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Show 1. Two Girl Scouts from Manhattan laarn the Joys of maple sugar time in their national camp at Pleasantvllle, N. Y. 2. "Drip! DrlpI Drip!" Maple trees are a-trickle near Keene, N. H. 3. The old fashioned way of making maple i By ELMO SCOTT WATSON f "'0 YOU remember those charming D sketches of old-time farm life which Charles Dudley Warner published in a book under the title of "Being a ft Boy"? One of them, you will recall rjWTi was about "The Sugar Camp" and ggg In It he said: I ' "As 1 remember the New England boy (and I am very intimate with one), he used to be on the qui vive in the spring for the sap to begin runuiug. I think he discovered discov-ered It as soon as anybody. Perhaps he knew it by a feeling of something starting in his own veins a sort of spring stir In his legs and arms, which tempted him to stand on his head, or throw a handspring, If he could find a spot of ground from which the snow -had melted. Tha gap stirs early in the legs of a country boy, and shows Itself in uneastness In the toes, which i o. i no oia Tasnionea way or maxing maple By ELMO SCOTT WATSON "V : - g-- - - sugar. Boiling the sap In an Iron kettle over f '"! 0 YOU remember those charming " iVS Ht an open fir8- ln a litt,e while those yun9s- D sketches of old-time farm life which If H AJ- fc.r -fov..-.'Y ter wil1 be pouring the thick sirup out on Charles Dudley Warner published in f w'M wi I t'&A th9 8"w t0 make "maple susar wax" a book under the title of "Being a L mJL f "i ML rf$T-' The su9ar hou89 ln Vermont maple , Boy"? One of them, you win recall feC Bar camp. AWT- as about "The Sugar Camp- and & WK?'t$ $ ' ti 5. First he "taps" the tree with an auger, gfiS in It he said: if f 1tTSf A - v$jC then ho drives ln a "ep"e," then he hangs Li I "As I remember the New England Is J- tx&'W'Wt&S W&& a bucket on and Nature does the rest! boy (and I am very intimate with LWUnS ' ' one), he used to be on the qui vive in the spring V , l!& W FZ7 for the sap to begin runuiug. I think he discov- t JflL K k Vj xT . LVv ered it as soon as anybody. Perhaps he knew I f jS t4 t fTX it by a feeling of something starting In his own k , M? l'f 'Ahr-yYy4--l. ' ' WHNX velns-a sort of spring stir In his legs and arms. V hUkWvWA-S Ok ? 4 which tempted him to stand on his head, or 4 TJxf l&lkWA 4 A 4' S -'V throw a handspring, If he could find a spot of 11"' iifl SlnMT 1 " 4" f L S X ground from which the snow had melted The l fSmi 'W A j get tired of boots 111 want to corne' out aud fS - ' touch the soil Just as soon as the sun has t4 X?JV . '.Z,V?f " ' " V' ' ''' - ' warmed it a little. The country boy goes bare- '---, --a- - ' ? "V ' C ,4-'lS - T- ' foot Just as naturally as the trees burst their SJsfe-' 1 ' ' 'v"' v'" - V' ' ' , V ",V", .' buds which were packed and varnished over in 4.'. . ' , h - " ' " ' - r the faU to keep the water and the frost out. 4.. .-??s v &i&r.,'- -- js Perhaps the boy has been out digging Into the f- ''" " " Y get tired of boots, and want to come out and touch the soil Just as soon as the sun has warmed it a little. The country boy goes barefoot bare-foot Just as naturally as the trees burst their buds, which were packed and varnished over ln the fall to keep the water and the frost out. Perhaps the boy has been out digging Into the maple trees with his Jack knife; at any rate, he is pretty sure to announce the discovery as he comes running Into the house ln a great state of excitement as if he has heard a hen cackle in the barn with, 'Sap's runnin' !' " Yes, "sap's runnin' " in the New England states, in New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, ln fact, wherever hard maples are native to the soil. On hundreds of farms in those states blue smoke, curling up Into the air above the trees in a "sugar bush," tells the passerby that tie "sugar camp" is in operation and that here is being produced those two finest of all native sweets, maple sirup and maple sugar. And if that passerby has ever known the Joys of maple sugar time, the sight of that smoke and the smells which drift toward him from the sugar camp will make memories tug at his heartstrings and it will be difficult for him to pass on by. For as Charles Dudley Warner says: "In my day, maple sugar making used to be something between picnicking and being shipwrecked on a fertile Island where one should save from the wreck tubs and augers, and great kettles and pork, and hen's eggs and rye-and-Indian bread, and begin at once to lead the sweetest life in the world. I am told that It is something different dif-ferent nowadays, and