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Sapstreak Disease Of Sugar Maple

Sapstreak is a fatal disease of sugar maple that usually enters the tree through basal trunk scars or root wounds. The disease most often affects large, wounded trees left after logging. The fungus causing sapstreak readily infects stumps or cut logs during the summer months. So, wounding sugar maples during this time will increase the potential for disease spread. In the Lake States, sapstreak has only been found in a few areas of Michigan and at one location in Wisconsin. Although few trees have been killed by sapstreak, it has the potential to become a serious disease in sugar maple stands.

Date:
January 1, 1980

A Cost Analysis: Processing Maple Syrup Products

A cost analysis of processing maple sap to syrup for three fuel types, oil-, wood-, and LP gas-fired evaporators, indicates that: (1) fuel, capital, and labor are the major cost components of processing sap to syrup; (2) woodfired evaporators show a slight cost advantage over oil- and LP gas-fired evaporators; however, as the cost of wood approaches $50 per cord, wood as a fuel would no longer have this cost advantage; (3) economies of scale exist in processing maple sap to syrup; (4) in 1977 the total cost of production, including both sap production costs and processing costs, for a medium-size (750) gallons of syrup) operation was $8.36 per gallon of syrup for oil-fired evaporators, $7.97 per gallon of syrup for wood-fired evaporators, and $8.37 per gallon for LP gas-fired evaporators.

Date:
January 1, 1979

Tapholes in Sugar Maples: What Happens in the Tree

Maple syrup production starts by drilling a taphole in the tree. This process injures the wood, which may become discolored or decayed as a result. If trees are to be tapped, every effort must be made to minimize injury while obtaining the desired amount of sap. Information about tapholes is given here for the benefit of the producer. Some important points discussed are: how trees compartmentalize discolored and decayed wood associated with tapholes, how some tapping procedures lead to cambial dieback around the hole, the problem of overtapping related to increased use of mechanical tappers, and new information on the use of para formaldehyde pills, which can lead to more decay in trees.

Date:
June 1, 1978

Image-analyzing computer in plant science: more and larger vascular rays in sugar maples of high sap and sugar yield

The total area and number of xylem rays and vessels from tangential and cross sections of twigs of 12 sugar maples (Acer saccharum Marsh.) were determined by the use of an image-analyzing computer. A nested analysis of variance indicated that xylem rays of trees of high sap and sugar yield are more numerous and larger than the rays of other sugar maples. The total area and number of xylem vessels were about the same in all 12 trees.

Publication:
Canadian Journal of Botany
Date:
January 1, 1978

Sap Preheaters: Efficient Maple Syrup Processing

In 1974 the Vermont Experiment Station, Proctor Maple research team, and the Northeastern Forest Experiment Economics Research Unit at Burlington, VT, launched an intensive 4-year processing research program. This program was designed to accomplish two major goals: (1) increase the efficiency of the conventional open-pan evaporator system from approximately 65 percent to approximately 80 percent; and (2) evaluate new evaporator systems for processing maple syrup products. As an initial part of the first research objective, the energy balance of the conventional open-pan evaporator has been completed. Also, design and laboratory and field testing of a sap preheater system has been completed.

Date:
January 1, 1978

Plastic Tubing and Maple Syrup Quality

Maple syrup made from sap collected using improperly or carelessly installed plastic pipelines varied more in color from day to day, and was more often darker in color, than sap collected from either the property installed pipeline or clean, frequently emptied galvanized buckets. Use of both properly installed tubing and buckets, following recommended procedures, produced light colored syrup of equal quality throughout the entire maple syrup season.

Date:
January 1, 1978

Consumer Preference for Graded Maple Syrup

The three grades of maple syrup and a commercial table syrup containing artificial flavor and 3 percent pure maple syrup were evaluated by 1,018 women in four cities. The results indicate that differences in preference for flavor are related to how close the respondents are to a maple syrup-production region. Differences in preference among grades of pure maple syrup were slight and in reverse order of the quality implied by the Federal grading standard. Outside of the region of maple syrup production, differences in preference between pure maple syrup and the commercial table syrup were marked, and favored the commercial syrup.

Date:
January 1, 1978

Increasing the Efficiency of Maple Sap Evaporators with Heat Exchangers

A study of the engineering and economic effects of heat exchangers in conventional maple syrup evaporators indicated that: (1) Efficiency was increased by 15 to 17 percent with heat exchangers; (2) Syrup produced in evaporators with heat exchangers was similar to syrup produced in conventiona lsystems in flavor and in chemical and physical composition; and (3) Heat exchangers reduce per unit production costs, and can yield greater production and higher profits.

Date:
January 1, 1977

Processing Maple Syrup with a Vapor Compression Distiller: An Economic Analysis

A test of vapor compression distillers for processing maple syrup revealed that: (1) vapor compression equipment tested evaporated 1 pound of water with .047 pounds of steam equivalent (electrical energy); open-pan evaporators of similar capacity required 1.5 pounds of steam equivalent (oil energy) to produce 1 pound of water: (2) vapor compression evaporation produced a syrup equal in quality to that from a conventional open-pan evaporation plant; and (3) a central plant producing 8,000 gallons of syrup per year should yield a return of 16 percent on investment. Increasing annual product output should increase the return on investment.

Date:
January 1, 1977

Analysis of Pure Maple Syrup Consumers

Virtually all of the pure maple syrup production in the United States is in the northern states of Maine, Masachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Pure maple syrup users living in the maple production area and users living in other areas of the United States were asked a series of questions about their use of pure maple syrup and their responses were compared. User attitudes toward the product, syrup-use patterns, syrup-packaging characteristics, and syrup-purchasing patterns are identified and discussed.

Date:
January 1, 1974