MAPLE SUGAR.



WE do not need to tell our little friends what sugar is; for have they not all tasted it? Yes! and sometimes too much for their own good; for the free use of sugar is quite injurious to health. But perhaps they do not all know how it is made, and that it is manufactured from different materials. 

In some States large quantities of sugar are made from the sap of the maple tree. 

During the winter the sap, or juice, of shrubs and trees is in their roots; but in the spring the sap rises and flows out to all their branches to nourish the new growth. It is then that the trees are tapped, and vessels are set to catch the rising sap.

The children delight in helping their parents gather the sap, which is put into large pans or kettles and boiled down to syrup. It is afterward further boiled until it makes sugar.

The little company in the picture are having a pleasant time in a "sugar-bush." They are tasting the sap as it flows from the trees. Did you ever taste it? It is not very sweet, and requires much boiling to convert it into sugar; but it often brings a higher price than any other kind of sugar.

In how many ways our heavenly Father provides for the wants of his children! 

There is no spot upon earth that does not receive his blessing and his loving care.




M. J. C.



LITTLE children have a mission,

And there's work for each to do; 

Little hands can help the mother,

Little hearts be brave and true. 

Idle hands are oft in mischief,

Selfish hearts are not at rest; 

Do your work to bless another,

And your work shall make you blest