, 5 JAN- sm‘fi" I‘n’ A’EF "i’fitfi' ‘5 4‘“ T’s?" a .3 5§ At‘ ”Val-T. Sui-L $5.3 Flank!" as“; . La“. @9162“ £2.51.» C335 Arms»: iii; T33 Fifi??? 0F MAME SAP Thasis Tar ‘E'ha fiegrw cf M. S. WCHMMR STATE "C 355 Quinam Wu” m Rabbins ngfi L. 5'7 [THESIS ‘ This is to certifg that the thesis entitled ' W 67% ff, presented by has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for 4%! _‘.5’. , degree in% Major 11mg; 7 Datebfi 10' If {7— PCISII‘I 1\? DE TArrlre'Gr ALI! VT SLR FACTORS M'FhUT-;.J ‘iHE FLOW e}? LAPLE SAP Thesis for degree of M. S. Michigan State College Putnam Hilliam Robbins 19148 PQS T;QN QF TAPPIhG aND OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE FLOW OF tAPLE SAP by Putnam I"willierm Robbins A TfiESIS Submitted to the Graduate School of Richigan State College of Agriculture and Afplied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Forestry 19h8 TH E313 The author wishes to express his apprecia- tion to Professor Paul A. herbert of the Forestry Department of Michigan State College, who sug- gested the problem that was investigated and who gave assistance throughout the investigation; to Professor Hubert M. Brown of the Farm Crops De- partment of Michigan State College for many help- ful suggestions and criticisms: and to Professor Leslie W. Gysel of the Forestry Department of Michigan State College for many suggestions and criticisms. 203177 Introduction . Review of Literature Description of the Area Studied Experimental Procedure.. 0 Data and Discussion Regular Sugar Bush Sample.Acre Summary 0 o 0 Literature Cited TABLE OF CONTENTS ll 15 35 Position of Tapping and Other Factors Affecting The Flow of Maple Sap Putnam William Robbins INTRODUCTION Tapping the farm sugar bush was an important activity in colonial days for little sugar, other than maple sugar, was avail- able. Tapping the sugar bush is still an important and facinating spring activity on thousands of farms. .All over the maple sugar area of northern United States farmers who have not used their equip- ment for a long time, have put their maple sirup equipment in order and produced sirup during the war years due to the very favorable price of maple sirup and sugar. This increase in the activity of maple sirup production in Michigan has resulted in many inquiries concerning the most satisfactory method of tapping the sugar bush. This study has been an endeavor to solve some of the questions con- fronting the producer regarding the proper position on the tree to tap and the flow that may be expected from individual tap holes. The art of making maple sirup and sugar was first discovered by the Indians of North fimerica. Indian legend relates that a squaW'was boiling venison in a clay pot and needed more water to keep the meat from burning. Instead of running to the nearest stream she dipped what she thought was water from a hole in a large maple tree where a lhnb had recently been broken off; when her brave returned and the meat was eaten it was found to be sweet and very appetizing, so was discovered the fact that sap from the sugar maple in the spring is sweet and that boiling yields sirup and sugar. Brown (1) states, "The making of sirup and sugar from the sap 2. of the maple trees was discovered and developed in a crude way by the Indians long before the first white settlers came to this country. The earliest extant written records seems to be in 1673." The Indians tapped the ~aple tree with sharp incisions in the bark with their tomohawks, and used a piece of bark for a spout to carry the sap into bark containers. The early settlers in the regions occupied by the maple tree improved on the crude Indian methods of tapping and concentrating the sap to sirup. Since Colonial days much attention has been directed toward improving the boiling process of concentrating sap to sirup and the best silvicultural methods fsr handling the farm woods operated as a sugar bush. Although increasing interest has been given during recent years in securing better production in the farm sugar bush, the range of conditions under which sap flow records have been made are so great that most results have only general application. It is therefore necessary to determine the role of importance of each factor for a given set of conditions for a locality or region in which conditions are essentially uniforms 'With such information applicable to Michigan, it should be possible to give reasonable sound recommendations to guide the farmer in tapping his woodland for maple sap production. The Sanford woodland, owned and managed as a sugar bush by the De artment of Forestry Michigan State College, provided an ex- cellent opportunity ta carry on studies which effect the flow of maple sap. The tract is typical of the farm woodlands in southern Michigan and results should be applicable to ninety percent of the sap and sirup production areas in the southern peninsula of the state. 3. RLVIEW uF TLE LITEKATUHE The position of tapping maple trees for the production of sap was recognized by the maple sirup producers from Indian and Colonial times down to the present, but few investigators have con- sidered this factor in their maple sirup research problems. Chittenden (3) stated, "In tapping the greatest flow of sap is obtained on the side of the tree having the heaviest branches, and on the side exposed to the sun." He did not recommend con- centrating tap holes on the sunny or south side, but recognized this side as the best producer. Gilson(6) in his experiments on the flow of sap per season and per tree and on maple sirup and sugar making found that slightly larger amounts of sap are obtained from trees tapped on the east and south sides, but that the amount gained was so small that tapping on these sides of the tree are of little importance. He also stated that it is best to tap on the side of the heaviest branches, and to select a spot on the trunk exposed to the sun, to increase the yield of sap from a tree. Dambach (h) in his investigations on the productiveness of ad- jacent grazed and ungrazed sugar maple woods, stated that trees in the two woods studied were tapped mainly on the south and west sides. Dansereau (5) stated that a parently it is the trees notched or tapped on the south side which give the best flow of sap, at least in Quebec. In their experiments on the flow of maple sap, Jones, Edson and Morse (7) found that maple sap flow is erratic and governed by a multitude of conditions. They found considerable difficulty in determining the relationship of various factors affecting sap flow. he They concluded that location of the tap hole in relation to sap flow did effect the