Researchers at the University of Vermont have developed a
new tapping model aimed at sustaining the health of maple sugar bushes.
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| Todd Leuty |
Todd Leuty, agroforestry specialist for the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture and Food, said that following the model should keep tap-hole
damage low enough that maples can continue to thrive.
Typically an area about the width of the spile and about 10
centimetres long, when using modern narrower spiles, is damaged by a season’s
tapping.
Leuty said the Vermont researchers recommend that taps for
pipelines be placed high enough to provide a 75-cm drop to the mainline.
Next year’s tap should be at least 2.5 cm to the left or
right of last year’s tap, and about 30 cm higher or lower. Each subsequent
year, the tap should move the same distance and in the same direction around
the tree. By the time the tapping has moved right around the trunk, the tree
will have grown a new layer of fresh wood.
Trees ought to be 30 cm diameter before a first tap and
twice that size before two taps are made in a tree.
It’s a lighter tapping load than many Canadian producers
have practiced.
