. New England; a human interest geographical reader. ource of the sugaris the sap of the rock maple trees. In the spring, assoon as there is a thaw to set the sap moving in thetrees, the gathering begins. The season usually lastsfrom early March through April. One, two, or threeholes are bored near the base of each rock maple thatis of sufficient size in the tract of woodland which is tobe covered in the operations, and small metal spoutsare driven into them. The sap starts to flow almostinstantly if the weather is mild. A pail is hung oneach spout to catch the sweet dripping liquid, and thepa
. New England; a human interest geographical reader. ource of the sugaris the sap of the rock maple trees. In the spring, assoon as there is a thaw to set the sap moving in thetrees, the gathering begins. The season usually lastsfrom early March through April. One, two, or threeholes are bored near the base of each rock maple thatis of sufficient size in the tract of woodland which is tobe covered in the operations, and small metal spoutsare driven into them. The sap starts to flow almostinstantly if the weather is mild. A pail is hung oneach spout to catch the sweet dripping liquid, and thepail has a cover to keep out rain-water and dirt. Itis large enough to contain all of one days flow. One or two men with a span of horses hitched to a Vermont Industries 307 sled, on which is a barrel or a tank, go about among thetrees to gather the sap and draw it to the it is boiled in a big pan set over a fire on archesof brick or stone. When the sap has been over the fireuntil the water in it has nearly all passed away in steam,. A sugar-house on the borders of a grove of rock maples it is strained and then rapidly boiled until it becomessugar. This final process, however, is often omitted,and much of the maple sweet is sold in the form ofsyrup instead of sugar. At the beginning of the sugar season the snow isstill deep in the woods, and walking is difficult unlessthere is a stiff crust. The larger sugar places have two 3o8 New England or three thousand trees on them. If there are only afew hundred trees, the sap gathering may be done by aman who goes about on snowshoes with a yoke on hisshoulders, from either end of which is suspended alarge pail. The sap will not flow freely unless thenights are frosty and the days warm. In such weatherthe supply of sap is sometimes so copious that the menhave to work day and night to prevent loss. Years ago the sap spouts were made of wood. Oftenthey were of elder or sumach, which have a pithy
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