ifiO TUE MAI'LE AS AN ORNAMENTAL SELA.DE, AVENUE, AND STREET TREE 



factiire of sujxar from (lie !Maple is now extensively practised by the Chippewa 

 Indians, in all their primeval style. It is usually made to barter with the whites 

 of the frontier forts and stations, and finds a ready market at the confectioners, to 

 1)1- niatle up into toothsome ])reparutions. 



The Sny:iir Maple (A. saccharinnm) is the only variety of Maple wliich is used 

 for this purpose. This variety is the loftiest growing of the Maple family, and is 

 found in this country, from Maine to Georgia; there are two varieties of this: 

 one called Black Maple (A. nigrum), which is smaller in size, reaching only a size 

 of fifty feet ; while the other variety grows to the height of eighty to one hundred 

 feet. The Acer family, like the Quercus or Oak, is very numerous, nundjering 

 some seventeen varieties, and about forty sub-varieties. 



The principal varieties of the Maple which can be cultivated for ornament, 

 shade, avenues, groui)ing, &c., are the (Acer rubrum) Red-twigged Maple, the 

 Spike-flowered Maple (A. spicatum), the Striped-barked Maple (A. striatum), the 

 yovwiij Maple (A. Platanus), the Sycamore Maple (A. Pseudo-Platanus). 



The latter is undoubtedly one of the most ornamental of the tchok variety of 

 Maples. The longevity of the tree is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 

 years. As an ornamental tree, it may be planted in groups or avenues, but pro- 

 duces the best effect when planted singly, so as not to touch any other tree ; the 

 variety with variegated leaves is the most ornamental. 



Nearly all the varieties of the Maple are rapid growing trees, forming dense, 

 regular, and. symmetrical heads, almost impervious to the rays of the sun. 



Public opinion is much in favor of planting this tree as a park and street tree 

 (also for avenues), from the fact that they are almost entirely free from caterpillars, 

 worms, and all kinds of insects, retaining their foliage until quite late in autumn. 

 I prefer Maples, as street trees, to elms or horsechestnuts. 



I have seen villages and small cities, in Central and Western New York, whose 

 street trees, in point of beauty of tree, density of foliage, and comfort of shade, 

 will compare with many of the older settled villages of the East. Although they 

 may not have the enormous size and venerable appearance of the American elms 

 (Ulmus Americana) to be seen in Northampton, Greenfield, and Deerfield, Mass., 

 yet they present a more varied, and, in the autumn, a more pleasing sight to the 

 eye, covered as they are with their yellow and scarlet frost-tinted foliage. And 

 when they shall have attained the gigantic size of their more favored brethren, 

 they will attract the same notice and attention. 



I am aware that all lovers of nature have some particular tree, plant, or flower, 

 which they adoiire above all others. I confess to having a greater j^enchant for 

 the Maple for shade, avenue, and street trees than for any other variety of forest- 

 tree. 



I still remember how oft, in our school-boy hours, we sought the refreshing 

 shade of the Maple, and gambolled beneath its wide-spreading branches. I well 

 remember, too, with what eagerness I sought and drank the delectable fluid given 

 forth from its gigantic trunk. 



Loudon says : " The wood of the Sycamore Maple is white, has a compost of a 

 fine grain, susceptible of receiving a high polish, and easily worked. It does not 

 warp, and is not liable to be attacked by worms or the borer, as is the case with the 

 Locust." 



I do not see why the Locust has been so extensively cultivated at the "West, in 

 forming artificial forests, in preference to the Maple. The latter is more rapid in 

 growth ; its sap is valuable for sugar ; its timber brings a high price in market ; 

 it is valuable for fence posts, if the part to be put in the ground is slightly charred 



The time for planting the Maple is in early spring, or as soon before the 



