110 SYLVA AMERICANA. 



wrights for axletrees and spokes, and for the runners of common 

 sleds, and by cabinet and chair makers. The sugar maple 

 timber is also sometimes used for the frames of houses, keels 

 and lower frames of ships, and many other purposes which do 

 not expose it to sudden decay by alternate moistening and drying. 

 This wood exhibits two accidental forms in the arrangement of 

 the fibre, of which cabinet makers take advantage for making 

 beautiful articles of furniture. The first consists in undulations 

 like those of the curled maple, the second, which occurs only in 

 old trees that are still sound, and which appear to arise from an 

 inflection of the fibre from thfi circumference toward the centre, 

 produces spots of half a line in diameter, sometimes contiguous, 

 and at other times several lines apart. The more numerous the 

 spots, the more beautiful and the more esteemed is the wood : this 

 variety is called Birds-eye Maple. Like the curled maple it is 

 used for inlaying mahogany. Bedsteads are made of it and 

 portable writing desks, which are elegant and highly prized. To 

 obtain the finest effect, the log should be sawn in a direction as 

 nearly as possible parallel to the concentric circles. When cut 

 at the proper season, the sugar maple forms excellent fuel. Its 

 ashes are rich in the alkaline principle and more abundant in 

 quantity than those obtained from any other tree. The charcoal 

 procured from this wood and used in forges and domestic economy, 

 is of the most valuable kind ; and that made in Vermont, New 

 Hampshire and Maine is one fifth heavier than that from the 

 same tree in the more southern states ; a proof that a northern 

 climate is adapted to the growth and firmness of this tree. The 

 wood of this maple is easily distinguished from that of the red- 

 flowering maple, which it resembles in appearance, by its w r eight 

 and hardness. There is, besides, a very simple and certain test : 

 a few drops of sulphate of iron being poured on samples of the 

 different species, the sugar maple turns greenish, and the white 

 maple and red-flowering maple change to a deep blue. 



The sap of the sugar maple furnishes no inconsiderable resource 

 for the economy, the comfort, and even the wealth of our 

 northern citizens ; especially to those occupying regions newly 

 settled. 



