Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

398 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTtapping a tree was to "box" it by cutting- a slantingnotch in the trunk, about 8 inches long, two or threefeet from the ground, and inserting an elder orsumac spout in the bark below the lower end of thenotch, from which the sap was caught in a troughor pail; or, two gashes would be cut like a broad V,and a spout was put in at the bottom. Such notchingyields a rapid flow, but spoils the tree.A better way is to bore a hole through the- outerbark and just into the sapwood (say from one totwo inches depth) on the sunny side of the tree, andinsert a spout. With wooden spouts the hole mustbe larger than when iron ones are used, but makeit no larger than necessary (certainly not over oneinch), or you will injure the tree. The hole shouldslope slightly upward.Place a bucket under each spout. It may benecessary, in a wild region, to drive stout stakesaround the buckets in such way that they cannot berobbed; for wild animals, as well as domestic ones,are inordinately fond of maple sap, which seems toexhilarate them when taken in large quantities.Collect the sap every morning^ before it can getwarm from the heat of the sun, as it sours easily.Boil it in a kettle to the consistency of honey; thendip it out, pass through woolen strainers, and allowit to stand several hours until impurities have precipitated.It is then ready for use.To make maple sugar, boil the sirup in a kettledeep enough to keep it from boiling over. Keep itsimmering over a slow fire until a heavy scum risesto the surface. Skim this off, and continue the boilinguntil, when a little of the sirup is stirred in asaucer, it grains (granulates); or until, when spreadon the snow, it candies on cooling. Then pour itoff into molds. As a rule, it takes about four gallonsof sap to make a pound of sugar, and 35 gallonsto make a gallon of sirup,but there are wide variations,according to quality of sap.Sap may be reduced to sugar by alternate freezingand thawing, the ice being throvyn away each timeit freezes.Just as good sugar and sirup are made from thered maple and from the silver (white or soft) mapleas from the sugar maple (rock maple or sugar tree),but the sap is not quite so rich in sugar, and therunning season is shorter. Since these trees budearlier than sugar maple, they should be tappedearlier. The sap of the ash-leaved maple (com-