Xshe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
273 
The Maple Sugar Outlook 
Prospects for the Present Season 
N eeded sweets.—T here is no doubt that 
more trees will he tapped this Spring than 
e\er before. The Food AdininDtration is doing all 
it can to have ever.v bit of this delicious gift of 
Nature utilized to the utmost. Yet it is safe to .'iu.v 
that a great man.v trees will not yield up their 
stores of sweetness, because the owners do not know 
how to handle the sap, or have not the utensils or 
conveniences necessary. Owners of sugar maples 
are urged to make less syrup and more sug.-ir this 
icar. on account of the scarcity of tin. C. C. Wick- 
wire, county food administraior and manufacturer of 
CiU’tland. urges the people of that cit.v to tap every 
tree, and offers to evai»orate the sap 
at his factories free of cost. lie 
estimates that there are 2.">00 trees 
in the cit.v that will yield about tive 
tons of sugar. This is practical co¬ 
operation. 
INCREASING ('OSTS.—I heard a 
country woman say not long ago she 
had made all the maple syrup her 
famil.v needed for the year on her 
kitchen range for several seasons. 
The writer has made about tive gal¬ 
lons each Spring in this wa.v. besides 
an abundant suppl.v for immediate 
use of delicious amber syrup. Rut 
the suppl.v must be (luite limited if 
made in this wa.v, as evaporation 
from kettles, etc., is necessaril.v 
slow. This is a maple sugar section, 
many farmers being known afar for 
the excellence and quantity of their 
product. Most of the sugar-makers 
h.Txe secured, or at least ordered, 
their supplies already; an.v needed 
buckets, vats, eva])orator fixtures, 
but most of all. the necessary tin 
cans for the s.vrnp, the gallon size 
being commonl.v usetl. Ten cents a 
can or le.ss has been the price in 
previous years. Now only one linn 
in our cit.v of Cortland is carrying 
any cans at $20 a hundred ;ind very 
limited in sui)pl.v. The other de;il- 
ers sold out long ago, and did not 
reorder. This lirm ordered l.r>00 
more regardless of i)rlce. but Inirdly 
exi»wts to get them. The Vermont 
manufacturers are getting S2t; jier 
IttO can.s. 
FUTURE PRICES.—My ne.ire.st 
neighbor is an exjiert sugar jiiaker 
on a .scale somewhat above the aver¬ 
age New York maker. In discuss¬ 
ing probable prices this year he said 
to this dealer: ‘T don’t see liow T 
e.an sell my product this year for 
less than .$1.50 a gallon. I couldn’t 
for that if I hired any help.” He 
is fortunate in having a son as an 
interested coworker. ‘Alan alive,” 
was the reply, ’*we :ire paying f.-irm- 
ers .$1.75 now for old syrup as they 
bring it in.” That is about all the 
exact information to be had as yet 
on maple sugar prices this Spring. 
Rut they are bound to be higher 
than ever known befoi-e. Refore 
this .$1..‘{5 a gallon for syrup has 
been considered a gi>od price. Sugar 
prices have been based on s.vrup 
prices, on the basis of about s lbs. 
of sugar to an 11-lb. can of standard 
syrup. It is the patriotic duty of 
every owner of a maple tree big 
enough, .say 1) to 12 inches through, 
one tap hole only to the smaller trees 
the sugar or syrup possible 
fame. One man having W trees was so enthusiastic 
over his 7-ft. i)an of four or five compartments, the 
Tian and furnace costing then about .$24, that we 
?it once decided to order one for use this year. Rut. 
alas! we procrastinated, and now the freight con¬ 
gestion makes such an order impossible. However, 
we have interviewed station agents and makers, and 
learn that the pan only can be had by expre.ss with 
reasonable certainty of prompt delivery. And our 
order goes forth in today's (Feb. 2) mail. We will 
1 uild a temporary out-of-doors arch or furnace or 
brick and native stone, using two fl.-it pieces of iron 
as ai'ch irons or supports for the pan at the ends, 
the sides resting on the stonework of the ai’ch. The 
front will be covered I>y a homemade door of sheet 
iron bung on two wire hooks f:istened ti> the iron 
Press lllustviiting Service. 
Hauling seven tons of hay on auto truck and trailer. 
Press Illustrating Serviee. 
Getting a three-incli gun into action, where under the camouflage of grass and straw it can¬ 
not ' be 'een at a distance of 100 yards. 
the product is not quite .so delicate in color and 
flavor. 
HIGH-CLASS SYRUR.—Theoretically, pure maple 
.syrup should be water white in color if .absolute 
cleanliness and freedom ^rom bacterial action could 
be secured. Rut this perfection is never attained, 
the utmost .skill and perfection of methods and 
equipment arriving at a syrup of amber-like cletir- 
ness. The tin.v particles of caramelized sugar that 
form in the rapid evaporation of the sap cause most 
of this- golden hue. The old idea that the (hirker 
the .syrup the more sure that it was pure maple, 
free from adulterants, is now pretty well in disuse. 
