110 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Mr. Secor (Iowa): The sugar\maple is a native of Minnesota. I had 
a little experience with the maple. I had two varieties of sugar maple; one 
is the native western variety, and it is a magnificent tree and perfectly 
hardy, while the sugar maples we brought from New York are not hardy. 
I would not recommend eastern or southern trees. That is also true of 
the red maple. Some ten or fifteen years ago I got one hundred trees 
of the red maple. I had been accustomed to them when a boy in the east. 
I have not got a single tree living more than four feet high today. Just one 
or two are barely alive, while our soft maples of the west are entirely at 
home. So I believe it makes a difference where our seeds come from. 
I would get the seeds from the extreme northern limit, and if we do that 
I do not see why the sugar maple will not grow in Minnesota. 
Mr. F. L. Marsh: We find hard maples growing along the western 
border of the river courses. The hard maple grows to the border of the 
clay soil skirting this whole river bed, but never running into it. The 
white maple grows on the low ground. It succeeds well in black sandy 
soil, but the hard maple is confined exclusively to the clay soil. We find 
the same thing in the town of Hassan, in Hennepin county. As soon as 
you change to a sandy subsoil the maple shows it is not suited, and there 
are very few that grow on comparatively sandy land, while on clay soil they 
will grow more rank and thrifty. 
Mr. Underwood: Don’t you recognize the fact that in clay soil there’ 
is more moisture? That is what makes the difference. In the sandy soil 
there is no moisture. It is so all over Minnesota where we find our maple 
timber, and over in Wisconsin where they cut thousands of cords of maple 
wood, you find it growing in clay soil, where there is plenty of 
moisture. 
The President: Mr. Marsh will find that the condition he mentions 
holds good all the way from Hassan to the edge of the former Big Woods. 
He will find the home of the hard maple is in clay soil that retains 
moisture well, but where it has natural drainage, sand or gravel underneath, 
the hard maple will not flourish. 
Mr. Marsh: The sandy soil of the river is not an ordinary light soil, 
but it is mixed with clay. As a rule water is within a short distance of 
the surface, from eight to ten feet, and while the soft maple grows there 
the hard maple does not. I have one tree that apparently grew well in 
sandy soil, but on examination I found the roots were in clay. 
Col. Daniels: I will say that the park commissioners of Washington 
have given up the soft maple. It grows well for a time and then breaks 
down. The hard maple is a magnificent tree; the elm is a magnificent tree. 
The hard maple extends up the valley of Virginia, but down in the valley 
they do not do anything with the hard maple. 
Mr. Moyer: One speaker referred to the red maple. I was not aware 
that it was found in this state. Mr. Harris stated that one tree was found 
near La Crescent. When we speak of the soft maple we mean the silver 
maple. Reference has been made today to the red maple, or the swamp ma- 
ple. I would like to know whether any one has seen it grow in Minnesota 
in a state of nature. 
Mr. Harris: The tree I mentioned was very distinct from other ma- 
ples. I believe within the last year and a half it has been cut down and 
used for fire wood. 
