Note 165 — Chapter III
Reading edition
Dr. Rush, in a letter to Jefferson, states the number of maples fit for tapping on an acre at from thirty to fifty. "This," observes my correspondent, "is correct with regard to the original growth, which is always more or less intermixed with other trees; but in second growth, composed of maples alone, the number greatly exceeds this. I have had the maples on a quarter of an acre, which I thought about an average of second-growth 'maple orchards,' counted. The number was found to be fifty-two, of which thirty-two were ten inches or more in diameter, and, of course, large enough to tap. This gives two hundred and eight trees to the acre, one hundred and twenty-eight of which were of proper size for tapping."
According to the census returns, the quantity of maple sugar made in the United States in 1850 was 34,253,436 pounds; in 1860, it was 38,863,884 pounds, besides 1,944,594 gallons of molasses. The cane sugar made in 1850 amounted to 237,133,000 pounds; in 1859, to 302,205,000.—Preliminary Report on the Eighth Census, p. 88.
According to Bigelow, Les États Unis d'Amérique en 1863, chap. iv, the sugar product of Louisiana alone for 1862 is estimated at 528,321,500 pounds.