Maple sugaring

Native Americans collecting sap, then boiling it in a 1724 image. Two talks are about Native American traditions in Vermont and Michigan.

Several taped maple syrup and harvesting talks, followed by this week's talks.

Native Americans making maple sugar described by Chateaubriand

Chateaubriand - the vicomte not his steak - left France in 1791 during the Revolution to spend a year in America.  In his book, published in 1826, he described how the native Americans gathered, then boiled the maple sap into syrup, ending as small cones of sugar. 

Maple Sugar described in Goodrich/Parley books

Generally maple syrup is the end result from the sap tapped from maple trees.  However the following excerpts detail how maple sugar was made.  Samuel Griswold Goodrich (1793-1860)  wrote numerous books (excerpts from 1832-1856) under his name or as 'Peter Parley". 

Maple sugar - Tapping the trees

Sugar Maple trees were tapped in several ways over the centuries as seen the the following excerpts.  the 17th cen gash, the spout and troughs, 1792, and 19th century spiles...

Maple sugaring - 1792

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Rush's fascinating pamphlet An Account of the Sugar Maple-tree, of the United States, and of the methods of obtaining Sugar from it, which may be viewed HERE or at the Library of Congress.