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Rh thousand pounds were received in this way by the leader of the little colony about this lake; a portion of it was refined and made into pretty little specimen loaves at a sugar-house in Philadelphia, and it was quite as white and pure as that of the cane. The common sugar about the country is as light as that usually received from the West Indies, and the farmers have a simple domestic process by which it is often made quite clear; a clean wet flannel is placed over the cake while draining, and gradually imbibes the coloring matter, being wasted and changed every morning until the sugar has become quite white; if it has been neatly made and clarified, three or four days will whiten it thoroughly. No doubt there are maples enough about the country to supply the whole population of the Republic, if necessary, but the sugar of the cane can now be procured so easily, and so cheap, from the West Indies and the southern parts of our own country, that there is little motive for making that of the maple an article of commerce. Maple sugar sells in the village this year for nine cents a pound, and good Havana for six cents. The farmers, however, are willing to turn their trees to account for their own use, as it saves them some cash, and requires but little outlay or labor.

A story is told in the village of a Scotch stocking-weaver, who some years since bought a farm near the lake, and the first spring after his arrival in the country was so successful with his maple trees, that in the midst of his labors he came into the village and gave large orders for sap-buckets, pans, furnaces, &c. The good folk were rather surprised at the extent of these preparations, and inquiries were made about this grand sugar-bush. They were told by their new neighbor that as yet he had tapped only a small number of trees, but he intended soon to go to work in earnest among