5/6 
inadequate.” ‘'The public would turn naturally to 
houses with virgin wool.” “Retailors who could 
offer virgin wool would be swamped, while those 
containing reworked wool would find their stores 
closed,” and “Waste material dealers would find 
themselves looked upon as a detriment to the best 
interests of the country.” The ultimate consumer 
can form his own opinion on these, but the wisest 
wool grower could not frame better reasons for the 
necessity of the regulation of textiles. Hardships 
are bound to follow the passage of a fabric law, but 
all any evil asks is to be let alone. There have been 
some weak attempts to have Congress stop this 
trouble earlier, but they have been bowled over, 
which was the failing of the 05 per cent. Now it 
will interfere with the plans of more people and 
continue hardships for more years. This is not our 
fault, and our duty now is to keep sheep and grow 
good wool to clothe every American, and our plans 
are, even this early, to do it, and to succeed in less 
than a dozen years. w. w. Reynolds. 
Ohio. 
A Shaded Road in Ohio 
STATE highway passes almost centrally through 
our farm, and for about 75 rods the road is 
mostly on slight hills or grades sloping to the north, 
and along both sides there is a woods, somewhat 
open and pastured on the east side, and rather dense 
on the west. The load runs almost northwest and 
southeast, so it will be seen that the denser woods 
shades the road from the afternoon sun. Now such 
conditions hold the snow and ice on this part of 
the road longer than on the unshaded and level 
places, and may at times be a hardship, but as Ave 
did not want to clear up the woods, being mostly 
young timber, and as the right of way was clear, we 
felt we had done our duty so far as the public was 
concerned. However, some people living farther 
along the road objected to the ice and to the woods. 
They asked the county commissioners to have a strip 
of the woods cut out at public expense. As such a 
cut-over strip would grow up in briars, sprouts and 
vines, I called out the commissioners and surveyor 
to view the road. It was so much better than repre¬ 
sented that they took no action except to order some 
overhanging limbs cut. The commissioners stated 
the situation was so much better than in many 
other parts of the county that it would be unfair to 
do anything in the matter, and, further, so far as 
the shade was concerned, they wished that all the 
roads were shaded as a help in preserving the road¬ 
way. 
This road was laid out about fifty years ago, 40 ft. 
wide, as a county road, but as a State road GO ft. 
can be taken. However, as the right of way must 
be kept clean of brush and weeds at public expense, 
the county commissioners allow the fences to be set 
much, closer and expect the landowners to cut the 
weeds along the roads, as in this case they did not 
insist on the full GO ft., but expect to make the road 
safe by regrading in the worst places and to let the 
fences and trees alone as much as possible. Under 
our present road laws the traveling public has no 
rights beyond the right of way. and as the ice must 
be regarded as an act of Providence, the effect of the 
woods an indirect one, it is readily seen that there 
is no case against the woods. Having this woods 
cut at public expense and to our injury would be like 
those auto owners scraping the roads at public ex¬ 
pense. as mentioned on page 345, and equally unfair. 
Highland Co., O. w. e. duckwall. 
Maple Sugar Making 
Part IV. 
MINERAL MATTER.—In the manufacture of all 
maple products the sap is first concentrated to ap¬ 
proximately 219 degrees, making due allowance for 
altitude. Then it is taken from the fire and filtered 
to remove the mineral matter which the crude sap 
originally absorbed from the soil. This consists 
chiefly of a compound of lime, and is known as niter 
and as sugar sand, but chemically it is a malate of 
lime. Until recently it has been regarded as a waste 
product and has been thrown away. Within a few 
years, however, it has been found that malic acid, 
a substance worth $10 per lb., can be extracted from 
this waste material at a very nominal cost, and it 
now bids fair to become an important commercial 
product. 
CONCENTRATING THE SYRUP.—Then the fil¬ 
tered syrup is placed in a deeper pan, returned to the 
fire and concentrated to the density required by the 
desired product. If maple syrup is the product de¬ 
sired, it is merely standardized at a uniform tem¬ 
perature of 219 degrees and sealed in the recep- 
7he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
tacles demanded by the trade. If it is to be sold to 
the factories, to be worked over into other products, 
it is drawn off into barrels. These are furnished by 
the factories and, of late years, are mostly of steel. 
If for the ordinary trade, the common package is of 
tin, 5x5x914 in., and holding 1 gal., although many 
sugar makers have a custom trade that calls for 
maple syrup in small glass packages. Of these, the 
sizes most in demand are pint and half-pint bottles, 
MAPLE CRYSTALS AND HONEY.—If the syrup 
is concentrated to a temperature between 219 and 
225 degrees, hard, transparent crystals, resembling 
glass, will be deposited on the bottom and sides of 
the containers. These form the rock candy of the 
confectioners’ trade. They are absolutely lacking in 
maple flavor, and. if finely ground, they form a pro¬ 
duct identical with the so-called pulverized or pow- 
Evaporators and neat cast-iron arches have largely 
replaced the sheet-iron pans and the bride arches 
tiered sugar. The syrup remaining, after these crys¬ 
tals have been removed, is thicker and more viscous 
than maple syrup, and its maple flavor is intensified 
by the addition of that abstracted from the crystals. 
It forms the true maple honey, although-this term 
is frequently applied to the maple syrup already de¬ 
scribed. It is also often known as maple molasses, 
although it differs materially from that product, 
which will be described later. So far as its preserva¬ 
tion is concerned, it is immaterial at what tempera¬ 
ture maple syrup is canned, provided the cans are 
thoroughly dried after being sterilized and are filled 
to the brim. However, the temperature at the time 
of sealing should be as great as that to which the 
syrup has been exposed during storage. Otherwise 
the expansion of the syrup may burst the seams of 
the cans. 
