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American Forest Trees 



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 SILVER OR SOFT MAPLE 



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The names silver maple and soft maple are aiiplied to this tree 

 in nearly all parts of its range. The first name refers to the 

 bright underside of the leaves, and is used by those who speak 

 of the tree as it stands, either as an ornament along highways 

 or in parks, or in its native woods. The name soft maple refers 

 to the wood, and is a lumberman's term. It is applied to the 

 standing tree and to the lumber 

 made from it. In many parts of 

 its range it is called white maple, 

 because the trunk is largely sap- 

 wood, except old specimens, and 

 the wood is whiter than that of 

 sugar maple. Many persons doubt- 

 less have in mind the color of the 

 underside of the leaves when they 

 speak of the tree as white maple. 

 Three or four other names are ap- 

 plied, referring to the localities 

 where the trees usually grow. Among 

 these names are river maple, creek 

 maple, water maple, and swamp 

 niaiile. These names are used 

 oftener in Pennsylvania, Maryland 

 and West Virginia than elsewhere. 

 The species is at its best on rich 

 bottom land where water is abun- 

 dant and soil fertile. 



The range of silver maple ex- 

 tends from New Brunswieli through 

 southern Canada to the region of 

 the Great Lakes, thence through 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, to 

 South Dakota. West of the Missis- 

 sippi river it grows southward to 

 Oklahoma; its southern limit 

 reaches Florida. It is not abun- 

 dant on the immediate Atlantic 

 coast, but is of considerable impor- 

 tance among the Appalachian moun- 

 tains and westward in the Ohio 

 valley. 



Next after sugar or hard maple 

 it is the most important maple 

 species. Figures which show the 

 annual use of the two maples iii 

 four states will indicate their 

 <oniparative importance: 



Sugar maple. Average 



feet. price. 



Michigan 333,724.000 $17.53 



Illinois 101,487,000 27.04 



Kentuckv 1,, 814. 000 13.47 



Missouri 3,196,000 34.71 



Soft maple. Average 



feet. price. 



Michigan 13,659,000 $20.73 



Illinois 21,785,000 11.33 



Kentucky 3,212,000 8.13 



Missouri 4,603,000 24.98 



The above figures are from reports by the United States Forest 

 Service. It appears that the comparative importance of the two 

 maples changes from the North toward the South; the sugar maple 

 loses and the soft maple gains. 



The red maple (Acer rubrum) and Drummond maple (Acer rubrum 

 drummondii) bear much resemblance to soft maple, yet there are 

 several distinguishing features. The leaves of soft maple have 

 five lobes; red maples have three. The small twigs, bloom and fruit 

 of red maple are red; those of soft maple are not, the flowers 



TYPICAL FOREST GROWTH S OFT M.VPLE. LOWER Ari'.\L.\ 

 CHIAN EEGION 



being greenisli yellow. Vevt' trees ripen their fruit in a shorter time 

 than soft maple. It blooms during the first warm days of spring; 

 and the ke,y-shaped fruit soon follows, reaches maturity cjuickly, 

 and is scattered by the wind before the earliest leaves appear on 

 the tree. The seeds have very strong wing power and fly long 

 distances. .\s they whirl through the air in their descent to the 



ground, they look like gauzy wheels 

 three or four inches in diameter. 

 They germinate at once if they 

 light on damp ground, and young 

 trees are under way before the 

 heat of summer strikes them. 

 Most of them are doomed to die, 

 because they come up in such 

 multitudes that nearly all are 

 crowded to death. For many pur- 

 poses soft maple is considered in- 

 ferior to sugar maple. It is of 

 faster growth, and the wood is 

 « eaker and more brittle. It weighs 

 .32.84 pounds per cubic foot; sugar 

 maple is eleven pounds heavier. 

 Trees of the two species reach 

 similar sizes, but soft maple at- 

 tains maturity many years earlier 

 than the other. The wood is pale 

 lirown, the thick sapwood whiter. 

 Small soft maples often have no 

 heartwood; but at the age of fifty 

 or sixty years it begins to form. 



Branches of sugar maple are sel- 

 dom broken by the wind; those of 

 soft maple often are. They are so 

 brittle that when they snap they 

 seldom hang to the stubs, but fall 

 to the ground. This constitutes a 

 serious defect in soft maple as a 

 street or park tree. Before it has 

 reached middle life it has become 

 ragged and lopsided. The trunk is 

 apt to become defective at the 

 same time, and a symmetrical, 

 healthy soft maple street or park 

 tree eighteen inches in diameter is 

 unusual. Notwithstanding these 

 ilrawbacks, it is extensively plant- 

 ed. It is a beautiful tree when 

 quite young, and at that stage it 

 appeals to purchasers of nursery 

 stock. Half a dozen varieties have 

 lieen developed by cultivation. The 

 autumn foliage of soft maple is 

 yellow, and it falls far short of pre- 

 senting the fine appearance of the 

 brilliant red leaves of sugar maple. 

 Lumbermen are interested in soft maple chiefly as a forest tree 

 and a source of lumber supply. The statistics of sawmill output 

 in the United States do not separate the maples, and the total 

 yield only is given. That in 1910 was 1,006,637,000 feet, and prob- 

 ably ten per cent of it was soft maple. When great strength and 

 hardness are essential, the woodworker seldom chooses soft maple 

 when sugar maple is obtainable; but the softer wood is suitable 

 for many purposes. The most trying place in which it is used is 

 for flooring, including parquetry. It is low in wearing qualities, 



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