37 



MAPLES. 



Three maples are cut for lumber in Pennsylvania, sugar maple, sometimes 

 called hard maple (Acer saccharum) , the red or soft maple (Acer rubrum) , 

 and the white or silvery maple (Acer saccharinum). Of these the sugar 

 maple is commercially the most important and it is probably the most 

 valuable wood produced in Pennsylvania. This is because of the abundance of 

 maple sugar it produces, the choice figured woods known as bird's eye and 

 curly maple, etc., and the many uses for which this wood alone is the most 

 adaptable, owing to its combined qualities or strength, hardness, stiffness, 

 and its ability to hold its shape after being properly seasoned. Forty-two 

 industries report its use, which is a greater number than for any other wood 

 named in this 'report. It is abundant on well-drained land, particularly in the 

 northern, western, and middle portions of the State. Next to white oak, 

 sugar maple was reported as meeting the greatest number of uses, and was the 

 fourth important hardwood in the total quantity used. It also bears the 

 distinction, among the woods that are used in quantities exceeding 5,000,000 

 feet, of furnishing the largest proportion of State-grown wood. 



Table 22. Consumption of Sugar Maple, year ending June, 1912. 



