Maple sugar

“ It was then bought again by the “mixers” and used to flavor a body of glucose or cane sugar six or ten times as great, making a product which was marketed as “pure maple sugar.” The mixers preferred to buy a dark, inferior sugar, because it would go further in the mixture. If the season was bad they bought less, but at almost the same price, and increased the proportion of the adulterant. Thus a shortage in the maple sugar crop [Pg 22] has no effect whatever on the general supply. ”

“ The greatest objections that are advanced against maple sugar are, that the processes made use of in preparing the sugar for market are so rude and imperfect that it is too generally acid, and besides charged with salts of the oxide of iron, insomuch that it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. ”

“ After it has been boiled to a proper consistency, it is suffered to cool, and with no more labor, becomes the famous maple sugar, the delight of all children and many full-grown people. It is run in fanciful moulds, and easily assumes any shape when in a moist, warm state. The Indians prepare it in bark, curiously ornamented with quill work and beads, and sell it to travellers at an exorbitant price. ”

“ The sap from them when boiled down furnishes us the most delicious syrup and sugar in the world. When we seek the sugar, however, it is from the variety known by that name. The manufacture of maple sugar is a leading industry during the spring months in many sections, especially in Vermont, and some parts of New York and other states. ”

“ Sugar of one sort or another is made in almost every State; Delaware and the District of Columbia are the only exceptions. We understand that maple sugar is made in Virginia and Kentucky, the first reporting 1,541,843, the last 1,399,835 pounds of sugar; probably this is in a very great measure from the maple. If we give about one-fifth of the whole amount, or some 31,000,000 of pounds to maple sugar,
probably we shall not be very far from the truth ”

“ Its great excellence consists in yielding sap for the manufacture of vast quantities of maple sugar in the country during the months of spring. An open winter, constantly freezing and thawing, is a forerunner of a bountiful crop of sugar. The orchard of maple trees is almost equal to a field of sugar cane of the same area, in the production of sugar. ”

“ MAXIMS FOR MAPLE SUGAR MAKERS.
Be in readiness to get the first run.
Have all utensils thoroughly cleansed and scalded.
Employ none but competent and experienced men to tap your trees.
Cut away the rough bark, only, before tapping, leaving bark sufficiently thick to hold the spout firmly to prevent leaking.
The finest flavor and lightest color will be obtained by shallow tapping.
Gather often, boil at once. Every delay in the process of evaporating sap will injure more or less the quality of the sugar.
Always strain your sap. Use felt strainers for syrup. Boil down to 11 pounds per gallon ”

“ Place in the kettle a scanty cupful of new maple molasses and a tablespoonful of butter, and, when boiling add a grated cocoanut. Cook over a slow fire, stirring until done. As soon as the hot candy will harden when dropped into cold water, pour it out upon a well buttered slab; and when hardened sufficiently cut it into squares and wrap in parafin paper.
Pulled Taffy.
Take three cupfuls of dry maple sugar, a cupful of vinegar and water in equal parts (one-third vinegar and two-thirds water may be used if the vinegar is very strong) and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. ”

“ Saturday, April 1st.—Fresh maple sugar offered for sale to-day; it is seldom brought to market as early as this. A large amount of this sugar is still made in our neighborhood, chiefly for home consumption on the farms. In the villages, where foreign groceries are easily procured, it is eaten more as a dainty than in any other way; the children are very fond of it, and most grown persons like a bit now and then, its peculiar flavor making it pleasant when taken by itself, though it becomes a defect when used for sweetening food. ”

“ In the case of maple sugar producers the first necessity is a market for high grade, unadulterated sugar and syrup. This they should be able to secure without much difficulty through responsible association, which can guarantee the quality of all the product bearing its name or stamp. ”

“ We ate some of it, but we girls were quite firm in saving half for our sale.
Then we made maple-sugar caramels. Have you ever tried them? They are splendid. You must have maple sugar to begin with; real sugar from the trees in Vermont if you can get it. You will need a deep saucepan. Then into a quart of fresh sweet milk break two pounds of sugar. Set it over the fire. As the sugar melts, it will expand. Boil, boil, boil, stir, stir, stir. Never mind if your face grows hot. ”

