Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240278
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL M. ROSA/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: FARMINGTON, MAINE LENGTH: Long
Synchronized with the rhythms of nature, family operations throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are "tapping-out" and "sugaring-off" to produce maple products for connoisseurs' pantries.
Maple sugarers predict a strong sap season this year. "Every year is different," says Raymond Titcomb of Maine Maple Products in Farmington, Maine, "though this year with the snow conditions, frostwise, we could have a really good year." Sugarers say the ground frost has gone deep enough to stave off early budding, the death knell for sweet sap.
For the region's Indians who first captured the liquid gold of the "sugar trees," the season for sugar-making came "when the first crow appeared." The modern practitioner taps the trees when the combination of freezing nights and warming days compels the sap to rise.
Titcomb, whose family has been in the sugar business on the same farm for 200 years, says "you need trees at least 40 years old, preferably on a southeast slope. A good rule of thumb is one tap per foot in diameter, measured at chest height. Anything below 10 inches diameter results in damage to the tree as well as low sugar content."
New tap holes are drilled each year, some 2 to 3 inches deep. Titcomb says "The sap is 2 1/2 to 3 percent sugar. If you're lucky you'll get one quart of syrup per tap during the average season. On average it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The ratio varies from 50:1 at the beginning of the season to 35:1 as budding begins."
Buckets hanging from taps to collect sap have largely been replaced by flexible tubing "tap lines" that feed sap from individual tress into lateral collecting lines which, in turn, feed into main-line pipes leading downhill to collecting tanks.
As Titcomb fingers the tap line, inch-long carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in the sap pace the rate of flow. "One main line," says Titcomb, "can handle up to 600 taps." Gravity feed works well, although many sugar farms add vacuum assist. Small landowners still hang buckets on trees and often sell sap to larger producers, including Titcomb, who says "we have to drive right by them, we might as well pick it up."
Once collected, the sap is reduced to maple syrup in the sugarhouses. Distinguished by their cupolas for venting the sticky, sweet steam from evaporation, the inch-deep sap flows into long, flat evaporating tables where water is boiled off from the sap.
Crackling, roaring open fires to heat the evaporators, though still used, have largely been replaced in the interest of fuel economy by closed fireboxes burning wood or oil.
Titcomb says his sugar house "will operate 200-250 gallons of moisture per hour to make 6-7 gallons of syrup." Sap boils at the same temperature as water, with syrup boiling seven degrees higher.
The trained eye of the craftsman scans for changes in the size and viscosity of bubbles to tell when the syrup is ready. When poured from a ladle, the syrup will "sheet" or "apron" when ready. The syrup is then drawn off, run through a filter press, and is ready for packaging. Syrup drawn from a tap by Titcomb sparkles in the sunlight and has a crisp, pure sweetness unlike cane sugar-based pancake syrups commonly sold in supermarkets. Each state sets stringent standards for purity and quality and grades maple products into four different classes. Grade A dark amber is the best-selling syrup.
Titcomb says his family "produces 55 different products, ranging from maple syrup, maple candy to maple cream." Maple-based specialty salad dressings are the latest rage in upscale New England households.
Though most producers sell locally to both wholesalers and retailers, many, like Titcomb, also have a thriving mail-order business.
Visitors to Vermont can watch maple candy making at Maple Grove Farms in St. Johnsbury. Vermont's oldest maple candy factory buys maple syrup in bulk and boils it in large vats.
After cooling to 155 degrees Fahrenheit, the blend is stirred and poured into rubber molds to produce candy in a fanciful variety of shapes and sizes.
The candy is dried in large racks, then immersed overnight in a sugar bath to form a hard outer shell.
Each piece is checked for quality, hand packed and the boxes shrink-wrapped before the trip from tree to table is complete.
Many sugar houses and candy makers hold open houses in late March and April, and some will arrange private tours by appointment. Maine sugar houses, including Titcomb's, will open their doors on March 24 for Maine Maple Sunday.
"If past years are any indication," said Titcomb, "I expect up to 2,000 people. The kids love it."
The annual Vermont Maple Festival will be held in St. Albans, Vt., April 19-21. For the young and young-at-heart, Harlow's Sugar House in Putney, Vt., will host a sap-gathering contest on March 30.
Fun for the whole family, no spring visit to the North woods would be complete without a taste of the maple country.
If you go
For a free guide to Vermont's maple sugar houses, write the Vermont Department of Agriculture, 116 State St., Montpelier, Vt. 05602 or call (802) 828-2416.
For information on Maine sugarhouses and Maine Maple Sunday, write the Maine Department of Agriculture, State House Station 28, Augusta, Maine 04333 or call (207) 289-3491.
[AUTHOR] Paul M. Rosa is a Roanoke free-lancer who frequents the northern latitudes.
by CNB