Maple Sugar

late February or early March, depending on the weather each year, the maple sap collection season begins for thousands of Canadian farmers. For 4 to 6 weeks, the sap will drip steadily into some 20,000 buckets. maple syrup and maple sugar are produced in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. By far the greatest volume is produced in the eastern townships of Quebec. In fact, Quebec produces about 80% of the world's maple products. The total annual production of syrup in Canada averages more than 2.5 million gallons and that of sugar about £600,000, bringing to the Canadian farmer a gross income of over 10 million. Franklin's center, Quebec, is the heart of the sugar country. There are some 500 species of maple trees, but only a few such as the sugar, the hard, the black, the red, and the silver maples are of value to the syrup and sugar industries. In a large bush during the height of season, sap collection is a continuous process. Although a good deal of syrup and sugar is used on the farms where they are made or sold directly to the consumer by the farmers, a large proportion of the syrup goes to commercial companies where it is bottled and further processed into such products as maple butter, maple toffee, and maple sugar. It requires 30 to 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of syrup depending on the season and the variety of tree. Early in the season, for example, more sap is usually required to make a gallon of syrup. At the sugar camp, the sap is boiled down to syrup in the evaporator. As the boiling process continues, the sap moves from one compartment in the evaporator to the next. each time a step closer to the syrup stage. Judging the right moment to take off the syrup requires skill and experience. If it is cooked too much, it'll be too thick and too dark in color. How the syrup thickens on the edge of the dipper is one way of telling just when it's ready. Sugaring off is a traditional celebration at the sugar camp. The syrup when it thickens on the snow is called tier deab or maple toffee. M. What a treat. At the commercial maple products plants, the syrup is graded and bottled. As with other similar industries, much of the work is done automatically. About 142 lb of syrup are required to make 100 lb of sugar. It's simply a matter of boiling the syrup some more until it thickens. Then it is poured into molds of various sizes and shapes to solidify into sugar. Much of the maple sugar is marketed in candy form. Well, not bad this year. At the public markets in Montreal, farmers from the surrounding districts bring in their maple products for sale. The Department of Agriculture sends inspectors to check the maple products displayed at the market. One of the main factors in grading maple syrup is color. The darker the syrup, the lower the grade. Then comes the electrical conductance test, which is a method of establishing whether or not the syrup is a real maple product. With all the taste thrills that this implies