Maple sap is a nearly colorless liquid composed of water, sugar and various mineral substances, such as lime, potash, magnesia, and iron; it also contains some organic matter in the form of vegetable acids. The peculiar flavor of maple sugar comes, not from the sugar, but from some one or a combination of all the other substances contained in the sap. The amount of sugar in the sap of the average sugar maple tree varies greatly, the percentage changing in each tree as the season progresses. Careful experiments have shown that the sap contains on an average about 3 percent of sugar. The maximum is reported at 10.2 percent, which was found in a small flow of sap from a sugar maple near the end of a season, during which the tree averaged 5.01 percent. The Manufacture of Sugar and Syrup. _The Sap Season._ The sap season throughout the maple sugar belt of the United States generally begins about the middle of March and continues until the third week in April but it varies very widely with a late or an early spring. Sugar making has begun as early as February 22 and as late as the first week in April. The season lasts on an average about four weeks. The longest run on record included forty-three days, and the shortest eight days. [Illustration: LARGE MAPLE SUGAR CAMP IN CENTRAL VERMONT.] THE VERMONT MAPLE SUGAR MAKERS’ ASSOCIATION. Was organized at Morrisville, Vermont, January, 1893. The object of this association is to improve the quality and increase the quantity of the maple product of the state, and to protect the manufacturer and consumer from the many fraudulent preparations that are placed upon the markets of this country as pure maple sugar and syrup, and to inform the general public where the genuine article can be procured. The members of this association consist of the best manufacturers of maple sugar and syrup in the state, and their names and post-office address may be found in this work, and any dealer or consumer ordering sugar or syrup from them will be sure to get that which is pure and free from adulteration. The association owns and issues a protected label to its members upon their agreement, filed with the secretary, that they will only use it upon packages containing pure maple sugar or syrup, of standard quality, of their own manufacture, a copy of which label will be found in this work, and a purchaser of a package covered by this label may be assured of its purity. The improper or unauthorized use of this label or any adulteration of the products covered by the same will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law by the association. QUALITY OF MAPLE SUGAR.