TREE SIZE

[the old guy]

I DO SOME COMMERCIAL MOWING DURING THE SUMMER AND AT THIS ONE CEMETERY I MOW THERE ARE 4 GIANT SUGAR MAPLES. THEY ARE ALL ABOUT 4 FEET IN DIAMETER. MY QUESTION--IS SAP FLOW DIRECTLY RELATED TO TREE SIZE? IT SEEMS LIKE THE BIGGER THE TREE THE GREATER THE SAP FLOW. THERE IS ONE TREE THAT SITS DIRECTLY IN THE CENTER OF THE CEMETERY THAT MEASURES 55 INCHES ACROSS THE TRUNK--I WOULD LIKE TO TAP THAT ONE!

[ibby458]

I don't know if trunk size directly affects flow, but crown size certainly does, and I'd expect that tree to run like crazy. A neighbor has two trees in his backyard that have the biggest crown I've ever seen, and each one filled 4 of the biggest metal buckets that I had, every day. Even after all my other taps dryed up, they were still drizzling steadily.

[small_operator]

I always wondered what was the best mix between tree size/crown size and number of trees in a given area. I'm sure there have been studies done on this, but I haven't seen them.
Gary

[forester1]

The bigger the crown, the better for sap flow. The best thing to do is start early in thinning the stand, and thin again every time the crowns touch each other. Keep the trees that test sweetest and have good form and free from rot. Low acute forks are risky.

[royalmaple]

I always wondered on another note about tapping in cemetaries. Seems they are normally filled with great huge crowned trees, but my question is not if they have sap or how much but rather do the chemicals in the soil from all the decaying bodies and preservatives for the burial process have any ill effects on the sap you get?

Maybe someone has already covered this?

[mountainvan]

I tap a row of trees on the edge of our cemetary, part of a larger bush, but the closet graves are 100+ years old. So probably nothing left. I do get the feeling when tapping that some old mountain man is watching me and remembering when he did it in the 1800's. Continueing the tradition!! As for large crowns they usually do have sweeter sap.

[Fred Henderson]

How can those people RIP with you guy clanging those buckets around. The bigger the crown, the more leaves. The sugar is made in the leaves and stored in the wood, so I am told.

[super sappy]

I have a Quaker cemetary up the road from me (peace feathers ) 40- 3 foot dia trees. I was told by represenatives from Vt. , NH, and NY that cemetaries are off limits. Hallowed ground is to be respected and that is the final word on that. FYI - they felt that it is proper sugarmakers ediquate? That being said I did not try to get tapping rights. Super sappy

[mountainvan]

no buckets, on tubing. By the way the trees are not part of the cemetary, on a seperate property. Not sure who owns the cemetary, used to be a church there a long time ago. there are some big old maples there though,which I would never tap that's just creepy, and some friends who used to hang out in the saphouse.

[Pete33Vt]

Up here we too have alot of cemetries with huge maples, big crowns that would run great. But the thing is it is a cemetary. Not only is it a bad idea, I think it would give a very negative look on the sugarmaker that taps them. Some people take there cemetaries very seriously. There are alot of trees out there without disturbing a respected place no matter how good they look.

[the old guy]

I AGREE WITH YOU GUYS. I WOULD NEVER TAP THEM--IT SEEMS VERY DISRESPECTFUL AND PLUS IT'S JUST TOO CREEPY--I JUST WISH THE TREES WERE GROWING IN MY BACKYARD.
ANOTHER NOTE--ON EBAY THERE IS A 2 X 6 EVAPORATOR FROM PATRICK PHANUEF IN QUEBEC, CANADA AT A BUY IT NOW PRICE OF $2700. ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS GUY?

THE OLD GUY

[maple flats]

All I know is that he quoted me a price for a ss steam hood for my 3x6 flue pan which was higher than what Leader gets. Can't say if it is better or not.

[MASSEY JACK]

There is a cemetary in Brandon,Vt. where we buried my mom and sister. There is a lot of bright blue tubing and mainline all around the back side of the cemetary and it is very close to the headstones. It does not bother me a bit and no one even noticed or said anything at the funeral. Some people have funny ideas.

[maplehound]

I would have to wonder though! what if you did tap one and there had just been a burial. would the digging of the roots cause less sap or even less sugar? I wouldn't worry about the decaying body though since all people are buried in sealed vaults. My father is the sexton of our church cemetary and there are alot of good looking sugar in there but how many times have those roots been distrubed?
Ron

[markcasper]

Not everyone gets buried in sealed vaults. My father and grandfather were very active with our church cemetary and I have seen things that not many have. Some would call it gross, but being from a farm makes life and death a little different from those that live away from that sort of thing.

They do have what they call a "rough box", just a concrete vault that does not seal and has holes in the bottom. One time when I was younger, my father had dug a grave in the lower part of the cemetary and the next day the hole was half full of water. Guess what, the casket was going into one of those rough boxes and I was there and seen the vault and all go down and the water just draped over on top of it. So dad and another fella proced to start shoveling. Its just an erie feeling. Yah your dead, but at least spend enough to get a sealed vault. As fussy as the envirnment laws are today, I am surprised these things have not been outlawed. Mark

P.S. Didn't mean to start a different topic, this had nothing to do with maple trees!

[digman_41]

I know what your talking about when you mention the awesome trees in a cemetery. I maintain many cemeteries in my area,in three differant counties. There are a few issues with tapping them.
First most cemeteries are puplicly owned and if you sell syrup you would be making money off a publicly owned property. So if you were to petition the public entity that governs a cemetery to tap they're trees.
They would have to advertise for open bids. Which would be an issue also bringing it to the publics attention hence turning it into POLITICS.
The second issue the chemicals that are in inbalmig fluids could easily be absorbed by trees, even testing the water if there was a shallow well wouldn't be a very accurate. Most recent burials are in sealed vaults but in Michigan there are no laws requiring such vaults or for using any vaults for that matter. If I knew how to deal with all the issues of tapping cemetery trees I could tap a bunch of awesome trees in my area. Most have very handy roads some are even paved and snow kept clear. Oh well I'll just keep going to the woods.

[markcasper]

embalming fluid is made up of pretty much the same substance that used to be in the taphole pellet;;;formaldehyde.

[digman_41]

Good point, nobody uses those pellets anymore.
Mark