535-03 Page 38In George Jokemon's sugar bush at RR 1, Beachville, Carol Jakeman, centre, gives
two friends some tips on gathering maple sap, Agnes Siba, left, of Woodstock, and
a
Helen Kornaker, of Inrerkip.
Free Press Woodstock Bureau
WOODSTOCK, March 31 — As April begins the end of the
.maple syrup season approaches, 3ut Saturday's bright weather
found operations still to high gear in a sugar shanty in the
Jakeman bush south of Beachville.
Here, on the farm which has been in the family for more
than 80 years, three generations of the Jakeman family with
the assistance of several neighbors were "sugaring off' amid
_ the blended scents of wood smoke, warm sugary vapor, bush
loam and .leaf mould.
rt .r
George F. Jakeman, his father, .Ernest Jakeman, and two
young sons, Bob and Bruce, were all busy. Sap was being
gathered, stored in exterior tanks and piped into a huge evaporator
in the shanty where it was eventually run off in a delectable
amber stream as the finished product.
In 10 acres of bushland 800 trees have been tapped and the
anticipated harvest will approximate 200 gallons. This is an
fL average year, Mr. Jakeman said, and with a few more frosty .
Ai nights and sunny days the season may extend into April. Their
first run was in February this year.
d The sap is gathered systematically by means of tractor and
trailer equipped with a large tank.
From a large storage tank outside the shanty the sap ispiped
into a 16 by five foot evaporator. It runs through many com-
partments and different stages of evaporation until it reaches
its finished consistency.
The sap is then run through a felt filter called a "boot"
which removes the sugar sand or nitre into cans. In Mr. Jake-
man's experienced opinion it takes from 25 to 40 gallons of sap to
1! bring one gallon of syrup, depending on 'the amount of moisture
in the ground.
Long hours must be spent feeding the huge evaporator with
a mixture of hardwoods, skimming foam from the bubbling
compartments and watching alertly for the run-off moment..
Often this means working past midnight to keep abreast of the
day's run- of sap.
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I hen inside the. sugar shanty George Jakeman scans a thermometer and watches
the finished syrup run into a filter -covered can. His nine -year -old son Bruce is
also on hand to watch the f nal step.
Only, a section of the walls was left standing Satur-
day, following fire which destroyed the one -room
SS 6, school in West Oxford Township, near Inger-
soll. Thirty-seven pupils, displaced by the blaze,
will be transported to Thamesford-until a new
school is built. (Photo by Longfield).
INGERSOLL, Feb. 15
Thirty-seven pupils of a one
room school at SS No. 6 West
Oxford, destroyed by fire.
early SatuYdav morning, will
be transported by bus to a
school at Thamesford, until a
new school is built. FL?pr/y
Stanley Allen, of Ingersoll,
secretary of the school board,
said a new school probably
will be built at Clark's Corner
on property were there. already
is a school. A new building
would have to be constructed
there, he said, because an ad-
dition to the present school
would not be practical.
Value of the demolished
school, three miles southwest
of Ingersoll, was estimated at
$15,000.
Fire broke out at about 5:30
a.m. Beachville volunteer firo-
men received the call at about
5:45 a.m. and raced seven
miles to the blaze but wer,
unable to save the building or
any of its contents.
Cause of the outbreak Is un.
known.