The title of today’s post is Making Sure We Count Our Trees Before We Tap. We absolutely need to know how many trees we have in the Vermont Sugarbush. We will be putting a down payment soon on all the equipment needed to make maple syrup at the sugarbush in Vermont’s NEK and getting the proper size equipment is essential, so we need to count our trees. However, before we get into the counting process, I will give an update on where we are with our savings for the Vermont Cabane De Sucre project.
The process of selling coins has continued. Since the last post, I had two coins returned that were more on the expensive side. Both individuals did not like the coins they received, and I offer a 30 day return on each of the coins. I was fortunate that both coins sold within 24 hours of being relisted. I adjusted the listings to reflect the feedback I had received about the coins. All in all, we are at 239 coins sold, and our savings account is at a respectable $30,117. This is 57% of our $53,250 goal. A status that is worth celebrating!
Now to the core of the post. Charla and I spent 10 days in Vermont visiting my family and doing some much needed Vermont Cabane De Sucre chores. The chores included outfitting the ATV with a variety of items, visiting operating sugarbushes and counting trees.
One of my fears is that we would purchase equipment that is too big or too small for the number of trees that we have. If we purchase too big, we wouldn’t have enough sap to boil from a single “run” of the trees. A “run” for purposes of this post, is a freeze and thaw cycle often in a 24-hour period. The temperature at night gets below freezing, causing the tree to pull sap into the tree from its roots. When the temperature gets above freezing the sap will flow from the tree.
This would mean we would have to wait for another run which would provide time for the sap from the original run to spoil. Purchasing too small, would mean we might have more sap than we can take care of in a 24-hour period. During this period, we would need to be awake and “boiling” and our holding tanks might not be big enough to hold all the sap and they would run over, and the sap would be lost. The only way to really know how much sap we will need to process in a freeze, thaw cycle, is to know how many trees we have.
There are a couple of different ways to know how many maple trees might be on the property. According to Cornell University, the goal is to have 50-70 trees per acre in a managed sugarbush. This would put us at 875 to 1225 trees. The Cornell University Maple Notebook lists two methods to determine a number:
Fixed Radius Plot
Mark a center point in the sugarbush for a circular plot with a radius of 26.4’. This is a 1/20th acre plot. Measure out the circle and count 1 tap for each tree 10” diameter or more, and count each tree you will double tap (usually 18 to 20” diameter) as 2. Total this count for each plot and divide by 20. The same process could be used on a 1/10th acre plot (radius = 37.2’) and multiple by 10. A short video explains a little more.
Variable Radius Plot
Use an angle gauge at each point to count all red or sugar maple trees greater than 10” dbh and record them as TPP or “taps per point.” Assign each tree to the appropriate dbh class. Trees should “fill the window” when inspected at 4.5’ above ground. For each point, multiple the number of taps per point (TPP) in each DBH category by the “tree per acre” multiplier (*TPA) determined for the mid-point of each diameter class. TPP *TPA equals taps per acre for that DBH category. Sum a row of TPA= to estimate taps/acre. Average for all points. One point/ac.
Then I came across this in the mapletrader.com:
Why not just get out in the woods and do a tap count? Then you would have your answer to your own question. Just count the tap potential with the largest number of maples on one acre then go do the lowest potential on another acre, add it all up divide by 2 and get an average tap count for your woods.
The Charla and Larry method:
I made the mistake of reading the approach to the variable radius plot method first. My eyes glazed over, and I felt a surge of panic. Memories of calculus came flooding back and my amygdala began vibrating (location of the brain where fight or flight is located) and my vomit muscle reflexes were on the verge of being activated. It took 10 minutes and one of Charla’s maple cookies to calm my nerves and continue the thought process. I then realized I had missed the section on the fixed radius plot method. This seemed much more reasonable for a non-PhD type person.
