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Home My WebLink AboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-06-06, Page 6Page 6 Citizens News, April 6, 1977 Old ways disappear Purple tubes mark modern day sugar bush Purple tubes strung from tree to tree puncturing trunks before falling away to the next tree, tubes joining the forests lifeblood with huge' silver tanks and over all the pulse and throb of the vacuum pump. It's maple syrup time in the modern day sugar bush. Gone are the spigots with tin pails hanging underneath. Gone are the horses and stone boats and barrels. Gone are the cold sticky fingers as sap spills while pails are emptied. Gone are the long hours spent collecting the sap and the many people needed to do that collecting efficiently. Gone, some would say are the good old days. Now the spigots are made of pastic with strange purple tubes connected to them on one end and to a large central collecting tube which runs from tree to tree. You couldn't run through this bush, rather you must continually duck and jump over the tubing strung from one tree to the next. Everything has purpose, reason and efficiency as the vacuum pump draws the sap from the trees to the central storage bins where it awaits the boiling tank. The tubes are purple for a reason, they attract enough heat to thaw those lines on cold spring mornings, but they do not attract too much sun as black tubes will causing the sap to mould. The plastic spigots are high on the trees this year. They were put in place early in February and there was so much snow the freezing men on snowshoes were forced to put them in high on the trees. Now the snow has melted and the tubes are left hanging like some sort of purple moss many feet from the muddy earth. The trees are having their revenge this year as they yield their sap to the throbbing purple lines, the sugar content is very low running at around one per- cent for most of this year's season. At that rate the tree must give up 80 gallons of sap to enable men to enjoy one gallon of the syrupy sweetness it boils into, at the rate of 2 gallons boiled off per hour, with a good fire. Leaks in the purple lines are quickly found and sealed as the tubes are transparent. The vacuum quickly falls in pressure and it is a simple job to see which of the main lines is carrying air instead of sap and follow it back to the source. Nothing is wasted in this operation, there is no spillage, the steam from the boiling oven of syrup is used to heat copper wires which in turn heat the sap before it even gets to the tanks where it must boil and boil and boil to get to the sugary sweet- ness of maple syrup. Nothing is added, only the impurities are removed and there are few of those as the tubes protect their cargo from insects, leaves and twigs and human fingers. The season this year has not been a very good one with tem- peratures not cold enough at night to raise the sugar content of the sap and now the season is almost over. The sweetness of the trees has again been collected and contained and sold for $14 a gallon and there is never enough to go around, you can always sell more. OLD PROCESS/ NEW WAYS - Making maple syrup is still a matter of boiling maple sap, but the methods have changed over the years. Above, Eric Schilbe of Bayfield adjusts the tap through which the maple syrup flows once it has boiled down. Mr. Schilbe uses modern methods to tap his 2,000 trees. photo by McKinley ♦ ♦ / 11111111101 Fresh Chicken Legs Fresh Chicken Breasts Maple Leaf Tin End Hams Maple Leaf Smoked Picnics Maple Leaf Whole or Half Football Hams Maple Leaf Piece Golden Fry Bacon Ib. Ib. .Ib. Ib. ♦ 1 ♦ ♦ lb. 994 $1.09 $1.75 Ib. 894 $1.45 $1.19 / 1 / 1 / 1 Inquire about prices on sides and quarters of Local Feed Lot Beef. We will cut and wrap to your specification CUSTOM SLAUGHTERING BEEF MONDAY -- PORK TUESDAY \\••\•.S. Laporte Meat Market MAIN ST ZURICH 236.4962 Javex and water and carefully removed from the trees. The sap itself is used to soften the crusts of sugar which have boiled hard on the insides of the boiling tanks. Sap is allowed to sit in a holding tank ouside for a few days and it turns milky and then vinegary. This sap is then run into the boiling tanks and let sit for quite a few days. This softens the residue boiled hard on the inside of the tanks and when the tanks are drained it takes little scrubbing to have them spotless. Yes, things have changed in the sugar bush. The process is now cleaner, faster and more efficient