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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-03-30, Page 11THE GQDERI H SIGNA1RSTAR, THURSDAY, MAR. 3iX 1967 Here, Mason McAllister proudly displays the brass Icettle first used by his grandfather to boil down sap. The vessel, which is now over one hundred years -old, was, still used by the McAllisters for' finishing -off 'the maple syrup until about five years ago when, at that time, an evaporator was installed at their premises. ° • Arie Debruns has lust driven this Mani of 'clydes' back to the sugar -shanty located near thecentre of McAllisters' hardwood bush where about 500 maples are tapped. He was delivering a load of canal coal, used to fire the evaporator A �o em By Sandy- MacDonald ... ... ...... .....•... ..'yam West„Wawanosh is a township in Huron county where the land is still thick with hardwood bush in which the sugar maple still • abounds. Along the sixth concess. ion line of West Wawanosh are several farm families who, each , year, during the month of March, are occupied for two or three weeks harvesting the sweet liquid which flows through those maples, the tree which also supplies the symbol for tIfe new Canadian flag. Although a great deal of labour is required topro. duce even one gallon ,of maple syrup, these families have con.: tinued tapping this Natural re. source from one spring"to the next throughout the years since Huron became a county. A CENTURY AGO - -One of these families on the sixth concession of West Waw• anosh can look back on a .re. cord of Maple syrup' production spanning four generations. Mason and Robert McAllister, who are now com nencing another sea. son's maple syrup ' production, during boiling -off operatibns. During an average season, in which Bob and Mason McAllister make over 200 gallons of syrup, they'll burn about ten tons of this fuel, , � Riaces:-5*'os'_P aple Syrup Shanty toinless Steel represent a father -non operation. Theirs is one of the largest maple syrup operations in Huron county. Mason°.and Bob. McAllister tap upwards Of 500 trees and from their sap produce as high as 225 gallons of syrup. Nor do they have any problem disposing of their prod}ict. A large percentage . of their' sales represent standing orders from local customers who have wine td know and rely on the flavor of the McAllister brand of syrup. Although themajority of their customers buy maple syrup by the gallon, it is also sold in half. gallon containers. Specially de. signed cartons are used, similar to the half-gallonn mak carton, for marketing it in smaller quan. titles. Early last week when this writ. er dropped in at the McAllister farm, he arrived just in time to get a sleigh.ride back to the 35.. acre bush where the tapping oper- ation ,was in progress. ;The load of canal coal piled on the sleigh drawn by a team, of stal- wart 'clydes, was headed for the sugar.shanty at the lower end of the farm, nearly a mile 'distant. In charge of this job was Mason McAllister assisted by a hired hand, A,rie Debrune. • USE TEN TONS The coal, a, very course grade used also to fire steamship boil. ers, provides an ideal flame for boiling down sap. It burns clear and bright thus leaving no re. sidue . of °''°oke or soot on the under -surface ofd the evaporator. During the course of a season, McAllisters will burn as m..clf as ten ton of this fuel. • After a pleasant ride of sew eral minutes during which the writer had tithe tp discuss th'e various aspects of syrup -making with" a veteran of the industry we reached the woodlot where, at the time,Bob McAllister was en. gaged at the tapping operation; A half-inch hole° was drilled with brace and bit (no electric power available back there) about 30 inches frorri the ground., Be, fore driving in a spile,. Bob inserted a floinor pill into_ the. opening and poked it to the bottom of the hole wita twig. This sanitizing pill MrodUced to the maple syrup industry only a few This is Mason McAIIIhster' who his now entered his 58th year of working in the 3' maple 'rup industry at their thirty -acre hardwood bush on their farm situated on. the sixth concession Of . West Wawanosh, years ago, provides a twofold benefit to the producer. The white, aspirin -sized tablet contains a chemical which kills bacteria and also aids'in releas- ing- the flow of sap. Bob explain. ed' that if a tree dried up during a sell of bad weather, the chemical action of the flomor pill started the sap, flowing again if •warmer weather returned. With. out the pill; the tree would some. times need to be redrilled, a prac. ice which„the McAllisters ayoid. In answer to °a question re. garding the number .of consecu. tive years that a tree may be tapped, :vlason Mcallister pointed to a couple of majestic maples standing about fifty feet off: "See those two I remember tapping them the first spring I came back here- to make syrup. thatw.as .58 years ago!” McAllisters use only one spite per tree, a system which may account for the longevity of their maples. The size of maples suitable for • tapping varies from a minimum. of 12 inches to a maximum of any size.. The- smaller tree wit fill a bucket faster, earlier in the season, but the volume of sap from the larger tree is much greater during the course of the season's sap flow. STARTED YOUNG Mason and Bob combine a total of 90 years° syrup -making exper- ience. Mason who has been at it-sincethe spring of 1909 taught the skills of the industry to his - son as soon as he was old enough to drive a team of, horses back to thfe sugarbush. Bob McAllister has been working at the- job in earnest since the spring of '33, with the exception of two Second y World War years which he spent, in the army. SAP VARIES The flow of sap varies from one season to another, even as the quality of sap varies from one 'bOi1' to the next. Early in the season, a gallon of syrup may be obtained from 35 gallons of sap;, later on, the" `sap decreases in strength and it may require 45 gallon' to make a gallon of syrup. McAllisters don't start to boil .until they have filled at least half of the twenty-five 40 ga11on drums which store the sap. Once started, a boil continues until all available sap has- been boiled down. Mason McAllisfer recalled wlien during a season of unusual. ly heavy sap flow many