THE MAPLES. 100 



others ; not infrequently it assumes a golden or an 

 orange tint.* The bark of a young tree is smooth 

 and gray, but on very old specimens it becomes deep- 

 ly furrowed, scaly, and assumes a dark, gray -brown 

 hue. The wood is yellowish white, and is exten- 

 sively used in cabinet work ; it is very hard.f 



There is no more interesting tree in the woods 

 in March than our much-prized sugar maple. At 

 this season the farmer taps the tree (with a three- 

 quarter-inch auger) for the sweet sap which the 

 warm sunshine draws upward from its roots ; and 

 while the snow is yet lying on the ground, the evi- 

 dences of a spring awakening are shown by the tree 

 in the ceaseless drip of its watery blood into a tin 

 pail suspended at its side. When the sap runs well, 

 usually when the sun has warmed the tree in the 

 middle of the day, about seventy drops fall in the 

 pail every minute ; it is a slow proceeding, but it 

 continues relentlessly, until after three weeks or so 

 the tree has yielded up its life blood to the extent 



* The turning of maple leaves to unvarying hues each autumn 

 is quite remarkable. For years, two trees I know of have re- 

 sumed exactly the same colors : one, russet orange above and 

 dull scarlet below, and the other yellowish rust color ; even 

 an individual branch will resume its own particular hue each 

 fall. 



f The so-called bird's-eye maple and curled maple are rare 

 conditions of the wood, caused by undulations or deflections of 

 its fiber. 