“ HOME MADE MAPLE SUGAR.—To two pounds of maple (bricks, not cakes) 1 pint water, one-third pipe cream of tartar (or four ounces of glucose is best) ; boil slow to a smooth degree, cool, skim. White sugar can be used.
To keep molasses from sugaring in the barrel; when making the molasses, to every barrel add twenty pounds of glucose, stir it in.
To lighten the color and aid the flavor of rank, dark molasses, do the same as above. To allow molasses to cool slowly makes it dark. It should be stirred lively until cool. ”

“ But two varieties of sorghum now remain, known as the Chinese and African types. Of all the other sugar plants, none except the maple tree (besides the sugar cane and the beet) seem to have yielded sugar to pay the cost of manufacture. The maple tree has yielded a total of 41,000,000 pounds in 1877. But as an industry by itself, it appears to be unprofitable, and maple sugar must be, and generally is, sold at a higher price per pound than cane sugar ”

“ Even the bricks of maple sugar are not wholly trustworthy, though, as a rule, a better quality of syrup can be obtained by making it at home from the bricks. The ordinary adulterants cannot so readily be added to a crystallized as to a liquid product, though promising maple bricks are often made of brown sugar flavored with a little maple syrup. ”

“ After the molasses have been drained from the concreted loaves, the sugar is not at all deliquescent, like equally brown sugar from the cane. Maple sugar is in taste equally agreeable with cane sugar, and it sweetens as well. When refined, it is equally fair with the loaf sugar of Europe. ”

“ One cup thinly sliced sweet apples cooked until transparent (in one cup maple sugar, and water to make a good syrup) ; when cool, add 1 cup dry maple sugar, 2 eggs, 1 heaping teaspoonful mixed spices, 1⁄2 cup of butter, 1⁄2 cup cream, 1 teaspoonful soda, flour till the spoon will stand in the middle without falling. ”

“ A syrup is made from the sap, which is very delicate, and is much used for buckwheat-cakes. A large quantity of maple-sugar is made every year in the northern part of the United States, and in Canada. But it cannot be made so as to compete with the sugar of the sugar-cane in cheapness. ”

“ If you use maple syrup instead of maple sugar, allow two pounds of syrup for every pound of sugar desired. You will find this cream very sticky, and it takes longer to cream it up than the other, but it makes a delicious chocolate cream. Do not get discouraged and think it is not going to cream for you, for if you cooked it to the right degree, it will never fail to cream. ”

“ Boilers (probably of metal, introduced by the French) were next set up in the camp over fires kept burning day and night, and the maple sap thus boiled became, by concentration, maple sugar.
The women attended to all the business of sugar manufacture, while the men cut wood and went out hunting and fishing to secure food for the community; though, as a matter of fact, sugar and syrup were their main sustenance during all this absence from home. "I have known Indians", wrote Henry, "to live for a time wholly on maple sugar and syrup and become fat." ”

“ The total product of maple sugar in the United States as stated in our census is about 50,000,000 pounds. Of this Vermont is credited with about one-fourth of the entire output. We do not wish to be misunderstood; all the pure maple sugar is not of this fine quality; only the best grade which is a small percent of the amount manufactured is entitled to the high prices received. The small quantity of the so-called first class goods have led the producers to grade their product, so that we have the first, second and third grades with prices to compare with the quality ”

“ They were making maple sugar out of the sap from the maple trees. First they boiled the sap in great big pots and then put it away to cool in queer little dishes of various shapes, and when the sugar hardened it was in the forms of funny little fish, queer little houses, strange animals, and, goodness knows, what not.
"Oh, we are the Sugar Candy Men,
And we work all day in the snow
To make the maple sugar cakes
To sell in the town below,"
sang one little man who wore a red peaked hat and long turned-up pointed shoes. ”

