Tag: maple syrup

by Lucy M. Young

I don't know how my father knew
When it was time to tap the maple trees
But there would come a day in March
When he would start the yearly task of making maple sugar.

The snow lay deep and untouched in the woods
When he would hitch the horses to the sled
And load it down with buckets;
Then with the horses plunging sometimes belly-deep in snow,
The roads between the trees were opened.
Only the largest strongest trees were chosen to be tapped.
The buckets then were scattered,
One or two at each selected tree.

The next day tapping started.
A hole was bored into the layer 'neath the outer bark
Where the life-blood of the tree flowed upward
Through each branch and twig into the leaf buds,
Gently rousing them to greet the Spring.
The sap spouts then were driven in and a bucket
                    hooked to each.

Every day the sap was gathered in a special tank
                    securely bolted to a sled.
The horses strained to pull  \the load along the rough
                    and crooked roads,
Stopping at each tree,
Waiting patiently for the bucket to be emptied,
Then moving on.
When the tank was full, back to the sugar house we went
To fill the waiting vats with our sweet load.
Trip after trip until the many buckets had been emptied.

Then the long and tiresome chore began - 
Boiling down the sap to thick, sweet maple syrup,
And tubs of golden sugar.
Gravity filled the large evaporators over the arch
(A long cast-iron structure built especially for this purpose).

Carefully tended fires and constant watchful care
Were necessary to complete the task successfully.
Day and night my father alternately dozed and stoked the fire.
My mother brought his meals to him
And took his place while he returned to milk and feed the cows
And gather the sap each day.

For just about a month the non-stop work continued.
Freezing nights and mellow days were needed
To keep the sweet sap flowing;
But when the weather warmed toward April and the buds
                      began to swell,
The sap no longer sweet,
The spouts and buckets were brought in,
Washed and stored 'til sugaring time another year.