yield. Their work was based on very small samples. Tap holes four feet high produced more sap than exposed tapped roots or tap holes fourteen feet above the ground. Roots produced 7,355 grams, four foot high tap holes ll,h05 grams and tap holes fourteen feet off the ground 5,295 grams. They also stated, "It is quite generally held that southern or eastern exposures for tap holes are more favorable to a larger sugar yield than those on north or west sides." Jones, et all, tapped six trees on the north and south sides in 1899, four on the north and south sides in 1900 and four on the north, south, east and west sides in 1901. In these compass positions of tapping the north had a gain over the south of 5.15 percent in 1699. In 1900 the south gained 6.28 percent over the north side. From the results of their additional experiments in 1901 their con- clusions were that the variation in the amount of sugar obtained from different sides of the trees is not constant in any nne direction. The outcome of several trials in which trees were tapped on different sides of the tree is slightly in favor of the south ex- posure. In 190h Jones, Edson and Norse (8) stated, "On typical sap days a tap hole on the south side of a tree yielded the most sugar, but on cloudy days when all sides of the tree warmed more equally, the sap flow was more uniform on all sides of the tree." Brown (1) suggested that tapping should be done in the thrifty part of the maple tree where the bark looks best to avoid old tap scars. "Tapping is commonly done on the southern side of the trees because that side warms up the earliest in the season and the first sap flow 5. is considered best, but experiments ShOW’that under average weather conditions, the flow of sap is equal on all sides." Vaillancourt (11) in his experiments carried on over a period offbur years found an average production of 2.h pounds of sugar for trees tapped on the north, h.l pounds on the south, 2.2 pounds on the west and 2.6 pounds on the east. In his bulletin on production of maple sirup and sugar Bryan (2) recommends in general, that the south side of a tree-is best ior early runs of sap, with the east side next best. McIntyre (9) in his extensive experiments on sap flow did not consider the position of taaping as such, but states it is common practice in Pennsylvania to tap on the south side of the tree first, moving to the north side as the season progresses. At the beginning of the season the sap flow is more pronounced ontzhe south or sunny side of the tree. The season can be prolonged a few days by putting a new tap on the north side of the tree, but this does not pay When the increased injury to the tree in considered. McIntyre noted the problem of striking good sap wood when the tapping was c ncentrated on the south side of the tree. Tressler, and Zimmerman (10) while operating an experimental Sugar bush for three years, 1939, 19h0 and l9hl, studied among other factors the relation between volume of sap, influence of tree size, and dir- ection of tapping on sap flow. They kept complete records of each tap hole not only in regard to the compass direction of the hole but also as to the number of holes per tree and Volume of sap produced. They found a correlation between the volume of sap and weight of sugar pro- duced. When the volume is large, the sugar content was high; and this correlation held throughout the seasin with menor differences. The 6. most notable of these was the fact that in the totals the north side buckets are the lowest volume producers, but that the sap from the north side of the tree evidently contained a slightly higher per- centage of sugar so that there was more wei:ht of sugar produced by these north buckets than by the west buckets. 7. DESCthTth qF Tab chAR B Sh STUDIED The Sanford Woodlot, formerly known as the River Woodlot was acquired when Michigan State College was a young institution. The Woodlot has been under management for the production of wood and other products for the past sixty years, and has served as a labora- tory area for the students majoring in forestry since the inception of the Forestry Department in 1902. The Woodland has been under the management for the production of maple syrup since 1913 and maple syrup has been produced each year since that date with the exception of the years 1925 to 1928 inclusive and the year 1936. Forest products have been cut from the area in small amounts annually with extensive operations being conducted periodically which produced saw legs from the main protions of the tree and wood from the tops of branches. 9 The area has been used intensively as a field laboratory for the study of forest mensuration, silviculture and utilization and for specimem collection and observation by the students in Botany and Zoology. The Sanford Woodland is located in the southeast corner of section 18, of town four north, range one east, Ingham county,.M1ch- i:an. The area is bounded on the north by the Red Cedar River and on the east by a township road. A truck trail traverses the woodland on the north following the general winding of the river. The second trick trail crosses the area from the northwest to the southeast and the area is divided by additional sap trails and one bridal path. The area is predominately occupied by a beech-sugar maple forest with variations in size from pole wood size to mature timber. Black ash, American eLm, and red maple comprize the second major timber type 8. .5423o.i¢&5{..- bias. carotid I. QELHGN N cuoaudvaaop .323 one :93 93.59 NIL 2" opium as! \(s.\ ‘Qo\\ UQQvDQ .N..\u .K ~\Iom. hear: no .Q. - sex». \MQ\ IKE \éz} \% e 3e! \QSQS: ASE kw Stood E E, e §§¥ 9. found on the area. The timber type areas and their boundaries are illustrated in Plate 1. Soil types on the woodlot area are Carlisle Muck, Hillsdale Sandy Loam, Berrian Sandy Loam, Macomb Loam, Granby Sand, Genessee Fine Sandy Loam, Griffin and Washtenaw Loans The soil map, Plate 2, Illustrates the soil types and their boundaries. The topography of the area is gently rolling with a constant and increasing degree of slope from the south boundary to the river on the north boundary. The highest elevation is twenty feet above the river level. The area is drained in the west protion by an intermittent creek flowing from the south boundary to the Red Cedar River and by an intermittent creek on the east portion from the south boundary to the river. lll'li.lll.lllllil ll Ill-Ill 10. O. , on .n .m spasm 2(04 3CZUhImC3 .no z.uu.¢o..n .J .m ..._ wumm uzuo.nv 024m >024¢o.~v 1404 010042.; 024m >1¢OJ zuimwmbn «22:0 v. .. 33» 543.03 2.9:?» 2.: 5.53.9 1oz0 30...... m0 304m a