MAPLE IS HOLDING ITS OWN 



67 



which we imagine to be mahogany, but 

 which is really birch stained to re- 

 semble the genuine article. 



Nine species of birch grow in the 

 United States, but sweet, yellow, paper, 

 and river birch are those most used. 

 About 4.-). 000,0(10 board feet of the 

 wood finds its way to the market yearly. 

 Paper birch is one of the few Ameri- 



can species with a hold on the forest 

 stronger than it had when America 

 was discovered. Large tracts are now 

 covered with this birch where there was 

 little of it a century ago. It comes in 

 after fire, and some tracts it has taken 

 possession of cover hundreds of square 

 miles. 



MAPLE IS HOLDING ITS OWN 



THOUGH at one time in the 

 early history of the country an 

 nverage of 6,000 maple tree.i 

 were destroyed in clearing the 

 ordinary New York or Pennsylvania 

 farm, maple is today one of the most 

 widelv used and valuable native hard- 

 woods. 



A bulletin on the uses of maple, just 

 issued by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, states that the wood finds place in 

 an enormous number of articles in 

 daily use, from rolling pins to pianos 

 and organs. It is one of the best woods 

 for flooring, and is always a favorite 

 material for the floors of roller skating 

 rinks and bowling alleys. It leads all 

 other woods as a material for shoe 

 lasts, the demand for which in Massa- 

 chusetts alone exceeds 13 million board 

 feet annually. 



Sugar maple stands near the top of 

 the list of furniture woods in this 

 country. The so-called "birds-eye" ef- 

 fect, the department explains, is prob- 

 ably due to buds which for some rea- 

 son can not force their way through the 

 bark, l)Ut which remain just beneath it 

 year after year. The young wood is 

 disturbed each succeeding season by the 

 presence of the bud and grows around 

 it in fantastic forms which are exposed 

 when the saw cuts through the ab- 

 normal growth. 



Maple is one of the chief woods 

 used for agricultural implements and 

 farm machinery, being so employed be- 



cause of its strength and hardness. All 

 kinds of wooden ware are made of 

 maple, which holds important rank also 

 in the manufacture of shuttles, spools, 

 and bobbins. It competes with black 

 gum for first place in the manufacture 

 of rollers of many kinds, from those 

 employed in house moving to the less 

 massive ones used on lawn-mowers. 

 Athletic goods, school supplies, brush 

 backs, pulleys, type cases, and crutches 

 are a few of the other articles for which 

 maple is in demand. 



Seven species of maple grow in the 

 United States, of which sugar maple, 

 sometimes called hard maple, is the 

 most important. The total cut of 

 maple in the United States annually 

 amounts to about L150,000,000 feet. 

 Nearly one-half is produced by Michi- 

 gan, with Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, 

 New York, and West Virginia follow- 

 ing in the order named. Sugar maple, 

 says the department, is in little danger 

 of disappearing from the American 

 forests, for it is a strong, vigorous, 

 aggressi\e tree, and though not a fast 

 grower is able to hold its own. In 

 Michigan it is not unusual for maple 

 to take possession of land from which 

 pine or hardwoods have been cut clean, 

 and from New England westward 

 through the Lake States and southward 

 to the Ohio and Potomac Rivers few- 

 other species are oftener seen in 

 woodlots. 



The total amount of land purchased in the eastern States for Federal forests is nearly 

 800,000 acres. So far the principal ivork on these areas has involved their protection against 

 forest fires. 



