Show Y Runni 6 X o 1 By gy ELMO SCOTT WATSON 0 YOU TOO remember those thon charming charm InK sketches of time old-time farm tarm life Ute which Charles Dudley Warner published In InI Ina ina D I a book under the title of ot Being a aBoy aHoy Boy Hoy One of ot them you will recall was wal about The Sugar Camp andIn and andIn nd In it he said I As AI As 1 I. I remember the New England boy and and I 1 am very Intimate with be the qui viva Tire In the oae De be he used ased to on spring for tor the sap to begin running I think he be red it a as soon lOOn as anybody Perhaps he h. h knew It br by a feeling of ot something starting In to hi his own stir In hi his legs and veins veins-a a sort lort of ot spring arms which tempted him to stand on his hll head or throw a handspring If It he could find a spot of round und from which the snow had melted The sap P stirs early In tn the legs of a a country boy and shows tse Itself Ln In uneasiness In n tn the top tn 1 which 3 v Ir L i fiL dT T s 0 t Let get t tired of ot boots and want to come out and touch the soil just as soon loon as us the sun has baa warmed It a little The country boy goes goel barefoot barefoot barefoot bare bare- foot just as naturally as I the trees burst their buds buda which were packed and varnished over In fa Inthe fathe the til fall to keep the water and the tho frost out Perhaps the boy has been out digging Into the maple trees with his jack knife at any rate he Ii Is pretty sure to announce announce the discovery ashe as ashi hi he comes running Into the house bouse In a great tate state of excitement excitement-as as If he be has heard a hen cackle In the born with barn with Saps I I Yes les saps gaps In In the New V England states tates In New York York Ohio Indiana Illinois In fact wherever hard maples are native to the soil lOlL On hundreds of ot farms In those states state's blue smoke curling up Into the air above the trees In a I sugar bush tells the tine passerby that tha t the he agar ngar camp Is In operation and that here Is being produced those two finest of ot all native tweets maple and maple sugar And It If that passerby has ever known the joys of at maple sugar time the sight of at that smoke and the smells amelia which drift toward him from the sugar amp 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 1 maple sugar making used to be something between picnicking and being shipwrecked on a fertile Island where one should save lave from the wreck reet tubs tube and augers angers and great kettles and pork and anil hens hen's eggs and rye and bread and aud nd begin at once to lead the sweetest life In to Inthe Inthe the world I am told that It Is something different different dif dif- ferent nowadays and that there Is more desire to save lave the sap lap and make good pure sugar and sell Bell It for tor a large pride price e. e than there used to be and that the old fun tun and of If the business are pretty much gone I am told that It Is the custom to carefully collect the sap lap and bring It to the tho house where there are aro bast 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 coats out of Mt It and that the sugar Is clarified and that In short It Is a money making business In which there Is very little fun tun and that the boy Is not allowed to dip his paddle Into the kettle of ot boiling tolling sugar lugar and lick off the delicious The Tie prohibition may Improve the sugar but It itIl Il II cruel to the boy Those words were written more than half balf a century ago Being a Boy Doy was was was' first printed In n 1877 1871 and Houghton Mifflin and Company of ot Boston Roston got cot out a second edition 20 years later Illustrated with photographs photograph by Clifton J John John- on lovingly taken from the tho real life lite and heart of New England which aid ald In preserving the tho charm um of those truly good old days It If Charles Dudley Warner were alive today he be would find findt that t In some ome places where maple sugar Is made the fun tun and are ore gone even more blore ore than they were when he be wrote For instance In In- B stance nce In the state with which more than any other we associate thoughts of ot maple sugar there theres res a man known as ag the champion sugar lugar n maker blaker er of Vermont ermont who has devised an Intricate system of Iron pipes leading from every everT one of ot ote the trees e trees treel In his maple grove groTe to huge buge evaporators w in tho wo sugar lugar house bouse and this network of ot pipes pipe more lore than feet teet In length lenith