that there is more desire to save the sap, and make good, pure sugar, and sell it for a large price, than there used 1 to be, and that the old fun and plcturesqueness of the business are pretty much gone. I am told y that it is the custom to carefully collect the f sap and bring it to the house, where there are built brick arches, over which it Is evaporated In shallow pans; and that pains are taken to keep the leaves and sticks and ashes and coals out of it; and that the sugar is clarified; and that, lS in short, it is a money making business, in which there is very little fun, and that the boy Is not ' allowed to dip his paddle into the kettle of lk boiling sugar and lick off the delicious sirup. e' The prohibition may improve the sugar, but it ) 1 cruel to the boy." t Those words were written more than half a century ago ("Being a Boy" was first printed In 1S77 and Houghton, Mifflin and Company of Boston got out a second edition 20 years later, Illustrated with photographs by Clifton Johnson, John-son, "lovingly taken from the real life and heart of New England," which aid In preserving the ny charm of those truly "good old days"). If Charles Dudley Warner were alive today he would find that ln some places where maple sugar is made the "fun and plcturesqueness" are gone even more than they were when he wrote. For instance, in-stance, in the state with which, more than any other, we associate thoughts of maple sugar, J there's a man, known as the "champion sugar I maker of Vermont," who has devised an intricate ( system of iron pipes leading from every one of the trees ln his maple grove to huge evaporators v In the sugar house, and this network of pipes, more than 23,000 feet In length, sends a steady stream of sap into the place where it Is con-jj con-jj verted Into maple sirup and maple sugar, p But, despite this example of modern efficiency f applied to a business rich In tradition, there still 8f are sugar camps in many places where the sap drips through "spiles" made of sumach or alder J into wooden sap buckets (Just like the ones Vj made famous by President Coolldge during his . administration) ; where it is collected into great wooden tubs or barrels on sleds, drawn by a yoke of oxen or a team of plodding horses; where it Is boiled down in great iron or copper t kettles; where they still hang a piece of fat salt pork by a string from the pole over the ket- tie so that it is about two Inches from the top 1 edge to keep the sap from boiling over; and 'IJJh ) where they will let you dip some of the bubbling J sirup out of the kettle and pour it on the snow j& 1 where it forms almost immediately that delicacy I j f all delicacies maple sugar wax. No, not all f of the fun and plcturesqueness has been taken out of maple sugar time by modern methods and O "new-fangled notions" of efficiency in production. J Like so many other Items in our national diet, America. After telling how the boy comes running run-ning to the house with his excited announcement announce-ment of "Sap's runnin'!" he continues: "And then, Indeed, the stir and excitement begin. be-gin. The sap-buckets, which have been stored in the garret over the wood house, and which the boy has occasionally climbed up to look at with another boy, for they are full of sweet suggestions sug-gestions of the annual spring frolic, are brought down and set out on the south side of the house and scalded. The snow Is still a foot or two deep In the woods, and the ox sled is got out to make a road to the sugar camp, and the campaign begins. be-gins. The boy is everywhere present, superintending superintend-ing everything, asking questions, and filled with a desire to help the excitement. "In the first place the men go about and tap the trees, drive in the spouts, and hang the buckets under. The boy watches all these operations op-erations with the greatest interest. He wishes that sometime when a hole is bored in a tree that the sap would spout out ln a stream as it does when a cider barrel is tapped ; but it never does, it only drops, sometimes almost ln a stream," but on the whole slowly, and the boy learns that the sweet things of life have to be patiently waited for, and do not usually come otherwise than drop by drop. "Then the camp Is to be cleared of snow. The shanty is re-covered with boughs. In front of it two enormous logs are rolled nearly together, to-gether, and a fire Is built between them. Forked sticks are set at each end, and a long pole is laid on them, and on this are hung the great caldron kettles. The huge hogsheads are turned right side up, and cleaned out to receive