28 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



FIG. 17. Leaves and fruit of silver maple (.4) and red maple (J5). 



Until a tree is cut it is seldom possible to tell whether its 

 wood will show these peculiarities. 



Have you seen maple furniture ? Try to find examples 

 of bird's-eye maple and of curly maple. Tool handles, 

 rulers, butcher's blocks, piano actions, and the backs 

 and sides of violins often are made of hard maple. 

 This wood is used also for shoe lasts and pegs, croquet 

 balls and mallets, for various implements, and in the 

 construction of machinery, cars, and automobiles. It 

 has a fine and even grain, polishes well, and is heavy, 

 hard, strong, and elastic. Which of these properties 

 are most needed in a wood used for each of the purposes 

 mentioned ? 



The sugar maple as a shade tree. The sugar maple 

 is one of the very best of our shade trees. It is well 

 shaped, affords dense shade in summer, and in autumn 

 becomes beautiful because of the rich and varied colors of 

 its foliage. In the spring its blossoms unfold with the 

 leaves. It grows more slowly than the soft maples, but 

 it requires less moisture and is more useful and durable. 



