NOTES OX FOREST TREES. 175 



inch, the tree 4 feet in diameter would have been 288 

 years old. 



Acer saccharixum {Sugar Maple) grows to a larger 

 size in Clinton county than in any other part of the state 

 of New York. 



On the foot-hills near Lyon Mt. and in Ellcnburgh it 

 is one of the principal hard wood forest trees. The forests 

 in this section are the most extensive and most natural I 

 ever saw. I have walked hour after hour in some of these 

 grand old woods looking for different kinds of trees with- 

 out seeing anything that would lead me to think I was not 

 the first man to walk there with an axe : not a stump was 

 to be seen, nor were any of the trees blazed or chipped, 

 but all was one primitive forest. In such fine old woods 

 as these the maple grows to a size not to be found else- 

 where. One tree 12 feet in circumference was cut into and 

 as nearly as one could judge it was 80 feet high, but after 

 chopping three or four hours it was found to be decayed in 

 the centre. Later, one tree 3 feet 6 inches in diameter and 

 another 3 feet, were cut an ith the same results, so it was ne- 

 cessary to take a smaller tree. 



The tree 3 feet 6 inches in diameter had 300 annual 

 circles of growth : probably the trees 12 feet in circum- 

 ference are over 400 years old as after the heart wood 

 begins to decay the tree would naturally make a smaller 

 annual growth. Trees of this species decay from the 

 branches down, which is not the case with most other 

 species of trees. 



Acer penxsylvaxica, called Whistle-wood in New 

 York, Striped Maple in Massachusetts, is very common in 

 all parts of the state : it is seldom over 5 inches in diam- 

 eter and 25 feet high. 



Acer spicatum {Mountain Maple), like the last, is very 

 abundant : a specimen 7 inches in diameter was collected. 



