HOW TO MAKE & MARKET MAPLE SYRUP

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G.H. Grimm Company, Inc.
Rutland, Vermont 05701

All containers, spouts, fittings, tanks and buckets which come into contact with the sap must be of a material — such as glass, plastic or stainless stee l — which can be thoroughly cleaned. Metals which would otherwise rust and contaminate the syrup should be treated with a lead-free nontoxic paint obtained from a maple syrup supply house such as the two mentioned above.

THE BRACE AND BIT

If you don't have a brace and bit for tapping your trees, you can usually borrow one from anyone who does some woodworking. Bits from 3/8 to 1/2-inch are used for this job and I favor the smaller size because it gives a tighter fit with less chance of leakage on the spouts we use.

SPOUTS (SPILES) AND HOOKS

Early settlers whittled tapping spouts from wood (some folks still do) and small boys have fashioned them from tin can covers . . . but you'll probably be better off buying than trying to improvise this particular item. As far as I can ascertain, the manufactured tapping spiles come in only one size. Each is banded by a metal ring with a hook that supports the collecting bucket.

COLLECTING BUCKETS AND COVERS

You'll need one collecting bucket for every taphole (natcherly) . . . which can run into money. Try contacting the food processing plants in your area and asking if they ever discard five-gallon containers of any kind. We found a canning factory that had discontinued the use of some square, white, plastic five-gallon cans that were ours for the taking. I'm not fond of plastic but these buckets cost us nothing and are light, easy to clean and rustproof.
Make a small hole in the side of each container, near the top, and hang the bucket from the hook of one of the inserted spiles. A bucket this size will usually hold a day's run of sap but I make no guarantees. On a good day a good tap in a good tree will produce more than five gallons. But, since the best syrup is made from the freshest sap, you'll probably want to empty each collector can two or three times a day anyway . . . and you'll never have to worry about overflowing buckets.

The collecting containers must be covered to keep out snow, leaves, dirt and debris. We tried using tinfoil to protect ours at first, but the idea was a total flop. We finally devised some satisfactory lids out of scrap lumber by cutting the wood about two inches larger in each direction than the top of the bucket On the bottom side of every cover we nail two strips of wood (if the bucket is square) or three little blocks (if it's round) to fit just inside the rim of the bucket and hold the lid in place Then we cutaway a notch on one side (where the spout will be) to allow the sap to drip in . . . making sure the notch is large enough so the sap won't touch wood at any point.

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