When we made syrup, Uncle Jack got to keep half, and the rest my dad would sell, except what he kept for us for the winter. This worked fine as long as he made all the syrup BEFORE he sold any. One time my Uncle Fred (I had a plethora of uncles) was helping my dad "boil down". They had one batch left to boil down, (the one for us), but for some reason they decided to take a trip into town and sell the rest before they boiled down the last batch.---And while they were in town they went to the bootlegger) (it was a dry township) and picked up a quart of rye whiskey. They proceeded to sample it on the way home, and then they boiled down the last batch. They let the fire get too high and burned the last batch (which of course was the batch we got to keep for the winter!!!)---Did ya ever taste burned maple syrup???? If somebody boiled down a 1000 pair of dirty socks and dirty underwear, then strained it thru a roadkill, ------well, you get the idea. We never let Uncle Fred or Dad forget that one---