LESSON LXX.
grim'y, dirty.
re al i za'tion, the act of coming true.
in vent'ed, found out; contrived.
per mit'ted, allowed.
dis solved', melted; broken up.
a vid'i ty, eagerness.
re duced', made smaller in quantity.
sen sa'tion, feeling.
crys'tal lize, change into hard particles of a regular shape.
MAKING MAPLE SUGAR.—PART II.
In the great kettles the boiling of the sap goes on slowly, and the liquid, as it thickens, is dipped from one to another, until in the end kettle it is reduced to syrup, and is taken out to cool and settle, until enough is made to "sugar off."
To "sugar off" is to boil the syrup until it is thick enough to crystallize into sugar. This is the grand event, and is only done once in two or three days.
But the boy's desire is to "sugar off" all the time. He boils his kettle down as rapidly as possible; he is not particular about chips, scum, or ashes.
He is apt to burn his sugar; but if he can get enough to make a little wax on the snow, or to scrape from the bottom of the kettle with his wooden paddle, he is happy.
A great deal is wasted on his hands, and the outside of his face, and on his clothes, but he does not care; he is not stingy.
To watch the operations of the big fire gives him constant pleasure. Sometimes he is left to watch the boiling kettles, with a piece of pork tied on the end of a stick, which he dips into the boiling mass when it threatens to go over.