HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1968-03-28, Page 9There Were four buckets on thia
tree and the pails had to be
emptied Wide during the gold
run on Tuesday,
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•
BY BILL BATTEN
In our quest for news and
photos this week we decided to
visit one of the area's sugar
bushes to get some pictures of
the process of making maple
syrup, which is still listed as
one of the delicacies enjoyed
by many area residents.
Finding such an operation isn't
as easy as it was in earlier
years, and it was by accident
that we happened to get involved
in a conversation with Herb
Kercher, RR 2 Kippen, while he
was picking up orders for his
syrup from some of his faithful
customers in a local office.
When he remarked that he had
been making syrup for most of
'his '78 years—and was still at
it helping his son, Ross—we
decided he would be a logical
candidate.
Arrangements were made Fri-
day to visit the Kercher bush
about two miles east of Hensall,
but the weatherman delayed the
visit until Tuesday due to the cold
weather which kept the sap from
running.
However, Tuesday morning
Mrs. Kercher phoned to advise
that if we were at the house by
4
1:00 p.m. sharp we could get a
ride to the bush for a look at the
syrup production.
We arrived shortly before the
appointed hour and were greeted
with an apology from Mrs. Ker-
cher because her son and husband
hadn't shown up for dinner, al-
though she noted they very seldom
missed their 12:00 noon arrival.
The wait was made most enjoy-
able as Mrs. Kercher brought out
a dish of maple sugar candy to
tempt our taste buds, and without
any wilful intent to denounce the
ability of others who have served
us this delicacy before, Mrs.
Kercher certainly has to rate as
the best in the field.
"There's quite an art to mak-
ing good candy," she said, adding
that she didn't always have the
excellent luck we were able to
experience.
She said most people boil the
syrup too long and it becomes
too sugary. Her method is to
bring the syrup to a boil until it
is like soft taffy. It is then beaten
and poured just before it hardens.
After passing the dish again,
she went on to tell of the enjoy-
ment of her two grand-daughters
• on their weekend visit when they
talked her into making up some
taffy and they indulged in what
was a favorite pastime in sugar
bushes--a taffy-pull.
The hot taffy is poured onto
the snow and is then twisted and
pulled into the mouth-watering • delicacy that has no equal.
At this point the Kercher men
were still not in sight and to make
our wait even more enjoyable,
' Mrs. Kercher poured out a dish
of the light-colored syrup that
sits on her table most of the
time. ► Truly, this was the best syrup
we had ever tasted, and with the
candy dish and syrup bottle set
before us, we were beginning to
hope the trip to the bush would
never begin.
However,. Herb Kercher ar-
rived shortly after 1:15 to explain
that the sap was running so
briskly that it was keeping Them
on the run and Ross had to Stay
in the bush to keep an eye on the
operation.
During lunch we discussed
syrup making with his father and
learned he started to make syrup
when he was 11 years old and has
missed only two seasons during
the past 66 years. He moved to
the present farm in 1920 and
hasn't missed a year there,
He started selling syrup when it
was $1.25 per gallon and this
year the price is up to $8.00.
• However, the Kercher cus-
tomers never ask the pride. They
always know the quality can't be
beat because they never bother to
boll the sap if it won't produce
the best.
Some people have been order-
reading, with the highest being
about 3.2. When it drops to below
1.5 it no longer pays to make
syrup from it,
Syrup is taken from the evap-
orator when it reaches about
216 to 21'7 degrees and is then
taken up to a final temperature
of 219 to 220 degrees on the
gas stove.
While gauges determine this
point, Ross can tell just by look-
ing at the boiling sap when it
has reached the 216 degree mark.
Sap was running through the
evaporator at a rate of about
70 to 75 gallons an hour Tues-
day afternoon and Ross was tak-
ing off a little over two gallons
of syrup.
The Kercher operation isn't
modern by today's standards
when many producers use plastic
hose to pipe the sap from the
trees to the shanty.
However, Herb points with
pride to the fact some of the
equipment used now was part
of his original equipment many
years ago.
This longevity record has been
possible by ,using the equipment
with care.
The tapping of the trees start-
ed about two weeks ago and
readers will be interested to
know that maple trees also use
the "pill".
After the hole has been drilled
to a depth of two and a half to
three inches, a pill the size of
an aspirin is placed in the hole
and this serves as a sterilizer.
Getting back to the work in-
volved, besides answering some
of our questions Ross was kept
continually on the jump by throw-
ing four or five good sized logs
into the furnace every few min-
utes, checking the syrup, taking
it off the evaporator, boiling it
on the gas stove, checking the
level in the tank outside, etc.,
etc.