“ I am surprised at you!" exclaimed Sammie. "Maple sugar is that brown, sweet stuff you buy in the store, and in the winter you eat it on your pancakes, or you can shave it up and put it on hot rice, or you can put it on fritters. That is what maple sugar is."
"Exactly," went on Uncle Wiggily, and he stretched the leg with the rheumatism in so that it hardly hurt him a bit. "Well, children, we are going to make some maple sugar. Come with me, and I will show you how. Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, we shall have to ask you to help us. We need your sharp teeth to gnaw a hole in the tree." ”

“ Besides the sugar and molasses, we manufactured a small cask of vinegar, which promises to be good. This was done by boiling five pails-full of sap down to two, and fermenting it after it was in the vessel with barm; it was then placed near the fire, and suffered to continue there in preference to being exposed to the sun’s heat.
With regard to the expediency of making maple-sugar, it depends on circumstances whether it be profitable or not to the farmer. If he have to hire hands for the work, and pay high wages, it certainly does not answer to make it, unless on a large scale. ”

“ Where there is a large family of children, and a convenient sugar-bush on the lot, the making of sugar and molasses is decidedly a saving; as young children can be employed in emptying the troughs and collecting firewood, the bigger ones can tend the kettles and keep up the fire while the sap is boiling, and the wife and daughters can finish off the sugar within doors.
Maple-sugar sells for four-pence and six-pence per pound, and sometimes for more. ”

“ But there has always been a certain amount of trade in pure maple sugar and syrup. A part of the city and town population comes from the country, where they have known the genuine article, and they have generally been able to supply their wants by dealing directly with the producers. The progressive and well-to-do sugar maker has also worked in this field. Of course there are farmers and others who, having pride and capacity, do their utmost to produce the best goods and market them in the most advantageous manner. ”

“ In former times no woman took part in the maple-sugar manufacture. The men used first to tap the trees, and then boil the sap over wood fires that they would build in the neighborhood of the sugar bush, as the maple grove is called. ”

“ Great care to keep all vessels used, clean and sweet, and not burn the sugar in finishing it, will enable any one to succeed in making good maple-sugar. The various forms in which it is put up, and the manner of draining, are familiar to all makers. It is only necessary to add, that there are few small farms on which the sugar-maple will grow, where there might not be raised two or three hundred maples, within fifteen or twenty years, that would add greatly to the beauty, comfort, and value of the farm. ”

“ How long these anticipations have existed in the hearts of men we know not, but we do know that long before the foot of white man touched the virgin soil of New England, long before the woodman’s axe echoed among our hills and valleys, the dusky race, who freely roamed the primeval forest gathered the maple sap in the primative way. It is not improbable that the young braves and dusky maidens of the tribe, had sugar parties, ate sugar upon snow and became sweet with each as do the boys and girls at sugar parties today. ”

“ But about fifty years ago, this maple sugar industry was more carefully looked after, and nowadays the well-to-do farmer has a sugar house, and a fine grove of [47] maple trees, and glittering tin sap buckets hang on all the trees; and instead of a large iron kettle for boiling the sap, evaporators have been installed, where the sap runs in thin and clear and comes out a beautiful light brown sirup.
Imagine the joy of little Oisette when she was allowed to go to a sugaring off with her little English neighbors. ”

“ It is also true that while the trade in maple sugar has been steadily growing, the production from the trees has remained stationary. The mixer controls the situation, with the effect of lowering the profits of the farmer, preventing a compensatory increase in price when the crop is short, and retarding progress in the industry by the demand for a low-grade tub sugar. ”

“ One layer of wheat bread sliced thin, 1 layer of sliced apples, put on another layer of bread and apples and so on alternately until the dish is full; flavor with lemon, pour over all two teaspoons water; cover and bake one-half hour. To be eaten with maple syrup.
Berry Pudding.
1 pint flour, 1 teaspoonful cream of tartar, 1⁄2 teaspoon of soda, milk enough to make a little thinner than biscuit, add 1 pint of berries; boil 1 hour.
The sauce (served hot) : 1 cup of maple sugar, 2⁄3 of cup of hot water, 1 tablespoonful of flour, butter size of an egg. ”