The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
519 
Every Step in Maple Sug>ar Making 
Part III. 
C OLOR.—Maple sap as it comes from the tree is 
as colorless as the purest water. Were it prac¬ 
ticable to concentrate it without its receiving colora¬ 
tion during the process, a colorless syrup and a sugar 
as white as granulated sugar would result. The 
characteristics of a pure, high-grade maple syrup 
are a clean, delicate flavor in addition to its natural 
sweetness, and a color so light as to closely approach 
transparency. Of maple sugar, the characteristics 
are a soft, smooth, fine grain, a deliciously sweet 
flavor with no trace of pungency, and a color closely 
approaching that of bright, clean wheat straw. The 
dark color and “tangy” flavor, supposed by many 
to characterize a high-grade maple product, really 
indicate the reverse, and result from careless and 
unsanitary practices during the process of manufac¬ 
ture. 
BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION.—For maple sap 
is as susceptible to bacterial influence as is milk. 
Bacteria of various kinds attack the sap as soon as 
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED.—Therefore, the pro¬ 
duction of a high-grade maple sugar calls for a com¬ 
modious. comfortable and well-equipped boiling 
house of at least three rooms, exclusive of woodshed 
and the storage room for the finished product. One 
of these is for the storage tanks, another is for the 
concentration of the sap into syrup, and the third 
is for the concentration of the syrup into sugar and 
for so manipulating the product as to bring it into 
its various commercial forms. The boiling house 
must be amply well ventilated to allow free escape 
of the steam, and if not built upon the side of a hill, 
an embankment should be built to allow the sap to 
flow by gravity from the gathering tank into the 
storage tank, and from that tank into the evapo¬ 
rator. The woodshed must contain an ample siip- 
ply of good, dry wood. The necessary amount will 
vary according to its kind, quality and condition, 
the style of the equipment, and the skill of the 
sugar-maker in building his fires. In some instances, 
isolated localities*, but in general the kettles gave 
way to shallow sheet-iron pans, set upon a substan¬ 
tial arch of brick or stone. These, m turn, have been 
largely displaced by patented evaporators, usually 
of heavy tin. and mounted upon neat cast-iron 
arches. The open-air boiling places have given way 
to substantial and convenient frame buildings. There 
are 20 or more different styles of evaporators, and 
all have their strenuous advocates. They are mostly 
constructed upon the principle of corrugated bottoms, 
thus exposing more surface to the action of the heat, 
and are thus economical of fuel. They are equipped 
with all possible automatic attachments, and are 
thus economical of labor. On the other hand, they 
are vastly more expensive, so the question is ah iu 
evenly summed up. They have their advantages; 
also their disadvantages, and it is a question whether 
their introduction is due more to their superiority 
than to the aggressiveness of the manufacturers and 
the agents representing them. The one great prob- 
Vcnnont Girls as Street Testers of Vermont Streets. Fig. ISO 
it leaves the tree, and they continue their attacks 
until concentration is complete. They are fostered 
and encouraged iu their development and reproduc¬ 
tion by the action of light, by a moderate degree 
of temperature of the sap. by delay in concentration, 
and, more than all else, by a lack of frequent and 
thorough sterilization of all implements and utensils 
coming in contact with the sap. The product of the 
decomposition of the bodies and excreta of these 
bacterial organisms is a prime factor in the produc¬ 
tion of the dark-colored and strong-flavored maple 
products. The development of these bacteria is 
checked by keeping the sap in partial darkness, by 
keeping it cold, by concentrating it at the earliest 
possible moment after it leaves the tree. and. more 
than all else, by a frequent and thorough steriliza¬ 
tion of all implements and utensils that come in con¬ 
tact with the sap. 
when the old-style, cast-iron kettles have been used, 
the yield has been as low as 50 lbs. of sugar for 
each cord of wood burned. With a modern evap¬ 
orator the maximum recorded yield is 1,500 
lbs. of sugar for each cord of wood. The 
variations between these itoints touch every de¬ 
gree. The buckets are washed and scalded before 
being hung upon the trees, and at the end of every 
inn. still more recently another system has been 
introduced whereby tiie pipes are connected directly 
with the tap-hole, and the sap flows automatically, 
and by gravity, from the tree into the storage tank, 
thus eliminating the labor of gathering entirely. A 
grade of at least 2 per cent is essential for the etti- 
cient working of this system. 
BOILING THE SAP.—Originally all sap was con¬ 
centrated by being boiled in iron kettles, and iu open 
air. This method is still in use in many remote and 
lem is the concentration of the sap. and in this the 
man is a factor of greater importance than the equip¬ 
ment. 
WEIGHT OF SYRUP.—Sap. as it comes from the 
tree, has a density, a specific gravity and a boiling 
point essentially the same as that of pure water. 
The variation is but. a small fraction of a degree. 
But. as concentration proceeds, and the water is 
driven off. leaving the heavier sugar, the variation 
iu all of these points becomes considerable. Now 
the pure food law requires that a gallon of maple 
syrup shall weigh 11 lbs., and shall consist of 65 per 
cent sugar and 35 per cent of water. If the weight 
is perceptibly lighter, it is an indication that the 
sugar content is not sufficient. If it is perceptibly 
heavier more or less of the product will crystallize, 
thus forming sugar. In either case the syrup will be 
regarded as being adulterated in the meaning of the 
