the blackness of the seeds. At this period it 
should be “ bladed,” or stripped of its leaves, to 
facilitate perfect ripening. To effect the “ blad¬ 
ing,” take a hickory stick, one-and-a-half to two 
inches in diameter and three feet long, slip on a 
rmg, or bind it strongly within fourteen inches 
of the end; split this end in the middle, and 
spread the ends two inches apart, by a wedge in 
the split. This saves a great amount of labor— 
a single blow usually blading a stalk, and often 
more than one, perfectly. The blades thus re¬ 
moved are considered equal to corn fodder, not 
having been touched by the frost, and are easily 
cured. The bladed stalks stand after this 
tAvo Aveeks or more, unless danger of frost 
makes it necessary to cut them sooner. Freez¬ 
ing is ruinous to the can'e, giving a peculiar fla¬ 
vor to the syrup, and causing fermentation 
in the cane itself, unless pressed immedi¬ 
ately. It must, therefore, be cut before any hard 
frosts—though light frosts, which wither, the 
leaves, do no hurt. 
When fully ripe, the cane should be cut, 
Avhich operation is thus performed: Using a 
corn knife, strike off about three feet of the top 
as it stands (the length to be cut off will vary 
somewhat, according to the size and maturity 
of the cane). Then cut the cane off about eight 
inches from the ground, or at least above the 
first joint, and lay in piles or on the wagon. 
There Avill usually be suckers enough to bind the 
cane in bundles if it is desirable, or if it is to be 
hauled far. After the removal of the stalks, the 
seed may be collected, or fed to hogs or poul¬ 
try on the ground. The canes are taken direct- 
