After the sap has been boiled for several hours,
the syrup becomes the proper density and is then
drawn from the evaporator.
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Relocated farmer
(Continued from Page 34)
Right now (at the end of
Winter" and the beginning of
Spring) is the time of the
year to tap the trees.
“The temperatures should
ibe from 26 to 28 degrees at
night and in the upper 40’s to
. low 50’s during the day for
ideal conditions,” explains
Moshier. “But, you shouldn’t
have rain. Trees don’t like
rain.”
To tap a tree, a hole about
two inches deep and 7/16 in
diameter is drilled into the
bark. Then, a spout or spile
is placed in the hole and a
bucket is hung onto the hook
on the spout. At this point,
the tree is ready to be tap
ped.
The bucket stays on the
tree during the entire season
until the sap stops flowing,
and the farmer visits each
tree every day and collects
whatever sap has been
deposited in the buckets.
“Up in New York State you
have to tramp through two to
three feet of snow to collect
from the trees,” says
Moshier.
“There are a lot of man
hours involved,” he con
tinues, referring to the fact
that 1000 or 1400 trees are
involved.
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For more information on a most profit
able way to get into a most profitable market,
call your local Agway.
Processing the sap also
takes much work on the part
of the farmer. Usually, the
main piece of boiling
equipment - the evaporator -
- is heated with wood, and
that requires a lot of chop
ping and stoking until the job
gets done.
Moshier has a miniature
evaporator installed in his
little sugar shanty. Just like
a wood stove, the fire is
made in the bottom of the
two foot wide, four foot long
metal evaporator and the
actual boiling is done on top
of it. The boiling area is
sectioned off into several
compartments, and like a
labyrinth, the sap flows
through the various com
partments as the density
changes throughout the
boiling process.
To keep the cold sap
flowing properly from the
holding tank into the first
compartment of the
evaporator, a float is used to
insure the liquid stays at a
certain height.
The whole time the
evaporating process is going
on the syrup maker keeps
chopping wood and stoking
the fire as well as continuing
to check the liquid to make
sure it doesn’t boil over.
AGWAY
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 18,1978
“If it starts to boil too
much, I put a little cream in
it. That calms it down,” says
Moshier.
When the liquid has boiled
a sufficient amount of time,
the syrup is drained and
filtered through a felt filter
to make sure all impurities
are removed. It is also
checked with a hygrometer
for the proper density.
“The two qualities that
make a top product are the
proper density and light
color,” says Moshier. “The
lighter the color, the better.”
The music teacher has
found that in Pennsylvania
he is unable to get as light a
syrup as he could in New
York state.
“The color is affected by
the temperature, the way
you process it, and the
trees,” he points out.
For good quality maple
syrup, New Yorkers are
getting anywhere from $ll to
This sugar maple in Smoketown has three
buckets hanging on it to gather the liquid sap from
which maple syrup will be made.
$l3 per gallon, which may
sound expensive, but
Moshier points out that it is
definitely a pure food
product with nothing im
mitation added.
Of course, there are lots of
unmitation maple syrup
products which Moshier and
his family don’t like.
“It does taste different,”
he admits.
Although no one can go
into maple syrup making in
'southeastern Pennsylvania,
it is an envigorating hobby.
“It helps me get outside
and take out my
frustrations,” says Moshier.
It also keeps his family
stocked with the delicious
maple syrup they like so
much.
So, for this displaced New
York state farmer, the time
and the effort involved is
worth the eight gallons.
“Nobody could do il for a
profit, here,” he admits.
“But, I like it for a hobby.”
35