Mid-way through the afternoon
it was decided that yours truly
should have a drink of syrup
and Herb took a dipper full from
the evaporator (just before its
final stage) and took it out to cool
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Herb Kercher enjoys a real treat
— a dipper of syrup taken from
the evaporator and cooled in a
tank of sap.
ing syrup for over 40 consec-
utive years, and without taking
any steps to get orders, the
Kerchers very often can't fill
the demand.
Some people from as far away
as. Toronto, Hamilton and St.
Catharines make an annual trip
to the Hensall area farm to get
their supply.
This year, there are 570 sap
pails hanging ,on the trees in the
Kercher bush, with some trees
carrying up to four pails.
Ross, who is a director of
the Western Ontario Syrup Pro-
ducers handles the operation
now,While his father drives the
tractor as they make their way
through the bush to gather in the
buckets.
In a normal year they make
about 100 gallons, although
they're strictly at the mercy of
the weather.
Herb reports that he's' worked
for six weeks in the bush, while
in other years the sap quits
after three weeks.
"One year we only got four
gallons from 100 trees," Herb
recalled, and they didn't sell It
because it wasn't up to their
standards.
LaSt year wasn't a good one
and production on the Kercher
farm dropped to about 80 gal-
lons, leaving several disappoint-
ed customers.
Ideal conditions for a good
flow of sap is when the temper-
ature drops to about 25 degrees
at night and goes up to about 45
to 50 in the day.
Tuesday was just such a day
and the Kerchers arrived in the
bush shortly after '7:00 a.m, to
find the pails overflowing.
When Herb started making
syrup, the sap had to be carried
in buckets to the large boiling
pans, and shortly after they em-
ployed a horse—and then a team
of horses--to do the hauling.
Now the tractor does most of
the heavy work.
Just before leaving the house,
and taking one of the remaining
pieces of candy, Mrs. Kercher
reported that she was once an
integral part of the yearlyven-
ture.
Some years ago, the syrup
was brought to the house and
was put into large boilers on
the stove for the final stages.
Two eggs were beaten up and
put in the boilers and as the
eggs cooked and came to the
surface they were supposed to
gather up any dirt or impurities
that may have been in the syrup.
Orlon and felt strainers now
do this work, and Mrs. Ker-
cher is relieved of her arduous
chore of skimming and strain-
ing the syrup through pieces of
wool blankets.
Bidding adieu to the gracious
lady of the house, we jumped into
the box on the back of the trac-
tor and headed off to the bush
with the family dog leading the
way along the rolling terrain.
It wasn't long before the al-
ways-picturesque sight of smoke
curling through the high timbers
could be seen and the smell of
sap was in the air.
Ross was ',hard at it" and It
didn't take long to realize why
he had to forego the trip to the
house for dinner:
Within a couple of hours it
was easy to see that the trees
really have the easiest time in
the whole operation.
You make hay while the sun
shines, and you also make syrup
when the sap is rtinning, and
that's what it was doing Tuesday.
The two men had gathered up
about 500 gallons of sap and it
was contained in four storage
tanks outside the comfortable
shanty Which holises the evapor-
ator and other necessary equip,
After taking time out to snatch
a bite or two of his lunch, Ross
explained the process and seine.
of the, needed skills in making
enalltY Syrup.
The sap is pumped from the
storage tanks into a tank located
about six feet above the outside
wall of the shanty and from here
it enters the complicated maze
of channels through the boiling
process.
Just this year Ross has in-
creased his efficiency tremend-
ously by installing a system that
uses up the heat as it makes its
way from the red-hot furnace
up the chimney.
A system of floats and valves
allows the correct amount of sap
to enter the evaporator and it
then makes its way through spy,
oral passages in the evaporator
until it nears the final stages.
It is then poured off and put
into a tank on a gas stove and
here gauges determine the exact
point when, it is completed.
Tuesday's sap was listed as
""three brick", which means the
sap has a three percent sugar
content. By a mathematical for-
mula, Ross was able to deter-
mine that it would take 28 gal-
lons of sap to produce one gal-
lon of syrup.
Three brick is a fairly high
Plies of firewood and the scene of smoke and steam rising from
the sugar shanty always provide a picturesque sight,
Ross Kercher tests the brick count of the sap by means of this in-
strument. It tested three brick on Tuesday which indicates it is three
percent sugar — a very high reading,
7-11 itletora4
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The sap is pumped from these storage tanks into the tank in the upper
left and then runs into the evaporator.
The sap runs up and down through several channels in the evaporator
and is taken off just before it reaches its final stage.
It is then poured into this pan on a gaS stove and the dial at the bottom
determines when it is "just right". That's an orlon filter it's pass-
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