How maple syrup was used in the 1800's
Early settlers and colonists
used maple syrup and maple sugar
as sweeteners in many
of the prepared food products. Regular sugar as we know it today was rare and
very expensive and treated as a luxury
product.
As roads were
build to the outlaying communities, regular sugar became less expensive
with maple sweeteners taking the back seat in its use.
Maple syrup
equipment was made by general metal workers living in each community. As
time passed by and maple products became more of a specialty item, business
began to sprout up in constructing equipment that was geared more to the art
of producing maple syrup and candies which continue to supply the maple
industry today.
The processed
syrup was stored it in large holding tanks, and then transforming
it into large cakes of sugar to be used in flavoring foods.
Present Day
Present day
finds find the bulk syrup being bought by large companies to be used in
cereals and used as a blend to store bought imitations. There is still a
large demand for the bottled syrup direct from the producer.
Size of the
operations vary, it can be as simple of a family hanging a few buckets
and boiling down the sap in their back yard to the larger producers of
7000 taps and more, using modern arches to boil down the syrup.
The majority are still family run and use the extra monies received to
help off-set the costs of land taxes and the betterment of the land.
Origins
