THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
February  20 
I  f  4 
years  in  grass,  after  which  the  rotation  started  again 
with  oats,  the  only  cereal  grown  on  the  high,  bleak 
moors  of  the  Peak  of  Derbyshire.  The  area  of  grass 
land  broken  up  for  oats  each  year  was  about  20  acres, 
so  that  there  were  usually  50  acres  of  oats,  20  of  roots, 
chiefly  turnips  and  swedes,  and  20  of  “  rape  and  seeds.” 
The  area  under  the  plow  at  once  was  thus  about  80 
acres,  while  80  more  were  under  temporary  grass,  100 
acres  constituting  the  whole  of  the  arable  portion  of 
the  farm.  The  land  was  always  well  fallowed  and 
cleaned  for  roots,  and  cleaned  again  the  following 
spring,  if  necessary,  before  the  rape  and  grass  seeds 
were  sown.  The  roots  were  grown  with  about  12  to  15 
cwt.  of  ground  or 
crushed  bones  per 
acre,  and  the  land 
soon  came  round 
in  a  marvelous 
way,  under  this 
treatment. 
The  method  of 
seeding  down  land 
to  grass  with  rape 
was  introduced  by 
my  father,  and 
was  so  successful 
that  it  soon  be¬ 
came  general  in 
the  district.  The 
crops  of  rape  he 
grew  were  worth 
looking  at,  I  well 
remember.  T  h  c 
land  was  well  pul¬ 
verized,  and  the 
rape  and  grass 
seeds  were  sown 
toward  the  end  of  May :  in  September,  and  even 
sometimes  in  August,  the  crop  was  ready  for 
fattening  sheep — the  object  to  which  it  was  com¬ 
monly  devoted.  Ten  or  a  dozen  sheep  per  acre, 
and  sometimes  more,  were  turned  in,  and  I  mind  the 
times  when  they  could  not  be  seen  for  the  rape,  save 
when  their  heads  were  well  up  in  the  air.  The  effect 
on  the  land — the  feeding  in  situ,  by  sheep,  of  a  large- 
leaved  crop,  which  takes  a  good  deal  of  its  nitrogen 
from  the  air — was  excellent,  and  the  tall  rape  sheltered 
the  young  grass  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  while  the 
sheep  manured  the  land  quite  evenly.  In  six  or  eight 
weeks  they  were  all  fat :  sometimes  in  four  or  five,  in 
which  event  a  second  lot  were  put  in,  either  of  sheep 
to  be  fattened,  or  of  ewes  with  lambs,  or  of  lambs 
recently  weaned. 
The  20  acres  of  rape  came  in  most  excellently  for  a 
large  flock  of  sheep,  relieving  the  pastures  when  the 
grass  began  to  fail  a  little,  and  the  “seeds” — the  young 
grass — were  always  fit  in  the  following  April,  some¬ 
times  early  in  the  month,  to  turn  the  dairy  cows  out 
upon.  The  mixture  of  grass  seeds  contained  the  best 
grasses  suitable  to  the  soil  and  climate,  and  a  good 
proportion  of  White  Clover,  but  no  Red  Clover  to  speak 
of.  Consequently  such  a  crop  was  safe  enough  for  the 
cows  to  eat  as  the  first  green  bite  of  the  season. 
Under  this  system  there  was  always  plenty  of  capital 
farm-yard  manure  for  the  meadows,  and  frequently 
some  to  spare  for  the  pastures,  for  large  quantities  of 
feeding  stuffs  were  bought  for  use  in  the  winter. 
It  will  now  be  understood  how  the  capacity  of  the 
farm  was  doubled — how,  indeed,  two  blades  of  grass 
were  made  to  grow  where  one  grew  before. 
Derbyshire,  Eng.  [prof.]  j.  p.  sheldon. 
Old  and  New  of  Maple  Sugar  Making 
Heatimj  “  all  out-doors;  a  sweet  bath;  “  too  tired  to  sleep;” 
good  sap  on  good  soil;  no  need  of  a  big  hole;  strain  at 
every  possible  point;  a  good  sap  gatherer;  it  will  pay 
to  set  out  maples. 
Big  Work  for  Little  Sugar. 
I  well  remember  one  season’s  work  at  home  in  the 
sugar  bush,  when  a  boy.  During  the  fall  and  early 
winter,  a  large  pile  of  wood,  sled  length,  probably  50 
cords,  had  been  cut  and  piled  near  the  boiling  place. 
An  arch  was  laid  and  the  pans  bought.  Three  large 
caldron  kettles  were  hung  side  by  side.  The  huge 
storage  tank  was  in  place.  One  Saturday  all  hands 
tapped  trees,  and  by  night  many  of  the  buckets  were 
filled,  and  enough  sap  had  been  gathered  to  fill  one 
storage  tub.  The  flow  of  sap  was  kept  up  all  day 
Sunday,  and  by  Monday  morning  every  bucket  was 
running  over,  and  confusion  reigned.  The  great  wood 
consumers  were  started, and  did  not  stop  night  or  day  till 
the  following  Saturday  night.  After  a  week’s  effort 
to  warm  all  out-doors,  that  big  wood  pile  had  dwindled 
to  nothing.  Father,  with  half  a  dozen  boys  and  two 
teams,  had  worked  all  day,  and  all  had  taken  turns 
boiling  during  the  night  until  completely  worn  out. 
