MAPLE 



3642 



MAPLE 



HE MAP ZS 



Branch of 



^ 



_* 



Japanese Maple 



of 1 to 9,000,000, or, in other words, about 150 

 miles to 1 inch. C.H.H. 



Consult Dickson's Maps: How They Are Made 

 and How to Read Them. 



MAPLE, ma'p'l, a family of handsome and 

 valuable trees, probably represented in some 

 manufactured form in every house in America. 

 Nearly a hundred species are known, distrib- 

 uted throughout the northern and temperate 

 regions of the world. Species of maple furnish 

 most of the welcome shade along streets, and 

 their beautiful foliage, fragrant, nectar-filled 

 flowers and strangely-winged seeds are sources 

 of constant pleasure. 



All maples have opposite leaves (see LEAVES) ; 

 they are broad and flat, with handlike veins 

 and fingers, or lobes, numbering from three to 

 seven, and their long-winged seeds in pairs. 

 When growing in the open, all have full, well- 

 rounded tops. 



American Species and Uses. Leading all 

 maples is the upright, gray-barked sugar, rock 

 or hard maple, found from the Great Lakes to 

 Newfoundland, south to Florida and west to 



Nebraska and Texas. It grows from seventy- 

 five to 120 feet high and bears dark green 

 leaves, which turn yellow, orange and red in 

 autumn. The sugar maple leaf is the emblem 

 of Canada. It is this handsome tree whose 

 sugary sap is the source of the delicious golden- 

 brown maple syrup which is so palatable on the 

 breakfast table. Sugar manufactured from the 

 sap is a commercially important article, par- 

 ticularly in Vermont, Northern New York and 

 Canada. The tapping of maple trees and the 

 "sugaring off" are outdoor tasks holding such 

 keen delight and interest that an account of the 

 process is given in Charles Dudley Warner's 

 story, Being a Boy. 



As a lumber tree, this species outranks all 

 other maples. Its wood is heavy, hard and 

 strong and takes a fine polish. Its color is light 

 brown, tinged with red. Ever since colonial 

 times it has been put to uncounted uses. Ma- 

 ple has been used for furniture ever since furni- 

 ture was made in America. The knotted parts 

 of sugar maple furnish the much-prized bird's- 

 eye and curled maples of cabinetmakers. Hard 