'The general public is coming to know that modern 
methods of using covered buckets at the trees to 
Kee|i out insects, bark, leaves, .sunlight, etc., with 
covered storage vats, the careful 
system of straining both sap and 
.syruj) several times over, the ])er- 
fected modern evaiiorators and the 
rapidity with which several hundred 
barrels of .saj) are turned into the 
finished product insures delicacy of 
coloring as well as of flavor. The 
strong, biting flavor of the old type 
syrup is known today to be not the 
hall mark of the pure article, but 
the sign of carelessness in making, 
or improi»er eqnii)ment. 
quality and yield.—E ach 
tree as the.v will avei-agt' in the 
usual sugar bush of Gentral New 
York will yield fi-om two to 2(4 lbs. 
of sugar per season, yiost of the 
sugar-making e<pupment is inanu- 
factui-ed in ^'erInont. tbe heart of 
the mai)le sugar district. Evapo- 
r.-itors built to ca i-e for a bush of .so 
many trees in X'erinoiit are not cap¬ 
able of handling the sap from the 
.same number of trees here. Trees 
vary greatly in the amount of sap 
they will produce, and the sweet¬ 
ness of tl’.e sail. The.v will v.-iry b.v 
localitio. and by individuals, and 
on diff' i-ent farms that lit* side by 
side. 'entral New York ti-et“s run 
more sap than A’erniont trees, and 
the sugar coident is less. The tiuie 
of the sea.sou has akso a good deiil 
to do with the swt*etness, the earlU'r 
runs being .sweeter. A barrel of s.'ip 
on the average here will yield about 
one gallon of .syrup. The jnire food 
law rtsiuires a gallon of syrup tt> 
weigh 11 lbs. to the gallon. Syrui> 
of this densit.v will keep imletiuitely 
in a perfect condition. If it weighs 
le.ss it will sour. If it weighs more. 
Sii.v 12 lbs., rock candy will form in 
crystals in the bottom. 'I’his is not 
a sign of iinpuidty or atlulteration, 
but it is a trouble to melt out. It 
can be dmie by adding a little w.-tter 
and slowly heating the can. 
Ncav York. xt. o. J ki.\t. 
A Greenhouse in the Corn 
Belt 
Press Illusti-Mtlng Service. 
Entrance to church of village of Zborow, Galicia, through "TJemetery, where recently fallen 
soldiers were buried. 
to make all 
Nearly all owners or 
real sugar orchards. t>r "bushes.” know the process 
in its many details. To an.v such wishing further 
accurate, dei>endable information as to CHiuipment 
and methods, I would recommend Farmer.s’ Rulletiu 
No. 51(>, sent on reque.st. free, by the U. .S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. 
EQUIRMEN”!’ NEEDED.—The writer came from 
a family of experienced sugar manufacturer.s. but 
for several years past has been living on a farm 
that boasts only about 25 maple trees, with no etjuip- 
nient for sugar-making. However, when Spring 
comes, we cannot resist tai)i)ing a few for the pleas¬ 
ure of “fussing” with the fragrant products. Last 
Spring we saw in operation by a few neighbors who 
ilso owned a few scattering trees, small evaporator 
bJtus, uiul. the.. ro(,*ker fprnaT,e., ,qf. ui;i.U-<ir(ier , hou.se 
.-upiiorting the front end of the pan. We Avill 
cboose the smaller size, a ."> ft. in. x .'5 ft. (> in. pan. 
with three comiiartments. one for the cold sap. the 
next for sap partly evai)orated. the third for the 
thickest of sap or syrup. We will have a large-sized 
stove pipe or boiler pipe six or seven feet high to 
carry off the smoke and insure a good draft. Waste 
wood, old fence posts, limb wood, etc., cut to three 
to four-foot lengths, will <erve as fuel. A neighbor 
kindly offers the use of a row of trees that he never 
taps bordering on our farm, and we expect to make 
25 to 30 or more gallons of s.vrup. enough to pa.v 
for our e<iuipment. buckets, pan, and fuel, and leave 
some for a furnace when transportation shall be 
easier. The i»an will cost .$s.()0, plus express charges. 
!Many will use caldron kettle.s. as In the early days 
of sugar-making. This can be done succe^ssfully if 
tber4?.s.is.fuel at.hand. Rut evaiAoration i< slower and 
HIE rt*mjirks of Mr. Weaver on 
page 140 call to mind a stor.v 
which my brother is fond of telling. 
In Story County, Iowa, in the nudst 
of the corn belt practically no g.-ir- 
dening is dene, ilost of the farmers 
feel that they cannot spare the time 
to raise garden truck, when the.v 
have a great area of corn calling 
for cultivation. Some of the wives 
rame a few radishes or something 
like that, but practically all the vegetables must 
come from somewhere el.se. Some years ago two 
brothers came into that neighborhood and started 
laising garden truck on land that would in-oduce a 
hundred bushels of corn to the acre. Doubtless there 
were many predictions of failure. Probably they had 
some trouble selling all the.v raised the first few 
.vears. but now they have a very l.-irge aiva under 
glass, and. if m.v memor.v is correct. nc*arly a .section 
altogether in truck, all of which is sold for cash to 
customers who come for it and take it awa.v. Their 
land is cm the Lincoln Highway, and farmei’s conn* 
from at least 20 miles to get fresh sweet corn, to¬ 
matoes, lettuce, celery, cucumbers, radishes or an.v 
other things which ma.v be in season. The corn 
farmers say the.v can bu.v this stntf cheaper than 
they can raise it. As most of them have automo¬ 
biles it is no hardship to run over to this farm after 