sends ends a steady am of sap up Into the place where It Is converted con con- felted Into maple maple- and maple sugar suar But nut despite this example of modern efficiency to a business rich In tradition there still V art are sugar gar camps In many places where the sap PI through made of ot sumach or o or alder Into to wooden sap buckets Just like the ones Me made famous by President Coolidge durin during his administration V where It Is II collected Into great WOOden Men tubs or barrels on sleds drawn by a yoke of oxen n or a team of ot plodding horses here It Is ls l k down in great Iron or copper kettles etlea m here there of ot fat they It still III hang a piece salt t pork by bl a string from the P pole la ever OTer the ket keto tk J M so tak that It Is about two Inches from the top e age Je to keep kep the and s sep sap p from boiling over here wre they will vt let you dip some of the bubbling p out ut of the kettle and pour It on the snow here e I lt It forms almost Immediately that delicacy of 4 f t Ill o f th maple delicacies f sugar wax war No not all alland allut and 1 has been taken at ut of f maple ne by modern methods and 11 ne nevi notions of efficiency In tn production ukI lo so m many oy other Items In our national diet R s a aa a r rr f r t Y v s x xi i i S Sz c z we owe the addition ol or maple waple and maple sugar to the Indians There Is an Interesting legend about the way the red man discovered maple sugar lugar According to the story a certain a mighty hunter bunter was out one day In search starch of game and his diligent squaw V. whose oai nc Dane was was busy embroidering a pair of moccasins to surprise him when be came back home bome But nut she knew as 81 all wives know that In addition to a surprise she had to have an evening mea meal awaiting her ber lord So she hastily cut oft a piece of moose moose meat and andset set It to boll bon In the water which ran from the maple tree at the door of her tepee tepee since since the tree was nearer than the spring Then she bent so Interestedly over Ier her ber embroidery that she forgot all about the moose meat and the sweet water boiled away Into a thick brown and formed a crusted sweetness around the meat When returned he graciously accepted the moccasins with their embroidered bead-embroidered bears but he be exclaimed with delight when his teeth sank lank Into the daintiest morsel that he had bad ever tasted Eagerly he devoured the meat ment and called for the kettle so that he could lick It clean dean Then he be went out In his new moccasins saying moccasins saying never a word about them and them and told all his hi tribe how bow the sent heaven-sent Instructor bad had taught his how to make a delicious food by boiling the tM juice of at maple Soon this knowledge spread to all the tribes tribe and ever every spring saw them gashing the sugar maples with their hatchets and gathering the In containers made from It was wu sap then boiled In earthen pots pot and later after the coming of ot the white man In to Iron kettles which they obtained attained from traders Into which heated stones were dropped to facilitate the boiling The earl early settlers were quick to appreciate appreciate this toothsome native delicacy and In many manya home bome maple sugar lugar was the only sweetening sweetening sweet sweet- a pioneer the used But nut they Improved upon ening ever In the method of ot making It it mainly mainly Indians' Indians of cleanliness and cleanliness and maple sugar time became became became be be- matter came one of ot the traditions of ot American farm life lite description of that delightful period For Tor Fora a a ana ons can do no better than to farm year In the again and see lee refer reter It It as to he Charles Caw saw law It Dudley Dude through Warner other the eyes of ot Young Toung 1 Two Girl Ctrl Souta Sout from frem Manhattan learn the Joys Joy of maple sugar lugar time In their national camp at Plea N. N Y V 2 Drip Maple tree trees sr are a trickle near nr Keene Keen Keene N. N H H. H S. S The old fashioned way of making maple sugar ugar Boiling Bolling the sap In an n Iron k kettle kettl over an n open fir firs fir In a little while those tho young youngs ten tart will be ba pouring the thick simp out on I th the snow now to make maple ugar sugar wax 4 Th The Th sugar ugar house hou In a Vermont maple sugar camp 5 IS First h he taps tap th the tr tree trea with an n auger uger then h he drives drive In a spite spit then h he hangs hang a bucket on It and Nature does doe th the J l' l JF J I. I 1 r w f ti j t r-t t hH f tJ 5 D t ti i Ni v w.