years ago, he remained at the shanty, boiling down, for three consecutive nights when, normally he'd have been enjoying his eight hours sleep. Mason assured the writer he wouldn't repeat that schedule now, regardless of how hard the sap was running. • Bob Miaallister was . not in favor of ttie new plastic pipeline system for collecting sap. "Sure, it eliminates a lot of work gathering it, but there's only certain bushes where it's practical and economical to use. • ° oars isn't one of them. It's ex- pensive to buy' and, after the first year of use, there'd "be • a lot of extra work involved setting it up. Each piece of pipe would need to be marked somehow to indicate whereabouts in the bish it was used the previoiis season." Forthe beginning maple syrup, producer; investing in standard equipment alone, comes as rather a shock. Two of the basic pieces, spile and bucket, will cost him ,83• cents per set; imagine your outlay for tapping '100 trees and multiply that figure by 5 and you'll arrive at the amount the McAllisters have tied up in maple syrup production, exclusive of evaporator and other, assets. ' During the International plow- ing match at'Sea.forth last year, ,Mr. and Mrs. Mason McAllister helped arrange the maple syrup exhibit in the Huron county agri- cultural building. Owing to their many years* experience with maple syrup production, the M. Allisters were in a position to contribute valuable" knbwledge and pioneer tools of this industry to the,, display. Among the antique articles assembled at the exhibit were hardwood spiles and buckets used by Mason's grandfather. One piece of syrup -making equipment belonging to his an- cestor Mason McAllister did not display. "It was too valuabiel" said Mason. He was referring to a 5 gallon brass• kettle, which was first used by his grandfather, David M. Allister, over. a centiiry ago. At the farm, house, Mason took ' the antique vessel from its stor. age place "and proudly showed it to this reporter. "They kept the inside, of this brass 'k'ettle as shiny as .a: mir. ror!" he stated. According to Mrs. Bob Mc. A 11-ister, they had continued to use this kettle for 'finishing off, the syrup of the house up until five years ago. At that time, a mod. ern evaporator pati installed at the shanty, which cleaned the sap as it was boiled down, elimin- ated tire necessity of purifying the syrup later. Hence the old brass syrup kettle was/put into storage and given a deserved restb 'Chances are though, it will be keptin this home many more years to illustrate„ for Mr. and Mrs. Bob McAllisters+children, how their great -great granddaddy first made Maple syrup. The above picture . shows Robert MC - Allister trimming bark off one of the 500 maples which they tap ,each March during° their maple syrup operations. Some of the• trees have been tapped since Robert Mc- Allister's father,%'Mason, first started tap- ping ,in 1.909. nit Expansion Denied er Details Discussed By R. S. Atkey Huron County ,Board of, Health presented a 1567 budget to County Council, amounting to $180,250, at Monday's session, a figure which, the County and Province of Ontario would share on an equal basis if adopted. Proposed budget total was approximately $40,000 or" nearly 30 percent over actual expenditures in 1966. Main reasons for the request by the board of health for the hefty increase were allowance . for the expansion of the geriat- ric service, and inauguration of a 'new mental health service. A part-time psychiatrist and a part-time psychologist would be required. • ,The matter was not decided at Monday's session, but a decision was deferred until Tuesday's session after 'full consideration by county councillors, at which time the proposal for expansion was turned down. Borden- Cook, Blyth, chairman of the board of health, said that -over and above the total proposed budget would be the national health grant m•oraeys which are made avail. able to the county and which provide additional service at 100 percent recovery. This Money would be used for .the proposed expansion in the fields mention- ed. DOCTOR EXPLAINS • Dr. G.P.A. Evans, medical off- icer of health, Who came from England last fall to head Huron County health unit, addressed Council at Monday's session, ex. plaining the need for the in. creased services in the two fields of geriatric service and commun. ity mental health, r.s'r•-- ' He pointed out that to Huron County, which he said, has a population of about 50,000, the number of persons 6'5 years and over was about 5,000 or ten per. cent. 14e observed that Canada was, -approaching "an agiak populate :? ion" which he described as "a phenomenon of sophisticated and - advanced societies." LIVE LONGER • Dr. Evans declared that people are' living longer today, and children's diseases are not claiming as many 'lives as they ,once did. A second factor is the declining desire of children --to look after their aging parents. A community mental health ser. vice is required today more than ever, he also observed. To develop' in these two fields the MOH proposed additional staff for the Huron County board of health to include a part-time psychologist. • Principal items in the 1967 budget 9f thea� Board of Health are: medical, $20,832; nursing $80,000; clerical, $13,125; other staff, $22,692; ennployee bens. fits, $8,000; travel, $18,500; • London Humane Society has been requested to investigate the possibility of establishing a Hum. ane Society for 'Huron County. Dr. Evans, MOH, was report. ed as concerned with regard to reduction, in attendance at -child health clinics in recent months. He als o was reported to have requested the board • of health's support in his proposal tb re- lease certain ifforrraton per. • • la.ining to "the,rndoubted ass. ociation between the consump.. tion of tobacco, especially cig. arettes, and serious and/or fatal disease. The board approved the action of the Medical Officer of Health in his proposed cam.. paign. In connection with the expan. sron of geriatric and mental health services in'Htrron County, Her>Mrt B. Such,, reeve of God. erich, asked if these proposed °services would result in over. lapping with, the, Ontario Hos. pital, Dr; Evans replied that there was no intention whatever of overlapping. Maple Bush Photo Story by Sandy MacDonald Pa