9 2 TREE-PLANTING. 



when decorative appearance is a principal object in 

 view. 



There are other species of the maple, Avhich are 

 very distinct and interesting varieties, some attaining; 

 the full size of timber trees ; while others range down 

 to the stature of shrubs only. Some of these flower 

 very early, and grow,' rapidly in almost any kind of 

 soil, throwing out fine, green, smooth shoots, with 

 elegantly-lobed leaves of the finest texture, which in 

 autumn change into varied tints of yellow and scarlet, 

 which cause them to be highly appreciated in orna- 

 mental plantations, the whole genus being remarkably 

 handsome. 



The Siigar Maple (A saccharinuvi). This tree 

 seldom attains a height of more than forty feet in 

 Britain, where it has been cultivated for about 

 130 years, though in its native districts it grows to 

 sixty or seventy feet, forming extensive forests in 

 some parts of North America, New Brunswick, and 

 Nova Scotia, and some parts of Canada, though the 

 diameter of the trunk is but small, seldom exceeding 

 a foot and a half, and often less. It is ornamental in 

 appearance, its leaves being of a whitish hue under- 

 neath, and in autumn they assume a rosy tint, which 

 adds considerably to the beauty of any sylvan scene 

 wherein they may be placed. 



In its native country, the tree when pierced yields 

 a copious flow of sap, which is easily converted into 

 sugar, and although this has been done in Britain, it 

 has never been cultivated for this purpose beyond 

 mere experimentalising. 



It is generally propagated by imported seeds, 

 which are treated in the same way as those of the 



