188G.] THE MAPLES OF CANADA. 765 



has given the name " Itird's-eye " to such varieties, wliich make 

 Imndsome articles of furniture and picture frames, and command a 

 high price. From the sap of several varieties of this tree is manu- 

 factured " maple sugar " and syrup, described elsewhere. Maple 

 when obtainable is miiversally preferred for fuel, from the great 

 heat it throws out. The white maple {Acer dasycarpum) is a 

 large tree from GO to 80 feet hi^h, with a trunk 5 to 6 feet in 

 diameter, common in the cast, with Avood of little value, soft and 

 white. The striped majjle {A. Pcnnsylranicum), not abundant, 

 seldom attains more than 30 feet in height, with small trunk ; wood 

 white, close-grained, and very hard. The red swamp or soft maple 

 {A. ruhrum) is a large tree generally in swampy and low grounds ; 

 wood whitish or rose-coloured, close-grained, moderately hard, and 

 susceptible of a fine polisli ; largel}' used in cabinetmalving, for 

 turning and for woodenware. The sugar or rock maple {A. saccha- 

 rinum) grows from GO to 80 feet high, with a trunk 2 to 4 feet in 

 diameter, and thrives in uplands or rocky ridges ; its wood is hard, 

 close-grained, smooth or compact, and is extensively nsed for floor- 

 ing, cabinet-work, turning, and preference is given to it for shoe- 

 lasts. Sugar is largely obtained from this species. The mountain 

 maple {A. sjncatiiut), a nortliern species, cited by Professor Macoun, 

 is but little known. The vine maple (A. circinatum) of the 

 Pacific coast, a tree 30 to 40 feet high, or at times only a shrub 

 forming dense thickets along streams, whose vine-like stems take 

 root wherever they touch the ground, affords a white, close-grained, 

 tough wood, used in the absence of ash for tool-handles. Dr. 

 Dawson says this tree is never found inland. Another Pacific 

 coast maple (A. glahriim) is mentioned by Professor IMacoun, but is 

 apparently little known. A. macrophyllum of British Columbia 

 attains a height of from 60 to 80 feet, with occasionally a diameter 

 of 4 feet, and like the previous one is confined to the coast ; its 

 wood is valuable, hard, close-grained, and takes a good polish, is well 

 adapted for cabinetmaking, and is a good substitute for the hickory 

 of the east ; hats, mats, and baskets are made from its inner bark. 

 The ash-leaved maple [Ncrjundo aceroides) is abundant in the North- 

 AVest, but rarer in the Eastern Provinces. It is a tree from 30 to 

 50 feet high, with a trunk of some 2 feet in diameter, found along 

 river banks and in rich soil. Its wood is soft and of little value, 

 but the tree is destined from its rapid and easy growth to be the 

 shade tree of the prairie farms. 



