THE GENESEE FARMER. 



35 





KORWAY MAPLE, 20J FT. HIGH, 7 IX. IK DIAMETEK. 



called dool or grief trees, from the fact that they 

 were formerly used by the powerfid barons for 

 hanging their enemies and refractory rassals on. — 

 There are three very large trees of this description 

 still standing in Ayshire. One of these is a noble- 

 looking, spreading tree, with a head above 190 feet 

 in circumference. In its wide spread branches and 

 luxuriant foliage, from twenty to tliirty men could 

 be easily concealed. Another of these trees is 

 seventy -two feet high, with a trunk seventeen feet 

 in circumference, ten feet from the ground. They 

 are all in great health and vigor, and are probably 

 abont three hundred years old. 



The Norway Maple {Acer platanoides, or Syca- 

 more-like Maple,) is destined to be one of our most 

 popular shade trees. It is already planted quite 

 extensively, and the demand for it is yeaily on the 

 increase. Though not as ornamental as the Sugar 

 Maple, it is nevertheless a handsome tree. Its 

 foliage is very dense — of a fine form and texture, 



and of a glossy polish, which retains a lively green 

 throughout the summer, and in autumn assumes 

 various tints, in which yellow prevails. It is quite 

 hardy, of exceedingly rapid growth when young, 

 especially on deep, well-draint'd soils. A plant haa 

 been known to attain the height of twelve feet in 

 three years from the seed, and when once estab- 

 lished, it ])roduces shoots from eighteen inches to 

 three feet long every year, till it attains the height 

 of from twenty to thirty feet, which, in fevorable 

 situations, it does in ten years. It will not flourish 

 in wet land, though if dry, it prefers a low to a 

 high situation. 



In Germany, sugar is obtained from the sap of 

 the Norway Maple. It contains less saccharine 

 matter than the Sugar Maple, but more than the 

 Sycamore. A tree yields al)out thirty-five quarts 

 of sap in eight days, which, when evaporated down, 

 furnishes about four pounds of syrup, the syrup con- 

 taining about six per cent, of crystalized sugar. „ 



