THE CANADIAN H0RTICDLTUKI8T. 



131 



are enduringly the property of the 

 association. In these he is ever present 

 and ever speaking, though bodily 

 aVxsent. They all teach us to study and 

 to love the beautiful in sentiment and 

 in nature. I shall be ever thankful 

 for that last effort of his pen so pleas 

 ingly rendered, entitled *' The seat on 

 the hill top beneath the old tree," 

 which he read at our last association 

 meeting in Toronto, a copy of which 

 was given in the Canadian Horticul- 

 turist. This is his epigraph and the 

 last note of his familiar pen. It shows 

 us that his large and warm heart still 

 lived in the dee[j contemplation of the 

 beautiful in nature and sentiment, and 

 astonislied us with its vigor. I can 

 never forget his ])arting from us. 

 Neither collectively nor individually 

 had we the opportunity of offering him 

 a parting greeting, a kindly shake of 

 the hand, or a last good-bye ! Though 

 he was so familiar with the association, 

 its membei-s and its work, yet he parted 

 from us in a most unexpected and quite 

 uiiceremonious manner. On the last 

 day of our meeting, at about 4 o'clock 

 ill the afternoon, Mrs. Arnold came 

 into the room and shortly afterwards 

 he left with her, and we never saw him 

 again. I saw him p.iss out, and should 

 have liked to have S])(>ken to him, but 

 thouglit we sliould have another oppor- 

 tunity to do so, but it never came, and 

 thus he left the meetings of the associ- 

 ation and its work for ever. Oh, let 

 us remember that although as Long- 

 fellow beautifully says, " Life is ear- 

 n«*st," it is also remarkably short and 

 very uncertain. And whatever our 

 hand findeth to do we should do it with 

 all our might, and like our dear de- 

 parted friend, be ever up and doing, 

 *• while it is called to-day, for the night 

 soon Cometh wherein no man can work." 



Yours fraternally, 



B. GoTT. 

 Arkona, May 14th, 1883. 



SUGAR OR ROCK MAPLE. 



(Acer SaccharinuiriJ- 



BY JACOB W. MANNING, READING, MASS. 



This is in a broad sense an American 

 tree for it extends from the extreme 

 eastern part of North America to the 

 Eastern Rocky Mountains, and from 

 the highlands of the Gulf States to the 

 watershed between the waters of the 

 St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay. In all 

 this territory it is found at frequent 

 intervals on elevated land and along 

 rivers, and is at home in all rocky 

 formations. 



This tree is often from three to five 

 feet in diameter, and seventy to eighty 

 feet high, large and straight enough to 

 make ship-keels, growing naturally 

 without any aid from man. 



I measured a tree in NorthHm})ton, 

 Mass., that had been planted sixty 

 years that was eleven feet six inches in 

 circumference, three feet from the 

 ground ; even this is small compared 

 with some natural trees seen in old 

 pastures. 



The wood is close grained and solid, 

 and one of the handsomest of all light 

 colored woods for furniture and house 

 finish. The bird's-eye, curly and 

 branched maple veneers that make such 

 a rich and varied finish are made from it. 

 It is almost the oidy wood used in the 

 manufacture of boot and shoe lasts, for 

 which a surprisingly large amount is 

 used, and in many other industries 

 where a solid and close-grained, but 

 light wood, is necessary. As fuel it is 

 but little excelled by any other wood. 



No other native plant gi'owth pro- 

 duces such delicious syrup as the rock 

 maple. A sugar orchard is a valuable 

 addition to a farm ; even our street and 

 lawn treescan be tapped without injury ; 

 they appear to grow as finely and live 

 as long as those not robbed of their sap, 

 which one would suppose was their 

 vital fluid. 



