THE MAPLE 217 



Although slow growing and not often reaching its maximum 

 height of 129 feet and trunk diameter of 4 feet, it producesan 

 abundance of amply winged seeds, of which a large number sprout, 

 even in the shade, and tend to crowd out their elders, and when 

 once established they successfully resist the encroachment of other 

 trees. Few trees are seen as frequently in woodlots from New Eng- 

 land to Ohio and the Potomac as the sugar maple. 



In an early volume of the Transactions of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society, over a century old, we read the estimate that 6000 

 maple trees were destroyed in clearing the average New York or 

 Pennsylvania farm. Rusk, in his letter to Thomas Jefferson, 

 just alluded to, suggested that at least a third of these trees should 

 not be destroyed, but should be preserved as a source of sugar. 

 But who but the few can look forward a hundred years. The land 

 had to be cleared, and much superfluous maple along with many 

 other valuable trees vanished up the chimneys — maple back logs 

 were in such demand that they were once shipped regularly to 

 Boston. Much maple went into charcoal for forging, and much 

 was consumed by the makers of potash. 



The strength and fine grain of the wood caused it to be valued 

 for rifle stocks, saddle trees, spinning wheels and reels, dishes and 

 trenchers. The Iroquois made paddles and spoons of it, and 

 Withers, in his Border Chronicles, relates how in 1777 they un- 

 successfully attempted to make cannon of maple logs. In these 

 modern days maple is much used for flooring, still more goes into 

 the manufacture of shoe lasts, and an even greater amount is 

 consumed by furniture manufacturers, especially the pathological 

 varieties known as curly, wavy, and birdseye maple. Sugar maple 

 stands first in the list of woods used in Illinois in the manufacture 

 of agricultural implements, and it also goes into wooden ware, and 

 into a thousand miscellaneous uses. 



Voorhees states that the Massachusetts Indians taught the 

 Plymouth colonists the value of maple ashes in the raising of crops, 

 and the maple stands at the head of the list of woods used for this 

 purpose. The colonists early exported ashes, of which those of the 

 maple were considered the best to England. Potash and pearlash 