the sap that Is gathered. And now, if there is a good 'sap run,' the establishment Is under full way. "The great fire that is kindled up is never let out, night or day, as long as the season lasts. Somebody Is always cutting wood to feed it; somebody is busy most of the time gathering In the sap; somebody is required to watch the kettles ket-tles that they do not boll over, and to fill them. It Is not the boy, however; he is too busy with things in general to be of any use In details. "He likes to boil eggs with the hired man In the hot sap; he likes to roast potatoes in the ashes, and he would live ln the camp day and night If he were permitted. . . . The great occasions oc-casions for the boy, though, are the time of 'sugaring off.' Sometimes this used to be done in the evening, and it was made the excuse for a frolic In the camp. The neighbors were Invited In-vited ; sometimes even the pretty girls from the village, who filled all the woods with their sweet voices and merry laughter. . . . "At these sugar parties everyone was expected to eat as much sugar as possible; and those who are practiced ln it can eat a great deal. It is a peculiarity about eating warm maple sugar that, though you may eat so much of it one day as to be sick and loathe the thought of It, you will want It the next day more than ever. At the 'sugaring ofT they used to pour the hot sugar upon the snow, where it congealed, without with-out crystallizing, Into a sort of wax, which I do suppose is the most delicious substance that was ever Invented. And it takes a great while to eat it. If one should close his teeth firmly on a ball of It, he would be unable to open his mouth until un-til It dissolves. The sensation while It Is melting Is very pleasant, but one cannot converse. "The boy used to make a big lump of It and give it to the dog, who seized it with great avidity, and closed his Jaws on it, as dogs will do on anything. It was funny the next moment to see the expression of perfect surprise on the dog's face when he fonnd that he could not open his Jaws. He shook his head ; he sat down ln despair; he ran 'round In a circle; he dashed Into the woods and back again. He did everything every-thing except climb a tree and howl. It would have been such a relief to him If he could have howlod! But that was the one thing he could not do." C by Westarn Newspaper UnWn. we owe the addition ol maple sirup and maple sugar to the Indians. There is an interesting legend about the way the red man discovered maple sugar. According to the story, a certain Woksis, a mighty hunter, was out one day in search of game and his diligent squaw, whose ai4 was Moqua, was busy embroidering a pair of moccasins to surprise him when he came back home. But she knew, as all wives know, that In addition to a surprise she had to have an evening meal awaiting her lord. So she hastily cut off a piece of moose meat and set it to boil in the water which ran from the maple tree at the door of her tepee since the tree was nearer than the spring. Then she bent so interestedly over her embroidery that she forgot all about the moose meat and the sweet water boiled away into a thick, brown sirup and formed a crusted sweetness around the meat. When Woksis returned, he graciously accepted the moccasins with their bead-embroidered bears but he exclaimed with delight when his teeth sank Into the daintiest morsel that he had ever tasted. Eagerly he devoured the meat and called for the kettle so that he could lick It clean. Then he went out ln his new moccasins saying never a word about them and told all his tribe how Kosekusheth, the heaven-sent Instructor, had taught his Moqua how to make a delicious food by boiling the Juice of maple. Soon this knowledge spread to all the tribes and every spring saw them gashing the sugar maples with their hatchets and gathering the sap In containers made from blrchbark. It was then boiled in earthen pots (and later, after the coming of the white man), in iron kettles which they obtained from traders, into which heated stones were dropped to facilitate the boiling The early settlers were quick to appreciate appre-ciate this toothsome native delicacy and In many a pioneer home maple sugar was the only sweetening sweet-ening ever used. But they Improved upon the Indians' method of making it mainly ln the matter of cleanliness and maple sugar time became be-came one of the traditions of American farm life- For a description of that delightful period fn the farm year one can do no better than to refer to Charles Dudley Warner again, and see It, as he saw It, through the eyes of Young |