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Show ::.o TRAYELS TIIROUGJI L O'\VER C ANADA~ in ( iarnctcr, and two or thr.:e inches in depth, obl iquely upwards ; but t 1 c 110{l common mode of coming at it is by cutting a large ga{h in the. tree with an a ·c. In c:tch ofc a [mall fpout is fixe 1 at the bottom of 1:1c woun ), and a veHCl is pL~c d underneath to recei ve the liquor as it £til '. J\ maple tree of the diameter of twenty inches will commo~1ly yidd fuflici ·nt i:tp for making five pounds of fugar each year, and 111ftanc s have b··en known of trc s } itlding ne:nly this quantity annually for a [cries of thit ty y ars. Trees that have been gQthed and man gled ·ith an a c will no t laO: by any means fo long as thofc which have beet carefully pier cJ with an auger; the axe, how ver, is generally ufcd, b caufc th , fa p diO:ils much fafi:cr from the wound made by it than from that made by an auger, and it is always an objeCt with the 6rmer, to have the ['tp brought home, and boiled down as fpeedily as po1lib1e, in order that the making of fug:n· may not interfere with his other agri-ultural purfuits. The fcafon for tapping the trees is when the f-1p blgins to rile, at the commencement of fj)ring, which is jufi. the time th,lt the f.u·mcr is moO: buficd in making preparations for fowing his nram. It. is a very remarkable £tCt:, that thefc trees, after having b en tapped for fix or fcvcn fuccd1lvc years, always yield more fap than they do on being firft wounded; this fap, however, is not fo rich as that which the trees dift:il for th firft time; but from its coming in an increafcd portion, as much fugar is generally procured from a finglc tree on the fifth or fixth year of its being tapped as on the firft:. T he maple is the only fort of raw fug;tr mane ufe of in the country parts of Canada ; it is very generally uil d alfo by the inhabitants of the towns, hither it is brought for fale by the country people who attencl the markets, j uft the fame as any other kind of country produce. The mofi common form in which it is fecn is in loaves or thick round cakes, precifely as it comes out of the veil· 1 where it is boiled down from the L1p. Thefc cakes arc of a very dark colour in general, and very hard; as they are wanted they are fcraped down with a knife, and when thus reduc ed into. powder, the fugar appears of a much lighter caft, and not MAPLE SUGAI. not unlike Weft Indian mufcovada or grained Llgar. If h~ map.c ii1pr be carefully boiled with lime, white~ of eggs, blooL, or any of th · othu· articles ufually employed for cl..lrifying fugar, and properly granulat d, by the draining off of the melaiTcs, it is by no means in ferior, ei ther in point of fircngth, flavour, or j"lppearance to tl1c eye, to any Weft Tndi;ln fugar whatfoevcr : fim ply boiled down 'nto c..kes with nul· or wbi C) of eggs it is very agreeable to th~ tafl:e. The ingenious Dr. N ooth, of ~cbcc, w 10 is :J t the head of the general hofpital in Canada, hcts made a varidy of expcrimcJJtS upon th-: m.lnufaCturc of maple fugar; he has gran 1latcd, and alfo refin d it, [o as to render it eqnal to the bcftlump fu gar that is adc in England . To convince the Canadians alfo, who arc a'' incredulous on fomc points as they arc credulous on others, that it was really maple fugar which t 1ey fan thus refined, he bas contrived to leave large lumpr;, ex 1ibiting the fug, u· in its different ftages towards rl·fi · cmcnt, the lower p.ut of th ]urn ps being left hard, fimil ar to the common c; J·cs, the m; id~c part granulated, and the upper part rdined . Dr. N ooth has calcub ted, that the falc of the mclaf1~s alone ,-.·oul f be fully adequate to the expence of refining the maple fu gar, if a manufactory for that purpofe were eft:ablifhcd. S me attempts have be n made to cfiablifh one of the kind at ~cbcc, but they have never fucceedcd, as the pcrfons by whom they were made were adventurers that hacl not fuilicient capitals for fuch an under tal ing. I t ought not, however, to be concluded from thi , that a manufaCtory of the fort would not fuccced if conduCted by judicious pcrfo ns that had ample funds for the bufincfs ; on the contrary, it is highly probable tl at it ' ·ould anfwer. There is great reafon alfo to fuppofe, that a manu fi.H~lo ry for mal ing the fugar f rom the beginning, as well as for refining it, might b · db.blifhed with advantage. Several acres together are often met with in Canada, entirely covered with maple trees a!one; but the trees are moft ufually iounrl growir•g mixed with others, in the pr portion of from thirty to fifty maple trees to every acre. Thoufimds and tho ufands of acres might be procured, withi11 a very fhort difl:ance of the River St. Lawr nc , for Icfs than one fhillinrr :ll |