1022 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



SUGAR MAPLES AS STREET TREES 



This variety of maple is popular as a shade tree. It tlirives best in villages or along country 

 roads, as in large towns it is alTected by smoke, dust and gas. It is subject to attack by 

 the forest tent caterpillar and the maple borer occasionally makes great holes in its trunk. 



gorgeous. The glowing shades 

 of yellow, orange, scarlet and 

 green turn the forest landscape 

 into a wondrous sea of color. 



The "sugar tree" is an ap- 

 propriate name, for in a cool 

 climate this tree stores great 

 quantities of sugar in its sap. 

 The colder the season the larger 

 the amount of sugar it yields. 

 In March, when the sap is 

 ascending, the trees are tapped 

 and the sap is collected and 

 evaporated into maple syrup and 

 sugar. Unless excessive, tapping 

 does not injure the tree and can 

 be continued indefinitely. Sugar 

 "bushes" or orchards are profit- 

 able when well cared for. Three 

 or four gallons of sap are usu- 

 ally required to make one pound 

 of sugar. Two or three pounds 

 of sugar per tree is an aver- 

 age yield. Large, solitary trees 

 often yield much more than this. 



Commercial Uses of Sugar Maple 



By Hu Maxwell 



COMPARATIVELY little maple lumber is used 

 in rough form. It is essentially a factory wood, 

 and as such it has a place in nearly every in- 

 dustry of this country which employs wood as raw mate- 

 rial. The reported sawmill production of maple lumber 

 for the United States in 1912 was 1,020,864,000 feet, and 

 the factory use for one year is reported at 922,337,274 

 feet, which is 90 per cent of the cut of the mills. 



Maple appears in fifty of the fifty-five industries into 

 which the uses of wood in the United States are gen- 

 erally divided. No other wood has a record so nearlv 

 approaching universal u.se. Oak, red gum, basswood 

 and birch approach maple, but fall a little short. It 

 appears in a few industries where they are not found. As 

 might be expected, Michigan, which produces more maple 

 lumber than any other state, is likewise the largest user 

 of this wood in its factories. 



MANUFACTURING 



Maple is pre-eminently a manufacturer's wood. Little 

 rough lumber reaches the final user, Ijut it passes through 

 machines or is shaped by tools until it has been fitted for 

 the most exacting service required of wood. Nearly 

 every industry that has a place for any sort of wood, 

 draws supplies from maple. It fills positions where the 

 highest order of material is required, and it meets de- 



mand if low-class and cheap stock suffices. It is an asso- 

 ciate of aristocrats and a companion of plebians. Forty- 

 nine wood-using industries report it as raw material for 

 further manufacture in various parts of the United 

 States. The largest consumes more than 300,000,000 

 feet a year ; the smallest less than 25,000. The ten indus- 

 tries which lead in the use of maple are: planing mill 

 products, furniture, boxes and crates, boat and shoe 

 findings, agricultural implements, musical instruments, 

 handles, woodenware, vehicles, fixtures. These use a 

 total of about 833,000,000 feet yearly, while the use of 

 maple by thirty-nine other industries aggregates 89,- 

 124,587 feet a year, and forty states report it. This is 

 in addition to what is consumed for cooperage, wood dis- 

 tillation and fuel, and in the aggregate these amounts are 

 very large. 



PLANING MILL PRODUCTS 



The largest demand for maple comes from the in- 

 dustry which turns out planing mill products. These 

 cover a considerable range of articles, among which arc 

 flooring, ceiling, wainscoting, stairwork, molding, doors, 

 and many other articles of interior house finish. The 

 largest single item is flooring, so far as the use of maple 

 is concerned. No wood surpasses it for that purpose. 



