University of Vermont UVM ScholarWorks UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses Undergraduate Theses 2020 The Sugarbush: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of a Vermont Landscape Samuel H. Blair University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/castheses Recommended Citation Blair, Samuel H., "The Sugarbush: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of a Vermont Landscape" (2020). UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses. 95. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/castheses/95 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Theses at UVM ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UVM ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Sugarbush: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of a Vermont Landscape Samuel H. Blair A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of Vermont in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences. Advised by: Dr. Cheryl Morse Committee members: Professor Greg Bottoms (chair) and Dr. Anthony D’Amato Burlington, Vermont November 2020 Abstract: Maple syrup is a central aspect of Vermont’s identity, much-studied as a cultural, economic, and culinary object. However, the sugarbush, the landscape which produces the sap that is boiled into syrup, has received relatively scant attention outside of the realm of forest management. This undergraduate thesis study uses the observational research methods of natural history, ethnography, and autoethnography to examine one sugarbush in northern Vermont, seeking to model a holistic approach to the interdisciplinary analysis of “working landscapes” that are shaped by both anthropogenic and natural processes. The natural history section of this study finds that human action is just one of many forces that come together to produce the landscape of the sugarbush. The study’s use of ethnography reveals that the sugarbush is composed of what I term “contact points,” places where human and nonhuman actors contaminate each other and translate each other’s actions into mutually intelligible forms. My autoethnographic exploration of the sugarbush emphasizes the phenomenology of the landscape, revealing it as a space that is at once sensuous and psychological. I argue that the use of these methods in tandem generates valuable insights and could serve as a model for future studies of other landscapes. For my uncle Emby, who taught me the names of the wild things Table of contents Table of contents .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of figures ............................................................................................................................................. 3 List of tables.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Approaching the sugarbush ...................................................................................................... 7 Arrival ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Background and tools .............................................................................................................................. 9 Questions ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Chapter 2: The sugarbush in context ........................................................................................................ 18 Physiology of maple trees ...................................................................................................................... 18 History of maple sugaring in Vermont ................................................................................................ 18 Trends in the contemporary maple industry........................................................................................ 20 The McBride Sugarbush ........................................................................................................................ 23 Chapter 3: Grounding the sugarbush ....................................................................................................... 28 Natural history of New England .......................................................................................................... 28 Ethnographies of human-environment interaction ............................................................................ 33 Explorations at the boundaries ............................................................................................................. 39 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 42 Chapter 4: Research Methods ................................................................................................................... 43 Site Visits ................................................................................................................................................ 43 Natural history research methods ......................................................................................................... 44 Ethnography research methods ............................................................................................................ 46 Autoethnography research methods .................................................................................................... 49 Natural history analysis methods .......................................................................................................... 50 Ethnography analysis methods ............................................................................................................. 52 Autoethnography analysis methods...................................................................................................... 53 Positionality Statement .......................................................................................................................... 53 Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 54 Chapter 5: Stories within stories ............................................................................................................... 57 Bedrock geology ..................................................................................................................................... 57 Glacial geology ....................................................................................................................................... 62 1 Soils ......................................................................................................................................................... 68 Hydrology ............................................................................................................................................... 69 Forest ...................................................................................................................................................... 75 Stand 1 – The young maple woods (Northern Hardwood Forest) ................................................... 78 Stand 2 – The mixed hemlock forest (Hemlock-Northern Hardwood Forest) ............................... 82 Stand 3 – The hilltop hardwood forest (Northern Hardwood Forest) ............................................. 89 Stand 4 – The wild leek meadows (Rich Northern Hardwood Forest)............................................. 93 Stand 5 – The hemlock knoll (Hemlock-Northern Hardwood Forest) ............................................ 97 Human history........................................................................................................................................ 99 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................................113 Benefits and drawbacks .......................................................................................................................113 Chapter 6: Contact points ........................................................................................................................117 The sugarbush as “taskscape” .............................................................................................................117 The sugarbush as contact point ..........................................................................................................126 Contaminated diversity in the sugarbush ...........................................................................................131 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................................136 Benefits and drawbacks .......................................................................................................................138 Chapter