Mother  had  “  syruped  ”  off  until  all  the  eggs  had  been 
used  up  to  clarify  the  sugar,  and  was  so  tired  that  she 
could  not  sleep  o’  nights. 
One  brother  who  was  hanging  over  the  top  of  the 
storage  tank  trying  to  dip  up  some  sap  fell  in,  and  as 
the  tank  was  about  10  feet  high,  could  not  get  out. 
Another  brother  stuck  a  stick  down  which  was  eagerly 
grasped.  The  one  inside  was  drawn  up  nearly  to  the 
top,  and  then  dropped  again.  “  I  wanted  to  hear  him 
souse,”  was  the  only  excuse  we  could  ever  get  out  of 
the  dropper,  who  finally  helped  out  the  nearly  drowned 
boy.  The  pails  of  eggs  and  apples  we  boys  smuggled 
to  the  camp,  and  boiled  in  the  sap,  while  taking  our 
turns,  considerably  lightened  the  family  revenue,  and 
caused  utter  forgetfulness  of  the  pans,  the  contents  of 
which  had  boiled  dry,  and  which  were  burning.  The 
burnt  sugar  was  soaked  off,  and  the  pan  was  filled 
again,  and  its  contents  remained  in  it  boiling,  until  we 
syruped  off  the  next  morning.  This  gave  the  syrup  a 
dark  color  and  strong  taste,  which  some  benighted 
city  customers  still  call  for. 
Pure  maple  syrup  made  from  sap  which  has  not  been 
allowed  to  sour,  and  has  been  strained  till  clear  of  all 
impurities,  if  not  scorched  in  boiling,  will  be  as  clear 
as  a  crystal.  The  result  of  this  hard  week’s  work 
Maple  Sap  Gatherer.  Fig.  71. 
was  (500  pounds  of  burnt  sugar,  which  would  bring 
only  the  average  price. 
Here’s  Another  Picture. 
A  recent  visit  to  the  sugar  camp  of  E.  M.  Fellows,  of 
Cortland  County,  N.  Y.,  gave  me  a  chance  to  see  how 
“  sugaring  ”  is  done  at  present.  His  fine  grove  of  hard 
rock  maples  stands  on  a  knoll  containing  12  acres. 
This  is  not  the  most  favorable  location,  as  the  flow  of 
sap  may  be  cut  short  by  the  lack  of  moisture,  and  the 
sap  does  not  start  as  early  in  the  season  as  it  does  in  a 
warm  valley.  All  other  trees  should  be  trimmed  out, 
Maple  Sap  Strainer.  Fig.  72. 
for  then  the  flow  of  sap  will  be  greater  and  sweeter. 
The  better  the  land  the  better  the  sap.  The  most  sap 
is  obtained  from  loam  land  and  the  least  from  sand 
“  How  deep  do  you  have  the  hole,”  I  asked. 
“  About  an  inch  and  a  half  in  a  large  tree.  There  is 
no  need  to  bore  a  tree  to  death.  I  use  a  three-eighth 
bit  and  would  use  a  smaller  one  if  I  could  hold  the 
bucket.  I  break  off  as  little  of  the  bark  as  possible  so 
as  not  to  have  to  bore  so  deep.  The  Record  spouts  are 
the  best  and  cost  one  cent  each.  They  penetrate  the 
tree  half  an  inch  and  are  tapering  so  as  not  to  close 
the  pores.  The  end  which  is  in  the  tree  is  almost 
closed ;  this  prevents  the  air  from  entering  and  drying 
the  inside  surface.  I  knocked  off  the  bark  to  the  white 
lining  and  pricked  it  with  a  pin,  and  the  flow  of  sap 
seemed  to  be  as  great  as  from  a  three-eighth-inch  hole.” 
The  buckets  are  made  of  tin,  and  painted  on  the  out¬ 
side,  so  as  not  to  heat  in  the  sun,  which  would  sour  the 
sap.  Every  pail  should  be  provided  with  a  hinged 
cover,  and  there  should  be  a  hole  under  the  wire  for 
hanging  it  on  the  spout.  No  rain,  leaves,  snow  or  dirt 
can  get  into  such  a  pail.  A  good,  clean,  white  syrup 
can  not  be  made  from  sap  which  has  these  things  in  it, 
and  much  expense  in  boiling  is  saved. 
A  building  for  1,000  trees  should  be  26  by  28  feet, 
with  a  partition  through  the  center  the  short  way, 
the  evaporator 
occupying  one 
side,  and  the  stor- 
age  tank  and 
teams  the  other. 
