10 



necessary equipment. In every case all sugar and sirup should be 

 sent to a central point, where it should be graded according to quality 

 and packed in a uniform manner. A commission charge on sales 

 would furnish the income from which the expenses of the associa- 

 tion or company would be met. 



Under careful, conservative business management the purchase of 

 utensils, packing cases, etc., for sale to the members at the lowest 

 prices, might be successfully arranged, and perhaps the loan of capi- 

 tal, on good security, for the installation of modern equipment could 

 be successfully added. 



Annually, if not oftener, the members should meet for the transac- 

 tion of business, to interchange ideas, and to listen to addresses on 

 matters pertaining to sugar making. The publication and free dis- 

 tribution of the proceedings at these meetings might be made a fur- 

 ther means of advancing the interests and improving the methods of 

 the sugar makers. 



SUGAR MAPLES. 



All the maples have sweet sap, but only from a few of our native 

 species has sugar been made in paying quantities. The first place is 

 held by the sugar maple (Acer saccharum} and a variety of it the 

 black maple (Acer saccharum nigrum). The red maple (Acer rubrum), 

 the silver maple (Acer saccharinum) , and the Oregon maple (Acer 

 macrophyllum) are of less importance, and the box elder (Acer 

 negundo) is least important of all. 



THE SUGAR MAPLE. 



The sugar maple spreads over a wide area, but as a tree for the 

 production of sugar in paying quantities its range is limited to western 

 New England, New York, Pennsylvania, the southern Appalachians, 

 the Ohio Valley, and the Lake States, and adjacent parts of Canada. 

 In the Gulf States and as far north as southern Arkansas the tree is 

 represented by a variety (Acer saccharum floridanum) from which 

 no sugar is made. 



The sugar maple is a stately and vigorous forest tree, capable of 

 growing in dense stands. It bears a plentiful crop of seeds, which in 

 most localities ripen in the early fall. These seeds germinate readily, 

 and under favorable circumstances the entire forest floor is heavily 

 carpeted with seedlings, the succulent, sweet foliage of which is 

 eagerly devoured by all kinds of stock. The young seedlings are very 

 thrifty and can stand the shade of a complete forest cover. This 

 tolerance of shade is one of the distinguishing features of the sugar 

 maple, and, although it is less pronounced in later years, the mature 

 tree has one of the most persistently heavy crowns in the forest. 



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