We decided that our primary approach would be to count the actual trees on the upper portion of the sugarbush where it was somewhat open and owns a gentle slope. I had watched many episodes of Sesame Street with my kids and learned from Count von Count this approach and know I can manage this. However, there are two areas of the sugarbush that are a little steeper and hadn’t been thinned and so we would use the fixed radius plot method. The fixed plot method appeared much more straightforward than the variable method, however I would bring two maple cookies with us just in case.
In the three weeks leading up to the Vermont trip, Charla and I were in training. We had extended our walking route so it would give us more exercise. I was wearing my big winter boots, and heavy coat as part of the training. This was fine on days where we had a little snow, and it was cooler. However, on days that it was warmer and there was no snow on the ground, it dawned on me that I might look a little out of place.
The bulk of our walking routine is through two neighborhoods with a short middle section through a wooded area. While on these training missions, I would try and estimate the size of trees that would be considered tappable. I finally made a set of wooden calipers that I could use to measure the diameter of a tree. I’m sure the act of me measuring trees in the wooded area of our route gave our neighbors an added level of comfort. Our trip to Vermont’s NEK took 11 hours and was uneventful. We went from 50 degrees and no snow when we left to 11 degrees and a foot and half of snow when we arrived.
The two areas of the sugarbush that haven’t been thinned and are harder to get to are the Northwestern section and the Southeastern section. This is where we would use the Fixed Variable tree counting method. For those that want a short tour of the sugarbush, Charla took this video (thank you Novia). We started at the bottom of the sugarbush and went up the western side and crossed back to the eastern and headed to the thick, hilly Southeastern portion to count. The video here is witness to the count. The Fixed Radius for us produced six tappable trees in this section. Multiplied by 20 brings us to 120 x 17.5 acres would give us 2100 taps. We then did the same process in the Northwestern part of the sugarbush.
That yielded only three trees in the 52.8 diameter circle. This multiplied by 20 gives 60 trees per acre or 1050 trees total.
A day earlier my brothers-in-laws, Peter and Warren, joined me to count the upper 50% of the sugarbush. You can see the process we went through in this short video. We counted 661 trees, although there are another 220 trees around 7.5 inches that were not included in the count. If we were to take into account the other 220 trees, we would have a total of 881 trees in the top half of the sugarbush. Doubling the amount to consider the bottom half, puts us at 1762 trees. I will take a short pause and discuss our thoughts on tapping and tree sizes.
The various rule books and thoughts from academia are to tap only trees that are 10 inches or larger. I then reviewed a couple of discussion forums on mapletrader.com where maple sugar makers are going down to eight inches with references to using the 5/16 smaller spouts (the part that goes into the tree after you drill a hole for the sap to come out). The smaller spouts cause less scarring for the tree. I also read that for less than fully mature sugarbushes, there are cull trees to be cut in the future and these are being tapped down to smaller levels as there isn’t a concern for the lifespan of the cull trees.
So where does this leave Charla and I on the estimated tree count? The hand count method produced 661 trees staying at 8-inch trees. Doubling that provides a 1322 number. The hand count method produced 881 trees going to 7.5-inch trees. Doubling that provides a 1762 number. The Fixed Radius method on the Southeastern corner produced 2100 trees. The Fixed Radius method on the Northwestern corner produced 1050 trees. What we should strive for is 875 trees on the lower side of a managed sugarbush. What we should strive for is 1225 trees on the upper side of a managed sugarbush.
If I average them all together I get 1389 trees. This number feels right. If we target this number to manage in an 8 hour period of boiling, we can work a little longer if it is a big run. We will tap some of the cull trees until they are cut down. I recognize our (mostly me) approach to tree estimating might be stretching the standards a little. I'm approaching 60 years of age, and to wait much longer for the trees to grow would have diminishign returns. We will be careful to leave the sugarbush in a healthy state for the next generation.
This work process has been on my mind for a while now. I had taken several pictures when in the sugarbush last. I always thought the camera made things look bigger. In this case they made things look smaller. I can now check this off the list.
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