66 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



nothing. And what do they do with the red 

 maple wood ?" 



" It is mostly employed in cabinet-making ; 

 it is pretty hard, has a fine grain, and takes a 

 high polish : you know that a great deal of 

 this wood is used in the manufacture of chairs 

 and bedsteads." 



"Ahj is this the curled maple, then, Uncle 

 Philip T 



" Yes, it is the kind of maple that some- 

 times has the beautiful waving grain that is 

 so much admired ; for you must know that 

 it is not found in all the trees, and indeed the 

 proportion of waving-grained trees to the 

 others is very small ; not more than one in 

 a hundred." 



"What makes it. Uncle Philip, do you 

 know ?" 



" God makes it, my child, as well as every 

 thing else in the world ; but how the effect is 

 produced, and for what purpose, unless it is 

 merely to please our eyes, are secrets that 

 have not been found out as yet." 



"The trees that make the curled maple 

 are more valuable, then, than the others, are 

 they not ?" 



Yes, much more so ; and therefore, as 



