CHAPTER THREE 



MAPLES 



October turned my maple's leaves to gold; 

 The most are gone now ; here and there one lingers : 

 Soon these will slip from out the twigs' weak hold, 

 Like coins between a dying miser's fingers. 



THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH 



MAPLE trees may be found in most parts of the United 

 States and southern Canada. The larger kinds are 

 widely planted for shade, and smaller varieties with 

 cut leaves or richly colored foliage are often used for 

 ornamental purposes in parks and on lawns. Some 

 maples produce wood that is hard and handsome, and 

 the leaves of many kinds show beautiful autumn 

 coloration. 



The blossoms of the maple are small, but they abound 

 in honey and are very attractive to bees. In spring or 

 early summer the peculiar key fruit is produced (Fig. 

 17). Among children, who like to eat them, these are 

 known as " chickens." At the base of each wing is a 

 seed. Have you ever noticed it? Are the leaves on 

 one branch sometimes more highly colored than those 

 on the rest of the tree ? Will this branch show the same 

 peculiarity year after year? 



Making maple sugar. You have eaten maple sugar or 

 maple sirup. It is made usually from sap of the sugar 

 maple, occasionally from that of other maples. Good 

 sugar may be obtained also from hickory or birch sap. 



The first warm days in February or March start the 

 sap flowing. Then the tree is tapped that is, a hole 

 is bored through the bark into the wood and a spile, 

 or little spout, is inserted so ,that the sap will flow along 



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