'THERE might you have beheld one joy crown another.'--THE WINTER'S TALE.
As soon as the snow began to melt, another important item of the
spring work of the Vermont farmer demanded the attention of the
household; no less a business than the making of maple sugar. To
this all hands repair, in expectation of many a sweet lump not only
of sugar, but of a taste of cherry lips and rosy cheeks. The lads
and lasses of the green mountain region begin to lick their lips
about the middle of March. The season of the frolic varies many
weeks in different years. When warm spring days are succeeded by
cool, freezing nights, when the light snows begin to fall, called
the 'poor man's manure,' from an idea, true or false, that they
fertilize the land, then the sap begins to run, and all hie to the
sugar-camp to work and play by turns.
The place selected for operations is often near a clump of hemlock
trees, amid whose thick branches a temporary shelter is erected.
Boards, straw, and buffalo robes secure a warm and deep sleep
after the excitement of the sugaring. Blazing fires burn up here
and there, over which the huge kettles, containing the sap, are
suspended on cross sticks, replenished now and then from the
extempore buckets, troughs roughly hewn in blocks of hard wood,
which hang to receive the drippings, drop by drop, from the
incisions made in the tree. After it has been boiled to a proper
consistency, it is suffered to cool, and with no more labor, becomes
the famous maple sugar, the delight of all children and many
full-grown people. It is run in fanciful moulds, and easily assumes
any shape when in a moist, warm state. The Indians prepare it in
bark, curiously ornamented with quill work and beads, and sell it to
travellers at an exorbitant price.
Since the abolition movement, many of the members of which society
make a virtue of consuming nothing raised by slave-labor, this sugar
has become a more important article of trade, and the trees which
produce it are guarded with great care. The temperance cause, too,
is giving it a new value, as many have the idea that spirit cannot
be extracted from it so well as from the West India molasses, which
favorite 'sweet'ning' of the Yankee is getting into disrepute with
the ultras; a fact which speaks louder for their zeal than their
knowledge. So it is engaged in as a serious matter of profit,
and the hilarity and fun that once were ripe in the sugar-camp
is departed. In former days it yielded not to husking frolics in
enjoyment; it was the vintage of the north; but those days are gone,
with many a simple custom and innocent pastime which the spirit of
modern improvement is frowning down.
Formerly the expedition lasted several days, and the sugar-makers
slept in the woods; now the increased population of the State
affords a house near to the orchards. Our friends were determined to
make the most of the time, and Rufus was glad of a little amusement
for the band, but newly leagued together, to wean the thoughts
of the home-loving from their old to their new abode; to create
pleasant associations about the place not yet honored with a name.
As soon as a light fall of snow was succeeded by a warm, sunshiny
day, they all repaired to the woods, and a thrifty clump of trees
having been found, commenced their work. The place was not a
mile from their house, but a hut was erected as for a regular,
old-fashioned encampment, and conveniences for sleeping were not
forgotten. And it was well they were not omitted, for late in the
afternoon, as they were thinking of returning home, there burst upon
them a crowd of visitors from the neighboring settlements, who had
waited for this time to make their introduction to their neighbors,
wisely choosing a day of merriment, when the heart is open, to spur
on their own bashfulness and insure a cordial reception.
If any one is surprised that the news of the contemplated gathering
should get abroad so quickly, he has only to live in the country to
discover that it is in vain to attempt secrecy in any thing. Whether
birds, dogs, or cats carry news, we will not pretend to say; but all
we know is, that one may gain information to any extent about any
body, who is worth the notice, in a country village. The fact proves
the skill that may be acquired in any art by persevering industry,
and the fact is all we can state, leaving the wonder unsolved still,
for the future investigation of some writer upon the mysteries of
human life in general.
We say it was well the sleeping-berths were not omitted, for so
numerous was the gathering, that when night drew on, our friends
found that beside taking up all the spare beds in the house, and
leaving a goodly number in the hut, they should be obliged to give
others a bed in the barn, on the hay-mow. But to this the Vermonter
does not object, occasionally, when on a frolic; and, indeed, one
very essential part of a frolic in the country, and in the city, and
in every place, is the doing of things, not better, more joyously
and handsomely than usual, but differently. If a man sleep on
feathers at home, and in a carpetted room, and eat with a silver
fork, it is a frolic to him to eat with his fingers, drink from
large leaves, and find rest even in a barn.
