202 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



est and best flavor; but in the market the super- 

 refined, lighter-colored sugar made by the patent 

 evaporators is of course considered much finer, and 

 brings a higher price. The best sugar brings the 

 New Hampshire farmer rarely more than eight cents 

 per pound, and the sirup about sixty cents per gal- 

 lon. The retail prices even in country towns is 

 frequently over fifty per cent in advance of these 

 figures. 



Black Sugar Maple. The black 8U g ar ma P le is a variety 



Acer saccUarinum, of the common sugar maple, with 



\ ar. mgi un great distinff uishing; differences 



Acer saccharum, & o o 



var. nigrum, excepting that the leaf is often fine- 

 ly covered with down un- 

 derneath ; it usually has 

 three lobes (leaf divi- 

 sions) which are wider, 

 shorter, and freer of 

 teeth, and the 

 sides of the 

 clefts at 

 the base 

 the leaf often 

 Black sugar Maple. overlap. The bark 



of the tree has also a blackish color, and the seed 

 wings, set wide apart, only slightly diverge. 



