50 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



over the hole, and in a few years all traces are obliterated from external 

 view. My father observes * that " upon some farms in Vermont and 

 northern New York, more profit is realized from a maple wood-land 

 than could possibly be gained upon an equal area by any agricultural 

 .crop." 



NOTE. There are peculiar freaks sometimes in the growth of timber, 

 and how and why these occur are interesting problems in the minds of 

 vegetable physiologists, thus far unsolved as they probably must always 

 remain. Two or three forms of these freaks occur especially though 

 we could not say exclusively in the timber now before us, and so 

 interesting and important are they from a commercial point of view, and 

 so beautiful, that we have decided to exhibit them in the accompanying 

 sections, and this text would certainly be very incomplete without men- 

 tion of so important timber products. 



The forms to which we refer are commonly known as " figures," and 

 certain ones, such as the "Blister" "Birds-eye" or "Pin" and 

 et Curley" figures much more frequently occur for some unknown 

 reason in the Maples than any other timber with which we are acquainted. 

 The first two might almost be said to be peculiar to the Hard Maple, and 

 we have exhibited them along with the plain timber of that species as 

 their proper place. The last mentioned figure, Curley, is found in 

 the Hard Maple, but also and perhaps even more commonly in the 

 larger Soft Maples, and hence has been left to be shown in connection 

 with them in a succeeding part of this work. The three figures are often 

 found in the Hard Maple, more or less mixed, but for our sections, 

 standing as specimens of the various forms, we have endeavored to select 

 timbers as exclusively representing those particular forms as conveniently 

 possible. 



In the untouched tree, as it occurs in the forest, it takes an experienced 

 eye to detect a figure, so slight are the evidences before the timber is 

 exposed. To such an eye a slight pit or elevation in the bark, or a pecu- 

 liar form of trunk or top, means a great deal. With such a man of 

 experience (John Brown, Esq., of Lowville, N. Y.), who gathers this 

 timber quite extensively for the market, it has been our pleasure to visit 

 forests occasionally, in quest of these figured timbers. From him we 

 have learned to read in the bark of the trees signs which we never knew 

 if we ever even saw before. It is principally from that schooling that we 

 are able to note the following facts concerning the figured Maples as they 

 appear in the tree. 



The BLISTER MAPLE, as the Blister figure of the Hard Maple is 

 usually called, is so named from the resemblance which its polished sur- 



* Elements of Forestry, p. 236. 



