single tree, in a solitary plant, and each milder touch gives pleasure to those who are content to await the natural order of things.
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 spring, a little of it is not thought unhealthy, from a fancy that it purifies the blood; probably it is neither better nor worse in this respect than any other sugar. With our farmers, however, it is a matter of regular household consumption, many families depending on it altogether, keeping only a little white sugar for sickness; and it is said that children have often grown up in this county without tasting any but maple sugar. Maple molasses is also very much used, some persons preferring it to that of the cane, as it has a peculiar flavor which is liked with puddings, or buckwheat cakes.
Some farmers have a regular “ sugar-bush,” where none but maples are suffered to grow; and on the older farms you occasionally pass a beautiful grove of this kind, entirely clear of underwood, the trees standing on a smooth green turf. More frequently, however, a convenient spot is chosen in the woods where maples are plenty. The younger trees are not tapped, as they are injured by the process; it is only after they have reached a good size—ten or twelve inches in diameter—that they are turned to account in this way; twenty years at least must be their age, as
