This event takes place after a few days of boiling, when the syrup has accumulated in sufficient quantities; and, as it presents the first fruits of the harvest, is usually made the occasion of a sugar-party. Now, the maple sugar-party is a New England institution, and the great feast of the season. The young people invite their friends, the neighbors' boys and girls, and sometimes a select party of school-mates from the village. The young folks go out through the woods in glee, the boys drawing the girls on sleds over the crust, the young men and maidens walking together,—a merry throng full of life and glee. The older folks are also there, at least sometimes; but their presence is no damper on the spirits of the young.
First, the pan is half filled with syrup, and a gentle fire is started. As the temperature rises, a thick scum appears on the surface, consisting of such impurities as may have passed through the meshes of the strainer. If proper care has been taken to keep out all forms of dirt in gathering and boiling, and if, after being strained, the syrup was allowed to stand and settle for two or three days, until all the nitre,—or "sand," as it is called,—and other heavy impurities, were deposited on the bottom of the pail, then the liquid which is poured off is clear and light-colored. But if these precautions have not been taken, if dust, and leaves, and cinders have been allowed free access, then the liquid is dirty and dark-colored, and the scum is thick and muddy. In such cases it is customary to make use of some device for the purpose of "purifying" it, such as stirring a cup of milk or a beaten egg into the slowly heating mass. These things are supposed to have an affinity for the dirt, and to increase the volume of impurities which rise to the surface. Their real utility is questionable.
When the liquid begins to simmer slightly, and just before it fairly boils, all the scum is removed by means of a long-handled skimmer, and is emptied into the pan with the "settlings," and both these are afterwards utilized in the manufacture of vinegar.
After boiling for a while, the syrup begins to thicken, and the bubbles to rise higher and higher in the pan, like boiling soap. Thenceforward it must be watched with care, to prevent its boiling over, or burning on the bottom of the pan.
As soon as the sugar begins to show signs of graining, all hands pass up their saucers to be filled; and they are refilled an unlimited number of times, until all are thoroughly sweetened. For though sugar is the product of hard labor, and has a cash value, yet in all the sugar-camps it is as free almost as water throughout the season,—until it is grained and in the tubs, when it becomes property, and is held sacred.
Not many, however, can eat more than one, or at most two, saucerfuls of warm sugar. So, when the appetite is sated with this, and the sugar is done a little harder, merry voices call for pans of snow, or if a clean snow-bank is at hand, betake themselves to this instead, and, after having partially cooled the liquid by stirring it in the saucer, pour it slowly out upon the smooth snow-crust, where it quickly hardens and becomes brittle, making a most luscious and toothsome substitute for molasses candy.
If the sugar is to be made into cakes it requires to be boiled longer than if intended for graining in tubs, as is the more common form.
Finally, when frequent trials show that the proper degree of concentration has been reached, the master of the ceremonies pronounces it "done," pulls off the fagots, and lets the fire go down, or else draws the pan off the arch and lets it cool. Then the sugar is stirred vigorously with a huge wooden paddle until it begins to grain, when it is poured out into the tubs, or dipped into tins, if intended for cakes.
But though the sugar is eaten, the party is not over for the young folks. There is still time for an hour or two of coasting—an old-fashioned tournament of "sliding down hill." And so the livelong day is a time for sweet things said and done as well as eaten, of romping and frolicking, of mirth and laughter, of youthful courtships begun and carried on, of joy and gladness everywhere.