-k w. Fp I. I ry J i g x ar 1 America After telling how the bo boy comes running running run ning to the house with his excited announcement announcement announcement announce announce- ment of Saps he Ire continues And then Indeed the stir and excitement be bee gin The sap-buckets sap which have bave been stored In the garret over the wood house and which the boy has hili occasionally climbed up to look atwith at atwith atwith with another boy for they are full of sweet suggestions suggestions sug lUg of ot the annual spring frolic are brought down and set out on the south side Ide of ot the house and scalded The snow V Is still a foot toot or two vo deep In the woods and the ox oz sled lied Is got out to make a road to the sugar camp and the campaign be be- gins The boy Is everywhere present superintending superintend superintend- ing everything asking questions and filled tilled with witha a desire to help the excitement In the first place the men go about and tap the trees drive In the spouts and hang bang the buckets under The boy watches all these operations operations operations op op- with the greatest Interest He Ite wishes that sometime when a hole is bored In a tree that the sap lap would spout out In a stream as nI It does when a elder cider barrel Is tapped but It never does It only drops sometimes almost In a stream but ou on the whole slowly and the boy learns that the sweet things of ot life ute have bave to be patiently waited wafted for and do not usually come otherwise than drop by drop Then the camp Is to be cleared of at snow Inow The shanty Is t. covered re-covered with boughs In front of It two enormous logs are rolled nearly together to to- gether and a fire Is a built between bet them Forked sticks are set at each end and a long pole Is II laid on them and on this are hung bung the great caldron kettles The huge buge hogsheads are turned right side up and cleaned out to receive the sap that Is gathered And now If It there Is a good sap run the establishment Is under full tull way The great fire that Is kindled up Is never letout let letout out night or day as III long as 81 the season lasts Somebody Is 18 always cutting wood to feed teed It somebody Is busy most of ot the tho time gathering In Inthe Inthe inthe the sap somebody Is le required to watch the kettles kettles ket keto ties that they do not boll over and to fill them It Is not the boy however be he Is too busy with things in 10 general to be of any use In details lie likes to boll boil eggs with the hired man In Inthe inthe the hot sap he be likes to roast potatoes In the ashes and he be would live In the camp day and night If be he w were re permitted The great occasions oc oc- occasions for the tee boy though are the time of sugaring off Sometimes this used to be done In the evening and It was made the excuse for fora a frolic In 10 the camp The neighbors were Invited In in- sometimes even the pretty prett girls from the village who filled all the woods with their sweet voices and merr merry laughter At these sugar lugar parties partie everyone was expected to eat as much sugar as a. possible and those who are practiced In It can eat a great deal It Itis Itis is I. a peculiarity about eating warm maple sugar lugar that though you may eat so much of It one day dayas dayall as all to be sick and loathe the thought of at It you yon will wl want It the next day more than ever At Atthe Atthe the sugaring off the they used to pour the hot sugar luar upon the snow Inow where It congealed without without with with- out crystallizing Into a sort of wax which I do suppose Is I. the most malt delicious substance that was wa ever Invented And It tt takes a great while to eat It If It one should bould close his teeth firmly on a ballot ball of ot It he be would be unable to open his mouth month until un nn- til It dissolves The sensation while It Is la melting Is U very nry pleasant but one cannot converse The boy used to make a big lump lemp of ot 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 K was funny the next moment to see the expression of perfect surprise on 00 the dogs dog's face when be found that he be could not open his bis jaws jaw He lie shook his hll head he be sat down in despair he be ran round In a circle he dashed Into the woods and back again lie did every ever thing except climb a tree and howl bowl It would have Luo been such luch a relief to him If It he could have howled bowled I l But lint that was Will the one thing he be could coul not do O br Wt ra pr gale |