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Townshippers'
Association
 Canada
is often called the land of the maple. Indeed, the maple leaf is
our national emblem. The Eastern Townships is one of the areas in
Canada best suited for maple syrup production. In fact, over half
of the North American crop was, and still is, produced in the Province
of Quebec. Much of it comes from the Eastern Townships, where, during
the months of March and April, ideal temperatures exist for making
maple syrup (five to ten degrees Celsius in the daytime, below freezing
at night).
Right: Maple syrup production, Potton, c.1900. (Photo:
Brome County Museum)
Maple syrup and
maple sugar have been produced in the Eastern Townships since the
17th century. The manner in which the Native people went about making
syrup was to strike a maple tree with a tomahawk, catch the sap in
a birch bark container, and boil it in a clay pot. The finished product
was dark, thick, impure syrup, very different from what we produce
today. It was the Natives who taught the white settlers about maple
syrup.
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