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"A Family Tradition for 132 Years" oo a PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 10, 1998 - 17 Maple syrup season comes early to Scugog this year From page 1 that, " he said. "And then it stopped for awhile. We haven't had a good run yet this year --it's been slow -- but it's already running. "The mild weather this winter definitely has something to do with this; I bet the sap ran off and on in January," he added. During the entire 1997 season just over 300 litres of syrup was made; halfway through this year Mr. Ashton has boiled down 130 litres, and is just half-way through a season. While the season lasts only a few weeks -- any- where between two to six weeks on average -- Mr. Ashton says that his fam- once the sap starts going then we'll probably boil all week and only shut down for a day or two to clean and take care of other things." Another sign that the family is really getting into the production of maple syrup is the con- struction of a brand new 24 by 20 foot shack just south of Medd Rd., by the family home. When sap buckets begin to fill, a tractor is driven around the bush with large barrels resting on the front end loader. Collectors, each carrying five-gallon buckets, pour the contents of the tree buckets into the large barrels on the tractor. At the shack the sap is loaded into a large holding off the water. "Once the sap is in the pan we boil it up to around 207 degrees," said Mr. Ashton. "When it hits 214 degrees, that's when it turns into maple syrup. "If we put the sap in the pan at 8 a.m., it could be around 4 p.m. before we get any syrup. For every 40 gallons of sap we only get one gallon of syrup; that shows how much work goes into the production of maple syrup," he said, adding that the family also grades, packages and markets their product. But, all the hard work aside, Mr. Ashton says that it is definitely worth it. "All you need is some trees and ambition. It's a Rob Ashton and his family are hopping now that maple syrup season has arrived. Warm temperatures have made for an early start to the annual harvest. fields and you've just sat site for a total of 1,800 father helped my great- around all winter. You tapped trees. grandfather do this; it's want to have to do this," "A bad day at the bush something we've always he said, adding that there is better than a good day done on the farm." is potential at the present anywhere else. My grand- ily is still waiting for a big run at their operation. "We've only been evap- orating on weekends so far because of that but tank and then slowly nice side income, but moved into the evapora- everyone just enjoys doing tor, where it is heated to it. temperatures above 200 "It's something to do degrees Fahrenheit to boil before you get out in the Over 900 Mutual Funds available : Talk with Investment Advisor 4 Robert J. Gow RBC 434-7156 or DOMINION 1-800-267-1522 SECURITIES 111 Simcoe St. N.. Oshawa, ON LIG 454 Personal Wealth Management™ Member CIPF CPP for retirement | MEN It used to be a given disappear at $52,000 of expectancies of 57 and 61 i that if you lived in individual income or at years when these people : Canada -- and were still $78,000 of a couple's were born. The not so annual income each year. °*Add the rest to your principal to build your Mg iden EE EE Ee eS drawing breath by age 65 -- you automatically qual- ified for Old Age Security. No worries, no questions asked. 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