The  drive-way  is 
raised  two  or  three 
feet,  so  that  the 
sap  can  be  drawn 
from  the  bottom 
of  the  gathering 
tub  into  the  stor¬ 
age  tank  with  a 
rubber  hose,  while 
it  ean  pass  from 
the  storage  tank 
into  the  evapor¬ 
ator  without 
handling.  The 
storage  tank  is 
outside,  so  that 
the  sap  may  re¬ 
main  cool  until 
used.  The  team  is 
sheltered  in  case  of  storm.  The  wood  shed  joins  the 
boiling  room,  but  is  partitioned  off,  so  that  no  dust 
or  dirt  can  get  into  the  pans.  The  evaporator  room 
should  be  ceiled  tightly,  and  have  a  good  ventilation 
on  top.  If  the  room  is  warm,  and  the  air  dry,  the 
evaporation  is  from  one-third  to  one-half  faster.  Damp 
or  foggy  weather  does  not  hinder  the  boiling  as  in 
the  open  air.  With  his  Champion  evaporator,  which 
has  a  corrugated  bottom,  Mr.  Fellows  can  boil  as  fast 
as  two  men  and  a  team  can  gather.  He  has  only  one 
ten-barrel  storage  tank  in  use.  This  is  made  of  gal¬ 
vanized  iron.  The  cover  is  raised  a  little  at  each  end 
for  ventilation. 
The  gathering  can,  see  Fig.  71,  is  also  galvanized 
iron  with  a  cover  which  drops  down  inside  about  a 
foot.  Over  a  hole  in  the  center  is  placed  a  flat  sieve, 
on  top  of  which  is  a  cone-shaped  sieve,  Fig.  72,  which 
fits  on  to  the  flat  one.  This  keeps  back  the  ice  so  that 
it  can  not  clog  the  fine  sieve,  and  saves  boiling  it.  Set 
on  a  sleigh  it  is  low  down,  and  saves  much  lifting. 
The  wood  used  consists  of  pickings  from  repaired 
fences  and  tree  tops  and  is  comparatively  worthless. 
In  strong  contrast  to  the  small  pile  used  nowadays 
was  the  mountain  I  used  to  help  gather  when  kettles 
were  used.  The  old  pans  required  about  one  cord  for 
each  100  pounds  of  sugar.  By  the  present  system  less 
then  half  a  cord  is  needed.  The  arch  and  the  evaporator 
are  4x16  feet  and  are  made  so  that  the  heat  can  be  shut 
off  from  the  last  or  syrup  pan  and  the  draft  is  under 
control.  The  chimney  is  wide  at  the,  bottom  so  that 
the  flame  is  spread  out  under  all  parts  of  the  pan. 
The  sap  passes  through  two  strainers  on  the  gathering 
tub ;  through  a  cloth  strainer  on  top  of  the  storage 
tank  and  enters  a  large  pan  near  the  furnace  door.  In 
its  passage  it  is  not  mixed  with  the  fresh,  cold  sap  from 
one  section  to  another  until  it  reaches  the  syrup  pan. 
An  automatic  regulator  maintains  a  uniform  depth. 
No  foreign  matter  is  retained  to  be  boiled  over  and 
over.  The  large  pan  has  a  pocket  on  the  outside  of 
the  arch,  which  holds  about  a  quart.  A  siphon  draws 
the  sap  from  under  the  scum  into  the  pocket  in  the 
next  pan.  The  siphons  had  to  be  placed  on  the  out¬ 
side  to  avoid  trouble  from  steam  pressure.  Drawn  in 
this  way,  no  dirt  or  scum  will  pass  through  with  the 
syrup,  and  when  the  latter  reaches  the  last  pan  no 
milk  or  eggs  are  required  to  clarify  it.  A  sugar  ther¬ 
mometer  is  set  in  the  syrup  pan  and  the  fluid  is  drawn 
at  220  deg.  F.  It  will  then  weigh  11  pounds  to  the 
gallon.  It  should  be  canned  cold  ;  if  poured  in  hot  the 
can  will  not  be  full  after  cooling  and  the  syrup  will 
become  moldy. 
In  sections  where  lime  is  found  it  will  settle .  to  the 
bottom  while  cooling.  A  tin  can  should  always  be 
used  for  storing.  Never  use  glass  until  ready  to  sell. 
Exposed  to  light,  the  syrup  becomes  darker  and  loses 
flavor.  Mr.  Fellows  is  very  particular  to  keep  every 
thing  clean.  It  is  his  hobby.  The  buckets  are  washed 
with  warm  water,  to  which  is  added  a  little  sulphuric 
acid.  The  sap  is  boiled  the  same  day  it  runs  and  is 
strained  wherever  it  can  be.  The  evaporator  is 
washed  every  day.  All  dirt  and  smoke  are  excluded. 
The  attendants  must  be  clean.  It  is  no  wonder  he  can 
sell  for  a  clear  50  per  cent  above  wholesale  rates.  Said 
THE  FREEMAN  POTATOES.  From  Nature  Figs.  69  and  70.  See  page  119. 