SOFT SUGAR.—If concentrated beyond 225 dr- 
The filtered syrup is placed in a deep pan and con¬ 
centrated to the required density as shown by the 
thermometer 
grecs, the product is known as soft sugar, tub or 
pail sugar, and hard sugar,* respectively, according 
to the degree of concentration, although there is no 
distinct line of demarcation between the three pro¬ 
ducts. However, if the temperature ranges between 
225 and 230 degrees a very moist, soft, fine-grained 
sugar of a most delicious flavor will result. Hut it 
will deteriorate greatly in storage; sometimes it will 
become rancid and of little value except, for vinegar. 
Sometimes its crystals will degenerate, and thus 
form molasses, and sometimes, by a different kind 
of a decomposition, it will become an exceedingly 
thick, hard, viscous wax, of little sweetness and no 
maple flavor. This product has considerable value 
in certain forms of confectionery, but is of little ac- 
March 20, 1920 
count elsewhere. Soft sugar is not suitable for stor¬ 
age except at a low temperature, combined with an 
exceedingly dry atmosphere, a combination not easily 
ci eated. 
TUB SUGAR—Tf concentrated to a temperature 
ranging from 230 to 235 degrees, or possibly a little 
higher, the product is known as tub or pail sugar. 
This contains from 20 down to as low as 14 per cent 
of water, and forms the ordinary commercial sugar. 
If intended for the factories, to be re-worked into 
other forms, it is packed in cheap wooden pails, 
holding 25 lbs. each, and furnished by the purchaser. 
If intended for the consumer, it is most commonly 
packed in tin pails, made for the purpose, and each 
holding 10 lbs. During the past few years, how¬ 
ever, the exceptionally high price of tin has made 
the cost of such packages a ( most serious factor, and 
cups made of fiber ware and capable of containing 
from one to 12 lbs. each, according to the demand 
of the consumer, are rapidly coming into favor. 
During storage at ordinary Summer temperatures, 
especially if in a damp atmosphere, a varying per¬ 
centage of soft sugar will degenerate to a sort of 
glucose, incapable of recrystallization. This product 
is the true maple molasses, and is largely used in 
coarse cookery. 
HARD SUGAR.—Hard sugar comprises all that 
is concentrated to a still higher degree. This pro¬ 
duct is dark in color, coarse in grain, low in water 
content and not readily soluble in water, but it will 
stand up under storage in any ordinary temperature 
and atmosphere. On account of its greater sugar 
content it is in good demand among the blenders, 
but the consumers do not take kindly to it. More- 
ovei\ on account of its liability to burn, it is difficult 
to concentrate it to a higher degree than 240, except 
in thick, cast-iron kettles. For these reasons but 
very little maple sugar of this grade is manufac¬ 
tured in the United States, but the Canadian imports 
are practically all of this grade. These amount to 
between three and four million pounds annually, and 
are known to the trade as Beauce County sugar. 
The product is concentrated to a boiling point of 
245, which is as high as it is safe to carry it over 
an open fire on account of danger of burning. At 
this temperature the product contains less than five 
per cent of moisture. Thus, in the purchase of a 
ton of Beauce County sugai\ the buyer gets but 50 
lbs. of water instead of upwards of 400 lbs., as in 
the case of tub sugar. This product is made into 
cakes weighing 10 lbs. each, packed for shipment in 
burlap bags, each holding 10 cakes, and in storage 
is stacked in piles in cord wood fashion. 
C. O. ORMSBEE. 
Spreading the Old Straw Stack 
W HILE I have always been studying out and 
adopting all practical ways and means as to 
conservation of labor as regards time and improving 
production, the present agricultural conditions call 
for still closer attention to this feature in our fann¬ 
ing activities. It is the practice with us in this part 
of the State, where large straw stacks are still in 
evidence, to spread the old stack bottom over the 
whole yard after the manure has all been cleamuJl 
up and hauled to the fields, before the annual Fall 
thrashing and new stack. Anyone who has per¬ 
formed this work will vote yes as to its being a 
strenuous job. We tided a new method on this job 
last Fall. Two good manure forks were placed about 
G ft. back from the edge of the stack, and about 4 ft. 
apart, pressing them down into the straw as far as 
possible. A long log-chain with a hook on each end 
was used, placing a hook around each fork shank, 
close to the bottom. A set of whiflletrees were at¬ 
tached to the loop in the chain, to which a team of 
horses was hitched. One man sat on the stack, back 
of the forks, pulling the handles down as far back 
as possible, so that the draw would be forward on 
the tines. When the team started it was surpris¬ 
ing how easily a large section of that old stack bot¬ 
tom slid out into the yard, and the man behind had 
a free ride and a lot of fun besides. It required a 
very short time to complete this formerly tedious, 
time-killing job. There was considerable satisfaction 
in feeling that a former difficult proposition had been 
bested. Sometimes a harpoon hay-fork has been used 
for this job, but it ruins the fork by bending it. 
Where the blower is used in place of the old straw 
carrier the straw is so broken and short that the 
fork cannot do satisfactory work. We have learned 
to use straw to its best advantage, as it has value as 
an absorbent and conveyor, besides its manurial 
value, and its mechanical action on the soil. In view 
of this fact, the foundation for the Winter manure 
supply is laid in a heavy spread of straw over the 
whole yard each Fall. h. e. cox. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