requiring fewer men and more money. Still, the syrup tastes like syrup has always tasted -sweet and sugary and full of the scent of the trees. The bush still smells of sweet sticky steam permeating the air with its goodness. The children still come to see the process and still marvel at the miracle of taking sap from a tree all watery and not verygood and turning it into the crunchy sweetness of maple candy. The children run through the bush still, albeit somewhat slower as they duck and jump tube after purple tube. When they are grown, they will probably tell their children of running through sugar bushes Cancer can be beaten When the time comes to clean the tubing and put it away until next spring it is flushed out with and of ducking tubes and tripping and falling into the dampness of the forest floor, By then, who knows how the maple syrup will be gathered or by what means it will be turned into the sweet MEW syrup. Perhaps it doesn't really matter, perhaps the increasing efficiency and cost of the syrup operation doesn't matter, perhaps it is enough that our children at least have the chance to taste the natural goodness of the syrup and look at a tree and marvel. Perhaps. Meet Our New Salesmen ART BELL JACK SALTER Larry Snider is pleased to announce the appointment of Art Bell and Jack Salter to the sales staff. Art has spent over 20 years in the new and used car business in the Lucan area, while Jack has over 14 years experience in the Goderich area. Both men are well qualified to look after your needs, whether it be for a new or used car or truck. Drop in and in- troduce yourself to them today and let them help you choose from one of the many super savings in Larry's giant stock reduction. 76 LTD 2 door, automatic air, radio, rear defroster, one owner. ,.Mileage 40407, Licence KME034. Was $4895 75 LANDAU 4 door, automatic air, AM/FM, luxury interior, speed control. Mileage 11442, Licence JFN916. Was $4995 75 TORINO SEDAN automatic, power steering and brakes, radio. Mileage 422. Licence JYY645. Was 53495 74 LTD 4 door hardtop, automatic air, radio. Mileage 47163. Licence DFZ951. Was $3295 73 CUTLASS SUPREME 2 door, buckets, 350 V8, automatic, power brakes, power steering, radials. Mileage 48304. Licence DFV187. Was $3495 73 GALAXIE "5" SEDAN automatic, radio, radials. Mileage 44669. Licence DHH472. Was $2495 73 OLDS ROYALE, 4 door, automatic, AM/FM, 1 owner. Mileage 44507. Licence DFV118. Was $3695 73 MARQUIS 2 door, automatic air, radio. Mileage 43530. Licence DFV475. Was $2495 73 FORD RANCH WAGON V8, automatic, radio. Mileage 80398. Licence DFZ446. Was $1695 72 MAVERICK COACH 6 cylinder, automatic, radio. Mileage 64335, Licence BZF515, Was $1895 71 MAVERICK SEDAN 302 V8, automatic, radio. Mileage 85352. Licence CWP306. Was $1395 MARCH TRADES 72 MAVERICK SEDAN, 6 cylinder, automatic, radio. Mileage 34738, Licence DFX563 75 GREMLIN Automatic. Mileage 19303. Licence J0T468 74 BUICK CENTURY 2 door, Luxus, V8, flight bench, radials, Ziebart. Licence DFZ738 74 DART 2 door, 6 cylinder, automatic, radio. Mileage 60948. Licence HNL295 73 LTD 4 door, automatic, AM/FM, split bench. Licence DFZ456 72 CENTURION 2 door, As is. Mileage 14708. Licence DJM556 70 MARQUIS, 2 door, As is. Mileage 30857. Licence FKD399 70 TOYOTA, 2 door, As is. Mileage 52989. Licence DFJ859 74 BUICK CENTURY 2 door, 350 V8, automatic, power steering and brakes. Licence DFZ738 1969 CHRYSLER 4 door, V8, automatic, power steering and brakes, (Before inspection). Licence DFV329 1969 GALAXIE XL 2 door, V8, automatic, power steering and brakes, buckets. Licence DFW796 TRUCKS 75 F100 PICKUP 6 cylinder, insulated topper, stick. Mileage 32859. Licence C90970. Was $3695 75 F150 SUPER CAB Ford topper, 360 V8, Ranger, radio, certified. Mileage 41050. Licence C89451. 74 FORD F100 RANGER, 302 V8, radio, rear bumper. Mileage 66602. Licence C77611. Was $2995 74 CHEV h TON V8, automatic, tutone. Mileage 66512. Licence D15074. Was. $2995 69 E200 WINDOW VAN, 6 cylinder, stick, certified. 70085 C91971 76 COURIER PICKUP, (Demonstrator) 1800 cc engine, J speed over- drive, rear step bumper, tape stripes, 6 ply whitewall tires. Mileage 5034. Licence C91199. Was $4348 53900 '4100 52600 52600 '2700 $1600 '2400 '2200 1400 1250 '1100 1795 '2495 '3895 '2200 '3995 '750 '595 '600 '3895 '795 '1395 '3300 '4395 '2400 '2795 '1195 '3725 Remember ... It's Sense To See Snider's Huron County's Larr-st Ford Dealer Lamb Snider Motors LIMITED EXETER 235-1640 LONDON 227-4191 Open Weekdays Until 9:00 Saturdays Until 6:00