GRADE IV. 



The Acer Pennsyevanicum. 



" This beautiful little tree has two common names, 

 viz. striped maple, and moose- wood. It grows in the 

 basin of the Mississippi River all the way between the 

 fortieth and fiftieth degree of north latitude. 



' ' On the Appalachian Mountains it grows south as 

 far as Georgia, and north to Canada. 



"The striped maple generally grows only ten or 

 twelve feet high, but where the soil and climate are 

 just right it grows thirty-six feet high and seven 

 inches in diameter at the base. The use of the 

 moose-wood is for inlaying work and other ornaments, 

 and also for the food for moose. They eat the bark 

 and twigs for the sweet sap in them. When they 

 take too much of the bark off it kills the tree. 



"The wood is very heavy and white. The heart 

 wood shows the silver grain better than the sap wood. 

 On the end where it is cut off, the rays are very fine, 

 close together, and very straight. The fibers of the 

 wood are not easily separated. 



"The bark of the striped maple is thick and 

 fibrous. When dried, it is light reddish brown next 

 to the wood, and black, striped with dark brown and 



