they rarely attain to such a growth earlier; from this period they continue to yield their sap freely until they decay. It is really surprising that any tree should afford to lose so much of its natural nourishment without injury; but maples that have been tapped for fifty years or more, are just as luxuriant in their foliage and flowers, as those that are untouched. The amount of sap yielded by different trees varies—some will give nearly three times as much as others; the fluid taken from one tree is also much sweeter and richer than that of another, as there seems to be a constitutional difference between them.
From two to five pounds of sugar are made from each tree, and four or five gallons of sap are required to every pound. The fluid begins to run with the first mild weather in March; its course, however, is checked by a hard frost, until a thaw again sets it in motion; some years it continues to flow at intervals until the last of April, so that a regular early spring gives less time for the work than a backward season, when the sap runs later; the usual period, however, for sugar-making, is about two weeks—one year more, another less.
This sugar is made more easily than any other; both the beet and the cane require much more expense and labor. The process with the maple is very simple, and consists merely in collecting the sap and boiling it; neatness and attention are alone necessary to make the sugar of the best quality. A hole is first bored into the trunk, from one to three feet from the ground; a hatchet or chisel is sometimes used for this purpose, but neat farmers prefer a small auger, less than half an inch in diameter, by which means the bark is not injured, closing again over the opening in two or three years. After the hole has been bored, a small
