Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1918 — Big Increase in the Maple Sugar and Sirup Production In 1918 Over Previous Year [ARTICLE]

Big Increase in the Maple Sugar and Sirup Production In 1918 Over Previous Year

The maple sugar crop of 1918 in the 18 states, which include nearly all the producing region, was 13,270,900 pounds, and the sirup production was 4.905.200 gallons, according to the government market report. The total of sugar and sirup, counting one gallon of sirup as equivalent to eight pounds of sugar, would be 52,512,500 pounds of sugar. The production in 1917 was 10,838.650 pounds of sugar and 4,286.100 gallons of sirup, both being equivalent to 45,127,400 pounds of sugar. The ,13 states covered by this report produced about 99 per cent of the total maple sugar and sirup in the census year 1909. The principal region of production extends from northwestern Ohio through New York to Vermont and includes parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Outside of this region there is also production of Importance in the mountain country beginning with the southern counties of Pennsylvania and extending through western Maryland into scattered localities in West Virginia; also in parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. The Increased demand and higher prices for maple sugar and sirup helped to cause a larger number of trees to be tapped in 1918 than in 1917, or even in 1909. A total of 19,298.200 trees were tapped in 1918, of which 15,616,000, or 81 per cent, were in the four states of Vermont, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Weather conditions in the northern part of the sugar region, namely, in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, were favorable. There were cold nights alternating with warmer days.