Editing Maple syrup (section)

=== European colonists===
[[File:Sugar Making in Canada, 1852. By Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872).jpg|thumb|''Sugar Making in Montreal'', October 1852]]

In the early stages of European colonization in northeastern North America, local Indigenous peoples showed the arriving colonists how to tap the trunks of certain types of maples during the spring thaw to harvest the sap.{{sfn|Ciesla|2002|p=37}} [[André Thevet]], the "Royal Cosmographer of France", wrote about [[Jacques Cartier]] drinking maple sap during his Canadian voyages.<ref>Quoted in {{cite book|title=Sweet maple|author1=Lawrence, James M |author2=Martin, Rux |publisher=Chapters Publishing Ltd|year=1993|page=57|isbn=978-1-881527-00-8}}</ref> By 1680, European settlers and [[fur trade]]rs were involved in harvesting maple products.{{sfn|Ciesla|2002|pp=37, 39}} However, rather than making incisions in the bark, the Europeans used the method of drilling tapholes in the trunks with [[auger (drill)|auger]]s. Prior to the 19th century, processed maple sap was used primarily as a source of concentrated sugar, in both liquid and crystallized-solid form, as [[cane sugar]] had to be imported from the [[West Indies]].<ref name="history"/>{{sfn|Eagleson|Hasner|2006|p=15}}<!-- mention that Ben Franklin proposed making the new USA self-sufficient in sugar production (and thus not dependent on European colonies in the Caribbean) with maple sugar? -->

Maple sugaring parties typically began to operate at the start of the spring thaw in regions of woodland with sufficiently large numbers of maples.{{sfn|Ciesla|2002|p=37}} Syrup makers first bored holes in the trunks, usually more than one hole per large tree; they then inserted wooden spouts into the holes and hung a wooden bucket from the protruding end of each spout to collect the sap. The buckets were commonly made by cutting cylindrical segments from a large tree trunk and then hollowing out each segment's core from one end of the cylinder, creating a seamless, watertight container.<ref name="history">{{cite book |last1=Koelling |first1=Melvin R |last2=Laing |first2=Fred |last3=Taylor |first3=Fred |editor1-first=Melvin R |editor1-last=Koelling |editor2-last=Heiligmann |editor2-first=Randall B |title=North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701150215/http://ohioline.osu.edu/b856/index.html |year=1996 |publisher=Ohio State University (OSU) |chapter=Chapter 2: History of Maple Syrup and Sugar Production  }}</ref> Sap filled the buckets, and was then either transferred to larger holding vessels (barrels, large pots, or hollowed-out wooden logs), often mounted on sledges or wagons pulled by [[draft animal]]s, or carried in buckets or other convenient containers.{{sfn|Ciesla|2002|pp=37–39}} The sap-collection buckets were returned to the spouts mounted on the trees, and the process was repeated for as long as the flow of sap remained "sweet". The specific weather conditions of the thaw period were, and still are, critical in determining the length of the sugaring season.<ref name="production"/> As the weather continues to warm, a maple tree's normal early spring biological process eventually alters the taste of the sap, making it unpalatable, perhaps due to an increase in amino acids.<ref name="resource">{{cite book |last1=Heiligmann |first1=Randall B |last2=Winch |first2=Fred E |editor1-first=Melvin R |editor1-last=Koelling |editor2-last=Heiligmann |editor2-first=Randall B |title=North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701150215/http://ohioline.osu.edu/b856/index.html |year=1996 |publisher=Ohio State University |chapter=Chapter 3: The Maple Resource }}</ref>

The boiling process was very time-consuming. The harvested sap was transported back to the party's base camp, where it was then poured into large vessels (usually made from metal) and boiled down to achieve the desired concentration.<ref name="history"/> The sap was usually transported using large barrels pulled by horses or oxen to a central collection point, where it was processed either over a fire built out in the open or inside a shelter built for that purpose (the "sugar shack").<ref name="history"/><ref name="production2">{{cite book |last1=Heiligmann |first1=Randall B |last2=Staats |first2=Lewis |editor1-first=Melvin R |editor1-last=Koelling |editor2-last=Heiligmann |editor2-first=Randall B |title=North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701150215/http://ohioline.osu.edu/b856/index.html |year=1996 |publisher=Ohio State University |chapter=Chapter 7: Maple Syrup Production }}</ref>