The hospitality with which the visiters were greeted, the trouble
of having their home turned upside down, for one night, was no loss
in any sense to the band; for on the next morning, as the day was
favorable, they all turned out to assist in making sugar in earnest;
and, before they departed, left the most ample proof of their good
wishes and sense of Rufus's kindness. One remembered that he had
brought a keg of butter in his sleigh, which his father had sent,
begging Mr. Gilbert's acceptance; another unloaded baskets full of
dried apples, as his offering of friendship with the new neighbors;
a third, a brawny youth of eighteen, was tugging to lift alone a
barrel of something from his sleigh, to show his strength to the
girls; (every Green Mountain boy being required, before he can be
considered marriageable, to load and unload his barrel of cider;)
a task rather beyond his powers. John Stewart stepped forward to
assist him, and asked the nature of the contents that made his lift
so heavy.
'Some of our best cider; the first run from the orchard greenins,'
said the youth.
'We drink no such stuff here,' said John; 'but Mr. Gilbert will be
very glad to take it to make into vinegar.'
'Vinegar!' exclaimed the young man, opening his eyes to be certain
he was not dreaming, 'make _that_ cider into vinegar! It won't be
made into vinegar. You might bring all the teetotallers at once to
look sour at it; swear at it; damn it up hill and down, and finally
keep it into the middle of eternity, and then pour out a mug, and it
would sparkle as bright as ever.'
It was touching the young farmer on a tender point to speak
disparagingly of his cider; and this has been the great obstacle
to be got over in the Temperance reform. Thousands have refused to
have any thing to do with the cause, because cider was forbidden
in the pledge; and in our opinion the bigots in this cause (for
Temperance has its bigots as well as other causes) have presented
the question in an untenable form. They have attempted to show that
a natural fruit of our region, which cannot be preserved for any
length of time, except by expressing the juice, which is slightly
mixed with alcohol, is a deadly poison. Now the farmer who has
hundreds of bushels of apples yearly, beside those which are fitted
to keep sound, knows no other course than to make them into cider;
and he argues that the natural product of the soil on which he
dwells cannot be a poison; he knows that the _spirit_, as he calls
it, meaning the alcoholic principle, in the juice of the apple,
preserves it; and when the Temperance apostle comes to him and tells
him that this gift of God is a rank poison, he is disgusted with the
whole subject, and doubts the sincerity and honesty of those who
really are the friends of man, and who are laboring at a pecuniary
loss for his and others' good.
The course of Rufus was quite otherwise. The noise attracted the
attention of the whole party, and twenty or more young farmers
gathered about the youth, who stood over his barrel of cider, ready
to support its merits.
'Thank your father in my name,' said Rufus, approaching the place,
'for his kind offer. We will accept it gladly, and doubt not it is
as good cider as any in Vermont; he no doubt will suffer us to use
it in any way we please.' The opportunity was too favorable to be
lost; so he went on to explain why he did not drink it, and the
league which had been made with his companions, which in short hand
amounted to this.
All the gifts of Providence are good in their place. Men have the
power of perverting the blessings of Heaven to curses. It sometimes
becomes necessary to abstain from innocent acts, because others
deduce wrong inferences from them. Cider and wine, which in their
nature contain alcohol, when drank in moderation, are salutary to
health, and are nourishing to the body; but we agree to abstain from
them because it is dangerous for those whose constitutions have been
debilitated by intemperance to indulge in these luxuries. They bring
back the old disease in such cases. And as Paul said he would eat no
meat (a thing good in itself) if his doing so caused his brother to
offend, so we have agreed to deny ourselves cider and wine, for the
sake of our fellow-men.
It was evident from the looks of all, that they cared more for the
reputation of their cider than for the liquor itself; and when Rufus
had finished his remarks, the youth who had brought the barrel was
the first to propose that it be emptied upon the ground. It was
done with a shout; and so much influence had the words of Rufus,
that, with one accord, they all joined in a compact, on the spot, to
abstain from cider and all intoxicating drinks. Never did a sugar
party terminate more agreeably or profitably for all concerned.